One of the lasting effects of the pandemic can be found — or not found — in the workplace. And that is people.
When COVID-19 hit and offices shut down, workers across New York and the nation headed home. They rearranged their schedules and got used to an entirely different work-life balance. That was five years ago this month.
“So if you were to ask me, how is the office market doing, I would say, ‘That depends. Where are you asking about?'” said Eric Simonds with CBRE Upstate NY.
The real estate services firm regularly surveys commercial real estate in key metropolitan areas. And their assessments of upstate cities show a mixed bag. In New York and nationally, experts say the market has stabilized, with office attendance hitting a steady state and overall vacancy trending downward — at just less than 19% nationally.
"Downtown Albany may be struggling a bit,” Simonds said. “It's not a ... terribly high vacancy rate. But just north of Albany and Saratoga Springs, the office market is in high demand and rental rates are reaching record levels.”
According to CRBE, Albany’s office vacancy is just less than 15% downtown while Saratoga is at 6%. The vacancy rate in downtown Syracuse is similar to Albany, while vacancies remain elevated in downtown Rochester and Buffalo with rates between 17% and 20%.
Rochester’s downtown was riding a wave of momentum until the shutdown.
The bounce back has been slow. But experts say the market is healthy.
The shift to more remote work means employers — and employees — are less geographically limited than they ever have been. And one of the lasting effects is what Simonds’ colleague Angelo Nole in Rochester describes as the "flight to quality.”
“A lot of firms and companies have said, ‘OK, I'm going to try to find ... nicer or the nicest space I can find, and relocate my company or firm there, so I can be a place where my team wants to come into the office,’” Nole said.
What that is creating, though, is a widening gap as that middle-of-the-road office space empties out.
Bottom line? Experts say the rebound, such as it is, might still be a work in progress because shifts like remote or hybrid work were accelerated by the pandemic, rather than created by it.
