Wednesday, February 10, 2021

REPORT: Office Occupancy Rates Starting to Increase

Nationwide, office occupancy is on the increase. Texas leads with 30%+ occupancy rates, but the rest of the country is catching up, reports Commercial Real Estate Direct.

According to preliminary data from Kastle Systems, which studies keycard, fob, and KastlePresence app access, Americans are starting to return to work in their offices, though it is at a very slow pace.

Kastle Systems, a national turnkey security solutions provider, has launched a “Return to Work Barometer” measure that spans 3,600 buildings and 41,000 businesses across 47 states.

Last week, 9 out of 10 cities on the Barometer experienced increases in workplace occupancy. The top three cities on the Barometer were, unsurprisingly, in Texas: Dallas, Houston, and Austin (with “open” rates of 37.3%, 34.8%, and 34.7% respectively).

But we still have a very long way to go.


Of note, Washington D.C. saw occupancy rates increase from 11.6% during the inauguration to 21.7% last week.

The least open city on the Barometer, San Francisco, has an office occupancy of only 12.5%. New York City is at 13.3%. Chicago comes in at 19.1%.

Meanwhile, in the U.K., unused office spaces are being repurposed into new housing. This is a new trend that some expect to continue even after the COVID-19 panic ends, giving rise to even more remote workers.

-RW

5 comments:

  1. Sounds like a potential buying opportunity, no?

    Boston Properties Inc
    NYSE: BXP
    High in Feb 2020 - 147.51. Low in Oct: 71.15 Current: 95.98.

    Forgive my potential (and actual) ignorance.

    ReplyDelete
  2. If you are going to move the masses into the smart cities, you need more housing. Unused office space would provide that. Agenda 21

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  3. Small city Cedar Rapids, Iowa, here. Just renewed our expiring 10-year lease 15,000 sq ft building and was able to negotiate slight decrease in rent for 5-year lease. Timing was right with the major company's in town still doing work from home. We're committed to gaining an edge by a more productive workforce by being more clued into what is happening with direct, face to face interaction with each other.

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  4. We are starting to hit the turnover point where remote working loses its novelty.

    ReplyDelete