As occupier and investor preferences shift toward higher-quality, sustainable assets, the financial gap for outdated buildings continues to widen — placing mounting pressure on the market to act. Across major global markets, 84 percent of office and 73 percent of industrial and logistics stock is more than a decade old, creating acute obsolescence risk in established real estate hubs, according to JLL data.
“Our analysis shows that roughly 1.5 billion square feet — about 70 percent of potentially obsolete stock — sits in markets with strong sustainability value-add potential,” said Paulina Torres, research manager, sustainability and ESG, at JLL. “That means the business case for low-carbon, energy-smart strategies to mitigate obsolescence risk is stronger than ever.”
According to Torres, the costs of inaction are increasingly higher than the costs of intervention, as volatile energy markets, tightening regulations and tenant demand for low-carbon space c
