Working from home is being embraced by some as we try to find the right course for navigating the range of issues related to COVID-19, leading companies to rethink their office needs completely.
For companies operating across Canada, do they, for example, set one policy for Toronto and another for Saskatoon? Or do they simply find the lowest common denominator and apply that standard?
As those decisions are being made, those who own office buildings are looking for some stability.
Freeing up office space leads to higher vacancy rates and Saskatoon is not exempt from this development.
The latest Colliers report on Saskatoon office space, for example, shows vacancies rising in the downtown core and falling slightly in suburban areas.
This particular story has an added complicating factor — the completion of River Landing office space, which is filling up faster than expected. As tenants move in from other properties, their former offices need to be filled.
But the move to quality seems to be over and rental rates are now the big driving factor. Asking prices are now starting to soften, in some cases, by more than 10 per cent.
