Commercial Real Estate is Dying

[Uaarkson]

America’s offices are the emptiest they've been in at least four decades, according to report

WWW.FOXBUSINESS.COM

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Experts cite the pandemic and the rise in remote work as one of the leading factors behind the high office vacancy rate.

So, what is the solution to this? How do we keep CBDs from dying post covid? More residential conversions can’t be the only answer.

[SuperSpreader]

12 minutes ago, Uaarkson said:

CBDs

 

Bro I had to look this up. 

 

~~~~~~~~~~

 

It's capitalism baby, evolve or die, survival of the fittest! No nanny state bailouts. 

 

I suggest they get creative with mixed use space. Oh you built your office in Richardson in an office park with no community for 3 miles? Well that's on corporate boards/etc. I know they're looking to shift blame and save themselves but I say let them burn. Learn to bake bread bitches. They won't be the first ghost town built on exploiting labor in America.

[Mr.Vic20]

Boy do I know it! Look, I absolutely love the idea of the hybrid or remote work models, but I can anecdotally tell you that this approach has directly impacted productivity at my place of work. I've seen critical paths grow by 25-30% on my last 2 projects. Its infuriating, because I personally love the idea of remote collaboration, but my reality doesn't put it in a good light. I type this from my desk in my office where there use to be roughly 60 people and now there are 8 people here on average. 

[CitizenVectron]

10 minutes ago, Mr.Vic20 said:

Boy do I know it! Look, I absolutely love the idea of the hybrid or remote work models, but I can anecdotally tell you that this approach has directly impacted productivity at my place of work. I've seen critical paths grow by 25-30% on my last 2 projects. Its infuriating, because I personally love the idea of remote collaboration, but my reality doesn't put it in a good light. I type this from my desk in my office where there use to be roughly 60 people and now there are 8 people here on average. 

 

I think it absolutely depends on what the job is and who the people are doing the job. There are some jobs that obviously need to be done in-person, usually due to technical limitations. There are others that can be done remotely without any impact (and in fact, sometimes improvement). Then there's a mash (probably 50% of total) that can be done remotely, but it could have an impact either way depending on the person. 

[Uaarkson]

My productivity was shit when I worked remote. It’s hard to work when your bed is five feet away lmao

[Reputator]

CBDs are doing just fine. I even bought some that came in a tincture bottle, you put a couple drops under your tongue to help you relax. Didn't really work for me though.

[b_m_b_m_b_m]

No conversions?

 

ok, new residential construction 

[chakoo]

Good... Good...

 

More companies should have a smaller footprint and be more like a WeWork setup. An outpost with the necessities employees might need if they want somewhere to go work but over all who gives a **** where you work as long as your stuff is on time, to expected quality and people can reach you during the agreed upon hours.

[finaljedi]

People have options now, the hour commute, the monthly cost for parking in the city, and expensive lunch options are not things a lot of people are wanting to go back to.  Especially when you can get on LinkedIn and scoop up a remote job.  It also didn't help that before COVID the type of people who didn't have to work in these offices were coming up with layouts for these offices.  Fuck your noisy open plan tiny workspace shit.

[Brian]

How about adding back amenities like on-site child care, gyms, subsidized cafeterias, and commuter benefits that have been removed over the years? Companies got so comfortable having all the power and squeezing employees that can’t handle the new environment. It’s why it feels like they all desperately want a recession to find some leverage again. 

[Jason]

Apparently the weakness is in large Class A office space while B and C are doing fine. 

[SuperSpreader]

2 hours ago, finaljedi said:

Fuck your noisy open plan tiny workspace shit.

I worked at a place that was full bright overhead lights, open floor plan, and mood music playing loudly for executive vibes on the floor (not the offices), if it wasn't music it was movies, do you know how hard it is to focus on tedious tasks when Batman is screaming "pray to me!!" blowing out your ears daily. It was super miserable to focus on anything.

[GeneticBlueprint]

One more reason that corporations are buying up residential property. 

[Jason]

6 minutes ago, SuperSpreader said:

I worked at a place that was full bright overhead lights, open floor plan, and mood music playing loudly for executive vibes on the floor (not the offices), if it wasn't music it was movies, do you know how hard it is to focus on tedious tasks when Batman is screaming "pray to me!!" blowing out your ears daily. It was super miserable to focus on anything.

 

I like going into the office, but I have an actual office with a door, and windows so I can keep the lights off 99% of the time. I've really only had to turn them on late in the year for a little bit at the end of the day when sunset gets really early. 

[SuperSpreader]

Just now, Jason said:

 

I like going into the office, but I have an actual office with a door, and windows so I can keep the lights off 99% of the time. I've really only had to turn them on late in the year for a little bit at the end of the day when sunset gets really early. 

 

This felt like an interrogation all day

 

 

 

[finaljedi]

1 hour ago, SuperSpreader said:

I worked at a place that was full bright overhead lights, open floor plan, and mood music playing loudly for executive vibes on the floor (not the offices), if it wasn't music it was movies, do you know how hard it is to focus on tedious tasks when Batman is screaming "pray to me!!" blowing out your ears daily. It was super miserable to focus on anything.

 

There was a while where a lot of the companies wanted to feel like a scrappy startup even if they weren't.  Open plan, brick walls, ceiling open to the steel roof, could hear a pin drop from across the room thanks to the echo... if there weren't 150 other people in that room.

[Gavin King]

My office built a new building just before the pandemic, all open office concept, no assigned cubes, no cubes at all, just rows of desks and monitors you bring your laptop to. I would have hated it if I ever had to work there with full staff. Noisy as hell, no personality to make your space your own (pictures, knick knacks, red stapler), no privacy, impossible to take a call.

 

I've been remote since the pandemic, even switched companies and still remote. If I work for a local company some time in the future, I'd go in occasionally, but otherwise, I see no reason to ever go back. I ain't moving.... If being in the office was required, every other aspect of the role must be a 10/10 or higher to consider.

 

Companies that are forcing RTO are taking a hit. Bleeding talent, can't retain, can't attract replacements. It's their way to low key lay off with people volunteering to quit and they don't have to pay a severance. Eventually though they lose all historical knowledge and it's going to be rough trying to build it back up.

[Xbob42]

12 hours ago, Mr.Vic20 said:

Boy do I know it! Look, I absolutely love the idea of the hybrid or remote work models, but I can anecdotally tell you that this approach has directly impacted productivity at my place of work. I've seen critical paths grow by 25-30% on my last 2 projects. Its infuriating, because I personally love the idea of remote collaboration, but my reality doesn't put it in a good light. I type this from my desk in my office where there use to be roughly 60 people and now there are 8 people here on average. 

I think part of the issue is that people aren't actually trained (or not trained effectively) in how to be productive while working remotely. Learning some best practices for setting up a proper work space in your home (Or Starbucks or whatever, I dunno where you fuckin hippies work) can help a lot, as well as minimizing family distractions. You're always gonna have some people in unstable situations at their homes for whatever reason, but I don't think the solution is a big expensive office building to force everyone to be miserable so the few weirdos who "like" going into an office are happy. Perhaps a better solution would be a company laptop and getting your ass to a quiet place like a library or the park or working in your parked car like a creepy weirdo.

[finaljedi]

16 hours ago, Xbob42 said:

I think part of the issue is that people aren't actually trained (or not trained effectively) in how to be productive while working remotely. Learning some best practices for setting up a proper work space in your home (Or Starbucks or whatever, I dunno where you fuckin hippies work) can help a lot, as well as minimizing family distractions. You're always gonna have some people in unstable situations at their homes for whatever reason, but I don't think the solution is a big expensive office building to force everyone to be miserable so the few weirdos who "like" going into an office are happy. Perhaps a better solution would be a company laptop and getting your ass to a quiet place like a library or the park or working in your parked car like a creepy weirdo.

 

There have been times I've thought about getting a plan at one of those coworking spaces, to have someplace to go.  But holy fuck are they expensive.  Companies aren't going to subsidize that, because you might as well open an office somewhere with what those places charge.

[Ghost_MH]

I am so much more productive at home than I was in the office. That said, part of that might be the no stress from traveling 1.5 hours, one way. Another part is that I'm mostly on the server, services, and policy side of IT where as half the office anyways thinks IT is IT and I spend so much time trying to bat away laptop and phone questions. 

 

I do miss the free beer and ice cream, though.

[Jason]

I mean yeah of course you'll prefer WFH if your commute sucks. My commute is a 30 minute walk each way, which is another reason I like going in. 

[b_m_b_m_b_m]

12 hours ago, Jason said:

I mean yeah of course you'll prefer WFH if your commute sucks. My commute is a 30 minute walk each way, which is another reason I like going in. 

A 30 minute walk in Santa Monica is probably the single best commute one can have lol