Offices expected to re-emerge, post-pandemic, at center of revitalized cities

CHICAGO, Jun. 3, 2021 – Offices are expected to return as the beating heart of re-energized Central Business Districts (CBD) as cities recover from the pandemic, according to JLL’s (NYSE: JLL) new report, Benchmarking Cities and Real Estate. With strict physical distancing protocols likely to end, CBD offices will serve as destinations for face-to-face interaction, collaboration, innovation, creativity and socialization.

The return to the office – key employee drivers

“Metrics that measure human experience are becoming increasingly important to businesses and cities,” said Jeremy Kelly, Lead Director, Global Cities Research, JLL. “As we move into the next cycle of recovery, we expect offices in Central Business Districts will again become social and business hubs, adapting to accommodate the way people want to work and live in the future.”

Cities that had tight occupational densities pre-pandemic are likely to face pressure to de-densify. These cities fall into three groups:

JLL’s report, Benchmarking Cities and Real Estate, conducted by JLL’s Global Benchmarking Services (GBS), underscores the need for businesses to track space utilization and occupational density metrics to help determine their future office space requirements. City governments also draw on these metrics to understand how buildings are used and how efficiently they use resources, in turn informing urban and environmental policy.

In the post-pandemic recovery, the next few years will be pivotal as corporates and cities set and work toward ambitious sustainability targets. Understanding how space utilization and occupational density metrics impact energy and water consumption and waste is becoming increasingly crucial. Tighter occupational densities typically mean lower energy costs and consumption per person. Future sustainability scenarios will need to take into consideration this trade-off between density and efficiency.

JLL’s GBS measures and reports total real estate costs per person including space utilization, occupational and operational cost metrics that empower businesses to make data-driven decisions about current and future space planning.

“Having consistent performance baselines that can be compared against local external benchmarks across global locations provides organizations with confidence to implement change as people start coming back to the central city offices,” said Victoria Mejevitch, Head of JLL’s Global Benchmarking Services.