JONATHAN HAYWARD/The Canadian Press
“Given the incredibly strong overall Vancouver office fundamentals entering the global health crisis, we do not believe there will be major trauma to the office market,” says the report. “By any historical measure, and in comparison to most markets around the globe, Vancouver remains fundamentally one of the strongest office markets anywhere.”
But that would be offset by a need for more space per employee to maintain distancing and the city’s continuing strong pull for businesses and high-skilled new immigrants. There have been prominent announcements by tech companies such as Ottawa-based e-commerce company Shopify, along with Google, Facebook and Twitter, that have said offices will no longer be central to their businesses and employees will be allowed to work from home after the pandemic ends.
A spokesman for Amazon confirmed the large bloc of space it has committed to in Vancouver, primarily in the redevelopment of the city’s historic former main post office, will be needed for the 3,000 employees it said it would be hiring two years ago, when it announced its plans for the building. The company is not looking for additional space, contrary to some rumours circulating in the city.
Why did Microsoft take a 450 million dollar hit to get out of commercial real estate? cdnpoli