Are you working from home? How has COVID-19 changed the suburban office market? Since the start of Spring 2020, a large number of New Jersey residents have been working from home.
Even though the state is gradually reopening, the number of people still working from home remains high. Employers are preparing for an eventual return to the workplace but this plan’s implementation will have multiple phases and layers to it. It may be some time before the mass commute across the bridge begins. Experts are predicting that the North Jersey suburban office market will be seeing the largest boost in people looking for office space as a result of the COVID pandemic.
Now you may ask “why?”
Very simple—with the threat of COVID-19 hopefully coming to an end in the coming months, employers are finally thinking of what the “new normal” will look like. Will companies need the same size offices as before? Will the vast majority of employees continue to work from home?
The “new normal” will require more flexible work environments. Employers are starting to strategize as to what the post-COVID office will look like and how to create more forward-thinking work environments. The answer is not that everyone will continue to work from home, but rather that people will have satellite offices in North Jersey—small suites to accommodate just one or two employees or even larger spaces to accommodate more if needed, with main offices to be used one or two days a week in Manhattan. Can meetings continue on Zoom? Sure, or they can be held weekly once co-workers get together in their “flagship” offices.
Most likely this new model will become one that is more the norm for companies with large offices in Manhattan, Westchester, Brooklyn and Queens, thus cutting overhead and allowing employees to derive the benefit of working closer to home, hopefully creating more productivity.
Over the past several months I have been receiving many calls from Manhattan-based firms looking for smaller satellite offices in New Jersey. I believe this will be the future trend as more and more businesses take this approach, thus increasing demand for office space in Northern New Jersey.
Are you looking for “flexible” office space or do you own an office building with vacancies? Contact the Einhorn Team at V and N Group LLC, located at 1401 Palisade Ave. in Teaneck NJ: 516-965-2547 or [email protected].
