From the September issue: Office feeling claustrophobic? It’s not just your imagination: The average office leasing transaction has fallen to just 5,700 square feet. That’s a roughly 50 percent drop from the peak of 10,500 square feet in 1997, according to data the CoStar Group provided to The Real Deal. The trend translates into more shared offices and open floor plans, and far fewer rooms of one’s own. Observers say the less-is-more approach is likely here to stay, and the uptick in demand for large floor plates during the recent boom just masked the long-term trend toward smaller offices. “Most of the deals we’re doing now are in that range,” said Michael Kaufman, partner in the Kaufman Organization, which owns or manages roughly 5 million square feet of New York metro-area property. “Everyone is forced to use space more wisely.” [more]
