Office
Despite ominous national headlines about New York City office, the vacancy rate is at 9.7 precent in the first quarter of 2022, a full 140 basis points above pre-pandemic levels, according to Moody’s. And, on the ground, New York City office landlords like Leslie Himmel, founder and co–managing partner of Himmel + Meringoff Properties, are doubling down on the city.
A combination of passive and active building systems, solar photovoltaics, and building envelope technology drastically reduces building energy use.
ULI MEMBER–ONLY CONTENT: Speaking at the 2021 ULI Fall Meeting, panelists discussed recent transactions in the office sector and which segments had performed the best.
Members Only
The economic recovery in Washington, D.C., continued through the close of the third quarter of 2021. Office leasing activity is ongoing, though at a slower pace than years past, while asking rents are rising (up 2.1 percent from 2020 according to Newmark). The overall D.C. vacancy rate is just over 18 percent, according to CBRE.
This morning in Chicago’s South Loop, ULI members were treated to a tour of two historic and iconic buildings that have recently undergone major redevelopment and renovation: The Willis Tower and the Old Post Office.
At the 2021 ULI Fall Meeting in Chicago, attendees will have the chance to tour two new office towers and hear from their development teams about the measures taken to adapt to the new circumstances.
As attention turns to what real estate markets may be like once the COVID-19 pandemic has wound down, the outlook for office properties is particularly hazy. More than a year of home-based work left office spaces idle, and it remains unknown how many people will resume their daily commutes once health conditions and local regulations permit.
Will the COVID-19 pandemic bring about the end of the viability of open-plan office space? Panelists speaking during a recent ULI Asia Pacific webinar concluded that flexibility, technology, variety, and health would be the key concepts bringing companies and key employees back to offices.
Despite the office sector’s current bleak outlook, the longer-term outlook is much rosier, speakers said at the ULI Virtual Fall Meeting.
Agile workplaces, equipped with the right technology to accommodate remote and in-person employees, and with equitable access to work-supporting resources, are likely to emerge in the pandemic’s aftermath, said experts from Zendesk, Gensler, and LinkedIn.