In Speaking with a few dozen people in the Commercial Real Estate market over the last week it is clear that clarity on what to expect in the future is not imminent but the feeling that things will be different is almost universal. Below are a selection of comments and speculations about what the near and long term impact of this pandemic.

- There is likely to be an increase of Millennial and others gravitating to the suburbs.

- Retail (especially restaurants) and Multi-Tenant housing are likely to suffer serious setbacks

- In the short term businesses will need to figure out how to work and make their employees feel safe once formal “Stay at Home” rules are relaxed but before a vaccine is deployed.

• Maintaining Social Distance

• Some Still Working Remotely

• No Large Meetings

• Cleaning of spaces and buildings

- In the long term, business incorporating learning from this pandemic may result in some of the following:

• Greater acceptance of remote working and flexible schedules even in small to mid-size businesses.

• Less desire for high density open office environments.

• The physical office representing a hub that allows for creativity, innovation and collaboration in conjunction with less dense open areas and remote working options.

• More remote workers would reduce the traffic, strain on mass transit and infrastructure, reduce carbon emissions but also pose challenges in managing remote workforce, employee engagement, creative endeavors, productivity and loneliness.

Everyone please stay safe and be well during these trying times and the future will become clearer as we get closer to it. PSA is fully remote and operating, so please let us know if we can help in any way or you would just like to chat about any of the above….we would love to hear your opinion!