The effects of remote and hybrid work schedules that emerged from the global pandemic are hitting American city office space hard. There is now more empty office space in the United States than at any time in more than 40 years. According to Moody’s Analytics, the national office vacancy rate rose to just under 20 percent, the highest since they began measuring office leasing vacancies in 1979.
With interest rates high for refinancing on these buildings and banks wondering if they’ll ever see repayment of the loans they made to build them, there is a deep concern nationwide that some are going to have to take drastic measures to survive a decreasing amount of downtown businesses and the tax revenue needed to run their cities. Not only will the operation of local government be affected, but so could funding for schools and road upkeep.
