And, thanks to the one-two punch of the delta and omicron variants, a new recognition has emerged: Many, if not most of us, plan to use offices very differently, if at all, over the months and even years to come. It’s a scary thought for office-building owners, who worry how they’ll survive in a world where tenants are shifting to remote or hybrid work in ever greater numbers. No need to schlep to the office when you have Zoom, Slack and other work-metaverse tools, right? Maybe so, but owners of big downtown offices aren’t ready to surrender just yet.
So what to do with all that pricy real estate? For many landlords, the answer is to reimagine how buildings will be used in the future, and to find innovative (read digital) ways to make spaces as valuable as possible to office tenants whose employees have never been more untethered from the traditional workplace. Like many old-line industries—except perhaps with greater urgency—the real estate sector is…
