The Real Estate Roundtable is urging the Biden administration to bring federal employees back into the office.
According to an open letter signed by executives from the group, executives are concerned with that current remote working models are “actually magnifying negative economic and social consequences for cities.”
Signed by Real Estate Roundtable’s Chairman John Fish and President Jeffrey DeBoer, the industry executives expressed issues with the government’s embrace of remote work, stating that it is setting a bad example and hurting the office real estate industry.
Office occupancy is down from pre-pandemic levels, with data from Kastle Systems finding that 10 major U.S. markets are seeing levels far lower than average.
Aside from requesting the government to reevaluate its work policies, the group also inquired about converting unused office and commercial properties into residential units in order to address the housing and affordability crisis.
However, the government’s influence on companies like Meta and others cutting their office footprint is still up for debate. Rather, it is likely that companies are less reliant on office spaces in an era of technological advancement and seeking to cut costs on the cusp of an economic downturn.
