Due to COVID-19's impact, the commercial office market should fundamentally shift in favor of tenants for the next several years. Law firm tenants should find an environment characterized by friendly concessions, options across asset classes and price ranges, and limited competition for space.
When the pandemic sent everyone home in March 2020, it was a seismic shift in work, but one that had a clear reasoning behind it, and, oddly, was remarkably uniform in execution for all involved. The return to the office is much more complicated, and it isn't just about logistics.
Adaption was a critical skill for many commercial real estate firms throughout the pandemic. Companies had to hustle to get the supplies to protect their employees and residents. They're not only thinking about what can protect their occupants from COVID, but what high-tech investments can make their buildings healthier in the future.
Law firms are waiting to see how new trends like working remotely play out for office space post-pandemic, but that wait-and-see approach has created a tenant's market with opportunities for proactive firms in the short term.
Several members of Commercial Leasing Law & Strategy's Board of Editors and contributors to Law.com and our ALM sibling GlobeSt.com took part in a Twitter chat on "Do We Need Offices Anymore?"
Challenges facing us in 2019, while seemingly very distant, deserve attention in addition to the new obstacles our firms face during what may be a temporary flattening of the COVID-19 curve. Here are four areas that law firms must continue to address to remain on the right side of 2020.
Current circumstances present an opportunity for tenants to use new strategies to renegotiate or even terminate leases. This article looks at conventional legal strategies that may provide grounds for lease termination before turning to consider another, third, approach.
Overall, the pandemic will likely result in long-term changes for law firm offices. While law firm leasing activity will eventually pick up, firms may decrease their overall footprints, taking up 10% to 15% less square footage because some people will continue working from home.
