According to a soon to be released Mid-Year Chicago Sentiment Report from The Real Estate Center at DePaul University, approximately 56 percent of commercial real estate professionals think that being fully vaccinated should be a requirement for returning to work in an office setting.
The Real Estate Center, along with participation from the Real Estate Investment Association (REIA) and the Chicago Chapter of CoreNet Global, completed a survey to gauge the Mid-Year Sentiment for the Chicago Real Estate Market. The full report, with perspectives from DePaul alumni in the CRE industry, sponsors of The Real Estate Center as well as members of REIA and CORENET, will be released later this month.
Further, approximately 22 percent of the participants expect that the post-COVID work environment will mean being back in the office full time after September 1. Almost 40 percent believe that picture will mean being in the office at least 50 percent of the time.
One survey respondent commented, “I think the demise of the downtown office is much exaggerated. Give it some time to settle. There are some changes that are here to stay, but overall it is not going to look much different.”
The survey of more than 500 commercial real estate professionals was conducted in June, ahead of the recent surge in the Delta variant.
Tom Volini, Executive Vice President, Colliers Chicago, is a tenant rep broker and a REIA Board Member who participated in the report. Originally interviewed in June, Volini now expresses a greater level of concern for what the office market could look like after Labor Day.
“I just recently heard of a large office employer that has re-closed its Loop office due to a number of vaccinated employees testing positive and growing concerns tied to variant,” Volini says. “I think we are collectively crossing our fingers against the type of surge that would cause this trend to gain steam and dampen the optimism and enthusiasm we’ve seen lately.”
“Time is the mechanism for telling us what will happen,” Volini concludes.
The recent surge notwithstanding, Charles Wurtzebach, Douglas and Cynthia Crocker Endowed Director of The Real Estate Center at DePaul, is generally optimistic about the Chicago real estate markets.
“Capital is still flowing as investors remain optimistic,” he says. “People know that traditional economic forces like oversupply and lack of demand did not cause the ‘pandemic downturn’. We were dragged into it kicking and screaming and we want it to be over!”
Wurtzebach adds that pent up demand is and will remain significant.
