Episode 284: Mass Transit Reliance Playing Key Role in Office Re-Population

Reliance on mass transit is playing a key role in determining the pace at which office markets across the country re-populate, says Julie Whelan, head of occupier research for the Americas at CBRE.

Speaking on the REIT Report, Whelan noted that Texas is currently experiencing probably the largest return to the office, despite vaccination rates in some parts of the state lagging the national average. Other markets, such as California and New York, have higher vaccination rates but are returning to the office more slowly because of mass transit dependance, she added.

More focus needs to be placed on getting people comfortable on mass transit again and getting it back to normal schedules and routes. “It’s an essential piece of getting people back to work,” she said. Until that happens, “reduced ridership is really only going to sustain that reduced occupancy in buildings that we’re seeing.”

Whelan said best estimates point to current office occupancy at only a third of what was considered normal pre-pandemic. That is expected to change in the fall, however, as “the leisure of summer is going to abate and we’re going to get back into that normal routine.”