New York City Office Assets Have Struggled To Stay Afloat

New York City’s initial budget for the upcoming fiscal year shows commercial properties maintaining their pre-pandemic value, but office assets struggling to keep up.

According to the initial New York City budget, commercial properties maintained 92% of their value throughout the pandemic despite the massive disruption this crisis had on the real estate industry.

According to the new $98.5 billion budget from Mayor Eric Adams, commercial buildings in the city will be worth around $301 billion in the upcoming fiscal year that runs between July 2022 and June 2023. This is compared to the estimated value of $326 billion during the 2020 and 2021 fiscal year.

“After two years of struggle, we are on the brink of a recovery that offers us a once-in-a-generation opportunity to make real change on a grand scale,” said Mayor Adams.

Despite commercial properties mostly retaining their pre-pandemic valuation, office property values fell by almost 17% in the 2022 fiscal year.

In 2021, office vacancy reached an all-time high of almost 20% according to the initial budget. The city estimates that these levels will continue to remain high and reach 15% by 2026.

Class A office space has led the pack in terms of growing demand, but lower-quality buildings have been jeopardized in wake of the pandemic, which has a direct impact on tax revenue for the city.

Through this budget, Mayor Adams is aiming to address post-pandemic issues such as unemployment, the uncertainty of the health crisis itself, crime, and other factors that are impacting recovery and the return to the office.

“The quick spreading omicron variant demonstrates the potentially uncertain road ahead for the city’s full economic recovery,” the budget states. “While this forecast assumes a steady return of tourists as well as office workers and economic activity to the city, any new COVID-19 waves could upset this trajectory.”