Big Tech Makes a Big Bet: Offices Are Still the Future
The New York Times
Even as they allow some employees to change how often they come into the office, tech companies are rapidly buying and leasing properties around the country.
TEMPE, Ariz. — Early in the pandemic, when shops along Mill Avenue in downtown Tempe closed their doors and students at nearby Arizona State University were asked to go home, the roar of construction continued to fill the air. Now, gleaming in the sunlight and stuffed with amenities, towering glass office buildings have sprouted up all over the Phoenix metropolitan area.
Arizonans are about to have new next-door neighbors. And they include some of the technology industry’s biggest names.
DoorDash, the food delivery company, moved into a new building on the edge of a Tempe reservoir in the summer of 2020. Robinhood, the financial trading platform, rented out a floor in an office nearby. On a February morning, construction workers were putting the finishing touches on a 17-story Tempe office building expected to add 550 Amazon workers to the 5,000 already in the area.
