Office visitation rates rebound as work patterns evolve in post-pandemic Manhattan, finds Cushman & Wakefield

New report “Manhattan in Motion” analyzes the upward trend and its impact on the future of the office in Manhattan

A new report by global real estate services firm Cushman & Wakefield highlights the resurgence of office visitation rates in Manhattan, signifying a robust recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic. Utilizing Placer.ai data integrated with nearly 700 Class A and B buildings in the firm’s dataset, Manhattan in Motion analyzes the upward trend and its impact on the future of the workplace in Manhattan.

The resurgence in office visitation rates is a testament to the resilience and adaptability of Manhattan’s workforce. Our analysis, leveraging advanced location intelligence from Placer.ai and Cushman & Wakefield’s unique dataset, reveals not only a quantitative recovery but also a qualitative shift in how companies are valuing office culture and in-person collaboration. This trend is a strong indicator of the evolving dynamics in the commercial real estate market post-pandemic.

Lori Albert, director of Tri-State Research

Key findings include:

• Weekly office visits: Anonymized mobile device data recorded a weekly average of 2.3 million office building visits in March 2024, yielding a 72.2% recovery from February 2020 levels.
• Peak weekday visits: Average weekday visits are the highest on Wednesdays, reaching an 83.5% recovery of the February 2020 baseline — 11.3 percentage points higher than the overall market.
• Performance of trophy assets: Trophy assets accounted for 16.7% of Midtown’s average weekly visits in March 2024, marking an increase of 100 basis points from one year ago.
• Occupied square footage: Over the past three years, occupied square footage has become 74.2% more concentrated, contracting from 468.1 square feet (sf) per visit to 120.6 sf per visit in the first quarter of 2024.

The report’s findings underscore the evolving dynamics of work patterns post-pandemic, highlighting notable differences across various markets and asset classes and illustrating a positive trend in office utilization, with significant implications for the future of workspaces in Manhattan.

The full Manhattan in Motion: Decoding New York City’s Office Resurgence with Location Intelligence report is available from Cushman & Wakefield.