Office Space is Changing in St. Louis
Date Posted: August 7, 2023
Posted In: News,
From St. Louis Public Radio: Downtowns across the country have largely struggled to return to how they were before the COVID pandemic, and St. Louis is no exception.
The business core of the region in downtown St. Louis has had a slew of companies announce they’re moving elsewhere in recent years, leaving vacant office buildings or ones that will soon be.
“What you’re seeing today is really a flight to quality,” said CBRE Senior Vice President Rick Messey, whose work focuses on office tenants and landlords in the St. Louis region. “Tenants are looking to upgrade their image, get people to return back to work, and they want fully amenitized space.”
In practice, that has meant companies choosing to move to newer office space in St. Louis County, especially in Clayton, Messey said.
“A lot of this has to do with bringing the employees back to work,” he said. “Companies want people to return back and start collaborating with their partners Tuesday through Friday.”
CBRE tracks office occupancy and vacancies in markets including St. Louis. Their second quarter figures post a total vacancy rate of about 20% for the nearly 11 million square feet of office space in the region’s central business district, compared to a 16% vacancy for the nearly 12 million square feet of office space in Creve Coeur and Clayton combined.
Amenities to bring workers back
Companies want buildings that can offer workers a range of additional perks, like gyms, full-service cafeterias or different settings where people can work, Messey said.
There needs to be a reason for employees to return to the office, since the pandemic proved remote work was viable, said Joel Fuoss, an architect and principal at Trivers Associates in St. Louis.
“It is thinking about the end user of not just housing workers, it’s not just a place where people come to work and do their thing and leave,” he said. “If you just want to get your work done, then people are going to opt to do that at home.”
Other local architectural and engineering firms have noticed similar trends with their clients.
“So much of what we’re talking about is: What is the company, the business, the clients?” said Margaret McDonald, a senior principal at the global architectural and engineering firm HOK. “What does everyone need from the workplace? What are the things that are going to bring someone into work?”