Office & Life Science

The U.S. office market has experienced a significant upheaval since the Covid-19 pandemic, increasing vacancy from roughly 12.5% in early 2019 to nearly 20% by the end of 2025. The post-pandemic office reset has produced a correction deeper and longer than the savings-and-loan crisis (1989–1993), the dot-com bust (2000–2003), or the Global Financial Crisis (2007–2010). New office construction has collapsed to 30-year lows while demolitions and conversions are removing inventory faster than new space is being built. Reduced new supply will serve as an offset to reduced demand as the market seeks equilibrium.

Life science real estate, once considered a natural offset to office weakness, has experienced an even sharper correction than office. Venture funding boomed immediately following the onset of Covid-19 and then contracted to pre-pandemic levels, creating a surge in both new construction vacancy and sublease inventory in key cluster markets. The life science real estate market is seeking its own equilibrium following a massive reset, representing one of the most dramatic boom-bust cycles in the history of commercial real estate.