With hybrid work reducing the amount of office space used by many companies, the national vacancy rate has surged to its highest point in 30 years. The common perception: The ongoing rightsizing of office portfolios has hurt older buildings more than newer ones. But analysis of all 100,000-square-foot-plus buildings in 64 U.S. office markets presents a more nuanced picture, according to CBRE.
Findings include:
The hardest-hit buildings (HHBs), essentially those that have lost the most tenants (measured by square footage) since the pandemic, make up only 10 percent of all buildings nationwide but account for 80 percent of space shed since first quarter 2020.
Age is not a defining characteristic, as most HHBs were built between 1980 and 2009, when most of the country’s office inventory was built.
Downtown markets, especially in the Pacific and Northeast regions, have a higher share of HHBs.
HHBs tend to have higher crime rates and fewer
