Office users are reassessing space needs – a pronounced change in attitude rooted to the days of COVID-19’s peak. Bergman described the prevailing attitude now: “‘Instead of having one office in midtown Manhattan with 150,000 square feet of space, we’re OK with having four spaces. We’ll take in Fairfield, Conn., and we’ll take 15,000 to 20,000 square feet of space in Long Island and another 15,000 to 20,000 square feet of space in New Jersey because that’s where our people live, that’s where our executives live. Instead of everybody coming to that one office, maybe overall we’ll need a little less office space because some people are still working remotely.’”
He speaks from personal experience
He used his personal experience as an example of the metamorphosed landscape: “I grew up in Linwood, Brooklyn – I’ve been living there for 47 years. You used to not have any office space there. In the last couple of years, a bunch of these buildings were built and they’re doing very, very well.”
His personal investment practices outside of Eastern Union illustrate preference to see things at a macro level, he suggested. “Outside of my regular business, I’m involved in an office building development in Miami Beach. So obviously I don’t think at the micro level it’s doom and gloom. I’m putting my money where my mouth is actually.”
He sees stabilization ahead: “I think that’s what’s going to be the end of the story. People will figure it out – what works and what doesn’t work. And things will eventually stabilize.”
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