Empty offices – The future of megacities

The pandemic has sparked fierce debate about the future of regions shopping mall and finance in the world. Financial centers such as Manhattan (USA), London (UK), Marunouchi (Tokyo, Japan) and La Défense (Paris, France) have suffered the consequences of the work-from-home trend.

According to data from the EY audit group and the Urban Land Institute, before the pandemic, the 21 largest financial centers in the world were home to 4.5 million people. This is also the headquarters of about 20% of Fortune Global 500 companies – an annual ranking of the top 500 companies and corporations worldwide by sales.

The trend of working from home has led to a sharp drop in office rental demand, with office vacancy rates in central areas increasing faster than anywhere else. At the global level, the share of offices without users has increased from 8% before COVID-19 epidemic up 12%.

In London, 18% of offices were vacant, while in New York and San Francisco, the proportions were 16% and 20% respectively.

“In my opinion, the problem is how many people use the office at the same time. I see many companies using the form of office sharing, where the first floor of the building is rented out as a retail store,” he said. Omotayo Okusanya – Analyst, Real Estate Investment Fund MIZUHO AMERICAS said.

But as new variants of the virus appeared one after another, the plans of many companies to return employees to the offices were repeatedly delayed. Therefore, many companies have thought of solutions to change the business model and field.

Mr. Omotayo Okusanya said: “One example is Alexandria real estate joint stock company, now they’ve moved into biotechnology and applied science. And you know, in that field, you have to do it. a lot of work is done in the lab. So they still need office space. They can’t work remotely. So I think the demand for office space will still grow strongly.”

According to a survey of investors with more than $50 billion in assets conducted by US real estate firm CBRE, investors are more interested in markets like Phoenix and Denver than New York and Chicago.

The UK’s real estate, housing and commercial consultancy Knight Frank said that the largest commercial and financial centers will continue to attract large investments. The London offices are forecast to receive around $81 billion in foreign investment over the next few years.

* Invite readers to watch the programs broadcast by Vietnam Television on TV Online and VTVGo!