Companies Still Want Office Space

According to a survey by CommercialCafe and its sister company Property Shark, 44% of companies would still sign a lease for office space if it met the needs of their business.

The survey of 1,184 respondents also revealed that a third had not decided whether they would lease space, and 11% said they have halted the search for space during the pandemic.

Additionally, 22% of respondents claimed they had utilized virtual tours in their decision-making process for an office space, while 14% have used VR staging and remote viewings. This has led to a growth in traffic on CommercialCafe, which had seen a drop in March.

Although many companies are readily embracing the remote working trend, some are not ready to get rid of their office space post-pandemic.

“We believe it is too early to write the epitaph for the entire office sector as there are a number of counterbalancing forces at work,” said Jonathan Woloshin, a UBS Analyst. “However, the realities are that landlords, companies and tenants alike will all be forced to improvise, adapt and overcome a number of challenges.”

CBRE predicts that one-third of the jobs lost in the second quarter of the year will be regained in the third quarter, which will greatly impact the office market moving forward. The company expects up to 50% of office-using jobs to be regained during this time, as well as 30% of retail and restaurant jobs.