Armano Real Estate December Newsletter
Hope Abounds for the Holiday Season
Market activity over the past couple months has been strong and Armano Real Estate has been extremely busy working on renewals and acquisitions for new and existing clients. Kastle Systems recorded NYC office usage at 34.7% for the week ended November 2021. This is close to peak levels since the onset of the pandemic. New York City Mass transportation usage is below last year levels by 43.0% – 45.0% for the subway, 43.0% – 46.0% for the LIRR and 47.0 – 52.0% for the MTA for the weekdays beginning 11/15 and 11/22. These are also at peak, or close to peak, levels. The Partnership for New York City surveyed major employers between October 19 and October 29, 2021, to assess the impact of remote work on NYC employment and future demand for office space. Employers expect that 49% of workers will be in the office on an average weekday by January 30, 2022, with 57% in the office at least three days a week while 21% remain fully remote. According to the latest preliminary data provided by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, more than 81,000 private sector jobs were added during October in the largest monthly job gain of the year. The month-over-month percentage change in private sector jobs not only outpaced New York state, but the national average as well. With firms increasing headcount in such a large way, this may be an indicator of a near-term return to office. Office availability peaked in the second half of 2021, and we have seen some slight rent increases. Armano Real Estate expects a close to full return to the office by Spring of 2022 and further availability decreases. We expect positive absorption of space in the first half of 2022 due to the continuation of return to the office trends and a continued increase in new hiring. We, therefore, expect material rent increases during this period. We also expect that the return will be through a hybrid model with most employees working in the office 2-4 days a week at most. We are concerned about the recent Omicron variant. However, it is too soon to tell if this variant will have any effect on the NYC office market. Please note our observation that the Delta variant did nothing more than slow office market recovery progress. Thus, it is our hope and expectation that this new variant will also have little or no effect on our expected 2022 recovery scenario. We, therefore, encourage tenants to proactively use this window of opportunity to engage the market and explore options to best reposition their corporate real estate. Please feel free to contact us regarding your current real estate situation. We can provide a no-fee lease review and analysis and a preliminary space program to help meet your back to work plan and corporate real estate vision. Please see the below link for recent news announcements and our newsletters: |
| Please see the below link for recent news announcements: In the News Please see the below links for NYC recovery index: NYC Economic Recovery Index Please see the below links for NYC COVID results: Positive COVID-19 Results by Region Please see the following link regarding HealthCheck360 COVID-19 Workplace Solutions: HealthCheck360 COVID-19 Workplace Solutions |
