In the Denver metro, "office" has become a 4-letter word as about 30% of downtown office space is vacant — and that doesn’t include “zombie buildings.”
We stopped going to downtown, almost for any reason except Avs games. Even then, we leave the sack and Uber right back to cherry creek. We used to stay in downtown all the time with my spouse's hotel employee benefits but not anymore. Everything changed for us when a homeless dude tried to attack us as he was walking in the rain in a t shirt with his fists balled yelling. My empathy for the homeless druggies in downtown is gone. My spouse's safety is more important.
Bad news, that means that downtown is trending towards blight. More buildings will vacate, businesses will leave, great increase in crime, and a worsening of living conditions. Goods news is housing will be cheaper, but that also means downtown will be a slum.
I wonder if real estate investors are still hopeful of a comeback or if they are trying to think of new uses. Office park real estate, must be particularly hard hit - who would rent those horrors now that they can afford a place in a highrise.
It's hard not to schadenfreude thinking about all the predicament of the owners of the cynically bland environments they tried to stuff us in.... And they wanted us to pay for parking on top of it. Hoping we never go back.