The American office building, where millions of white-collar employees have headed to work for more than a century, is in a state of reckoning, the Wall Street Journal reported. Newly built skyscrapers in central business districts are still filling up and charging top rents, even during the pandemic, but thousands of older buildings across the U.S. face an uncertain future. As more companies elect to make remote work or a hybrid model a permanent part of their corporate culture, they are looking to cut costs on real estate. An outdated office makes the decision to end a lease or sell a building easier. In New York and San Francisco, more than 80% of all office space is more than 30 years old, and Chicago isn’t far behind, according to Phil Ryan, director of U.S. office research at Jones Lang LaSalle Inc. These three cities also have some of the lowest office occupancy rates in the country: Less than 40% of the workforce was back in the office as of early December, according to Kastle Systems, which tracks how many people swipe into buildings.
