While some downtown Cleveland workers have returned to offices, outlook is ‘bleak’ according to industry leaders

CLEVELAND, Ohio (WOIO) -The Downtown Cleveland Alliance is pushing new numbers showing office space occupancy rates are getting closer to what we saw in 2019, before the pandemic sent workers home.

According to data published by the Alliance, from CBRE, the amount of workers who have returned is around 72%, with office space is sitting around 81.9% occupied.

Cincinnati is comparable at 82.4% occupied and Pittsburgh at 85%.

One area Cleveland is thriving is the number of people living in downtown.

The Alliance data shows there are about 21,000 people living in downtown at a 91% occupancy, which is better than Pittsburgh is at 88.7%.

While those number paint a decent picture of downtown, at least one in the commercial real estate market used the term “bleak” for the outlook of commercial office space.

Terry Coyne with Newmark says about 9 buildings in downtown are winning by modernizing facilities and offering things like gyms, restaurants, pickle ball courts and green space to attract and keep workers.

“Then there’s about 22 buildings that aren’t going to make it, that are either in receivership, have already gone through receivership, we call them the zombie buildings,” Coyne said. “The winners will win, but there will be far more losers and it’s not a pretty sight in downtown Cleveland or in any downtowns. We’re not somehow unique.”

According to Coyne this trend has been happening for a while and will get worse before it gets better saying for years the amount of office space square footage has been shrinking.

According to Coyne in the 1990′s there was approximately 25 million square feet of office space in downtown.

By 2019, the year before the pandemic it was at 19 million, then 16 million in 2022 and is expected to be just 8 million by 2026.