REBNY data shows healthy office occupancy, edging closer to pre-pandemic levels
NY Post
Never mind foreclosures and predictions of doom. The Real Estate Board of New York’s latest analysis of office building “visitations” presents a less pessimistic take on the endlessly discussed and debated commercial property market.
The past few months saw Manhattan office attendance continue its slow recovery as more companies call their employees back to their desks.
The office market crisis is too often blamed on work-from-home. In fact, landlords are mainly squeezed between the crushing forces of high interest rates and less demand for space as companies downsize and consolidate.
REBNY cites current office attendance as a percentage of pre-pandemic 2019, when (contrary to widespread misconceptions) offices were much less than 100% full on any given day — due to the fact that some employees already worked from home and others were absent due to business travel and vacations.
According to REBNY, Manhattan office attendance in March reached 74% of 2019 levels and 75% of it in April. Both rates were higher than 70% in March of 2023.
The rates are based on Placer.ai location data in 350 major Manhattan buildings, compiled from cellphone data.
