According to a report by research firm Colliers, the vacancy rate could rise to 40% in the near future.
PORTLAND, Ore. — A recent report from research firm Colliers paints a bleak picture of the state of office vacancy in Portland. Portland's office vacancy rate is approximately 30% in the central business district, the highest in the United States.
Colliers said that number could rise to nearly 40% at some point in 2024.
“Every city has its challenges. No place is perfect, but downtown is in crisis. We need to triage downtown just like you would go to the hospital if you had a sick child,” Jordan said.・Mr. Schnitzer said. , business developer and philanthropist.
Schnitzer said downtown businesses have faced many challenges in recent years. From work-from-home policies during COVID-19 to the city's ongoing drug and homelessness issues and high local taxes, companies are deciding to leave downtown, Schnitzer said. is thinking.
“The jewel of any metropolitan area is its downtown, no matter what city you think of. You can't just put Portland downstream,” Schnitzer said. “To fill office vacancies, we need the equivalent of approximately 60,000 to 70,000 workers a day in Portland. We need to work together strategically to bring those people back,” Schnitzer said. he said.
RELATED: Downtown Portland has the highest office vacancy rate in the U.S., report says
Schnitzer added that restaurants and retail stores have been hurt by the city's lack of office workers. But despite Colliers' gloomy outlook, he believes Portland can still turn things around.
“We have to start with an attitude of, 'Hey, this is still the city we love. This is still our home.' Great minds, diverse people with all different ideas. Let's get a group together. Let's see how we can get downtown Portland back on track. We can do it,” Schnitzer said.
Follow KGW on social media: Facebook | twitter | Instagram | YouTube
Download the KGW News app. Click here to download for iPhone | Click here to download for Android
Stream newscasts for free on KGW+ on Roku, Amazon Fire, and AppleTV. Click here to learn how to add the app to your device
Did you see a typo in this article? Email web@kgw.com to have it corrected.
