The Manhattan commercial real estate market has been struggling to mend itself after becoming the first epicenter of the pandemic in the U.S.

Since then, the city has seen high unemployment rates, massive business closures and more.

The office industry in particular has taken a major hit due to millions of people working remotely. This has led businesses to rethink their office operational strategy moving forward, and there are concerns that things will get worse before they get better.

With a Colliers report revealing that Manhattan has the most available office space since 2003 at 13.5%, the future is looking grim for the office industry.

REITs are at a huge risk if office space demand does not grow in the near future. For instance, Vornado Realty Trust announced it would be laying off 70 employees to cut costs after its rental revenue dropped by 25% in the third quarter of this year compared to the same time last year.

With Cushman & Wakefield predicting that the office market won’t fully rebound until late 2022, this could mean big losses for industry.

However, news of a vaccine is providing a glimmer of hope. Even if organizations move forward with cutting down on their office footprint or leave Manhattan for less-expensive areas, some employees still have a desire to come into the office.

Once the idea of coming into the office is less of a risk to a person’s safety and health, it is likely that we will see an uptick in occupants and vacancy rates will begin to slowly fall.