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Recent surveys show that consumers are looking to move out of cities, and in one report released in June, 82% of workers indicated they’d prefer to work from home at least two days per week. Here are four reasons offices should consider following workers to the suburbs.
- Rental cost: Office space in the suburbs often rents for about 75% of the amount charged for comparable space in the local central business district. And sometimes the difference is even greater: The average cost of office space per square foot is $29.50 in downtown Chicago but $15.75 in nearby Oak Park, Ill.
- Parking rates: Average monthly parking costs are $430 in New York, $300 in Chicago, and $220 in Los Angeles. In the suburbs, parking is often free.
- Amenities: Suburban areas naturally offer greater space and ability for social distancing than cities, but they are increasingly offering other conveniences such as walkability, grocery delivery, restaurants, and bars and nightlife.
- Access to workforce: Even before the pandemic, millennials and younger Generation Xers were already leaving the cities. 2018 was the fourth year in a row that cities with more than half a million people lost residents aged 25 to 39 to lower-density areas.
Sources: Back-to-Normal Barometer, CreditCards.com, Reoptimizer.com, LoopNet.com, SpotHero.com, Homebase.ai, SIOR, CNBC, The Wall Street Journal