National + Office | March 30, 2022

Los Angeles, Chicago and Seattle have seen the best recovery in office space demand since the pandemic began

Office Space Demand Now at Half of Pre-COVID Levels

Demand for office space closed out the second year of the COVID-19 pandemic down 47.1% from February 2020, the last month prior to the declaration of the pandemic, VTS said Wednesday. That’s in spite of favorable fits and starts that once had the VTS Office Demand Index at 87% of normal in Summer 2021 after bottoming out at 16% of normal.

“February is typically the first month of the year when demand for office space picks up in earnest, but February 2022 was anything but typical,” said VTS CEO Nick Romito. “We believe that between recent record-breaking COVID-19 infection rates and general economic uncertainty, the typical seasonal rise in demand may be delayed. That said, even with a delay, it is possible that the downward pressure of hybrid work patterns will mute any demand spikes.”

Los Angeles, Chicago and Seattle have seen the best pandemic recovery thus far, VTS reported.

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About Paul Bubny

Paul Bubny serves as Senior Content Director for Connect Commercial Real Estate, a role to which he brings 13-plus years’ experience covering the commercial real estate industry and 30-plus years in business-to-business journalism. In this capacity, he oversees daily operations while also reporting on both local/regional markets and national trends, covering individual transactions across all property types, as well as delving into broader subject matter. He produces 15-20 daily news stories per day and works with the Connect team and clients to develop longer-form content, ranging from Q&As to thought-leadership pieces. Prior to joining Connect, Paul was Managing Editor for both Real Estate Forum and GlobeSt.com at American Lawyer Media, where he oversaw operations at both publications while also producing daily news and feature-length articles. His tenure in B2B publishing stretches back into the print era, and he has served as Editor in Chief on four national trade publications. Since 1999, Paul has volunteered as the newsletter editor of passenger rail advocacy groups (one national, one local).

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