Office Landlords Will Be Squeezed by Secondhand Market
Companies are subletting space they no longer need from London to San Francisco. The trend could force property owners to lower rents.
January 2, 2020 | Carol Ryan | Wall Street Journal
Office landlords have fared better than shopping-mall owners during the pandemic so far. However, they may soon be competing with their own tenants as companies sublet space they no longer need.
Asking rents for offices in global hubs like London and New York have been surprisingly stable in 2020, even as many employees continue to work from home. Manhattan rents fell 3% in the third quarter compared with the same period of 2019, while rates for the best locations in the U.K. capital are down by roughly the same amount, Savills data shows.
