Sam Zell said in an interview on CNBC he thinks office space will likely fill once Covid-19 poses less of a risk to workers, adding he thinks office space will “recover much quicker than retail.”
Real estate billionaire Sam Zell predicted Tuesday that office space will recover much more quickly than retail properties from their current pandemic levels, as workers return to the office once Covid-19 becomes “less of a risk”— though he noted hybrid arrangements are likely to stay.... [+]Getty Imageshe thinks office space will likely fill once Covid-19 poses less of a risk to workers, adding he thinks office space will “recover much quicker than retail.
Zell was more skeptical about retail spaces like malls, saying there's a “serious question as to [retail's] viability,” adding he thinks it is much more of a"falling knife" than office properties. He predicted the speed of recovery for office space will be tied to thriving industries enticing and hiring more workers to work the office, but added he also thinks hybrid work will become commonplace.
Obsolescence is a main factor for the office market, according to Zell, who said he thinks some offices will remain hard to sell without “significant investment,” noting the current disparity between office prices and office attractiveness, and how there has been “relatively little” change in pricing.