CHICAGO, IL- DTZ has just released its annual Global Occupancy Costs-Offices survey and revealed that the costs for office space in North Asia increased by 6.3%. The United States offered a sharp contrast. Costs fell 10.9%, largely driven by the successful attempts of American tenants to increase workplace efficiency and cut down on the amount of space used by employees. On average, however, American workers still have the roomiest workstations in the world.
“The U.S. was undoubtedly one of the stories of the year, with occupancy costs per workstation falling in every city,” said Karine Woodford, the head of occupier research at DTZ, a London-based company. “Demand for space was low, reflecting a sluggish labor market and weak corporate sentiment, but the biggest reason for the decline was a trend across the board for greater space efficiency.”
The amount of space allotted on average to each American worker dropped 11.8%, DTZ found. Washington, D.C. led the nation with a drop of 17%, followed by Los Angeles with 14%.
Recommended For You
Want to continue reading?
Become a Free ALM Digital Reader.
Once you are an ALM Digital Member, you’ll receive:
- Breaking commercial real estate news and analysis, on-site and via our newsletters and custom alerts
- Educational webcasts, white papers, and ebooks from industry thought leaders
- Critical coverage of the property casualty insurance and financial advisory markets on our other ALM sites, PropertyCasualty360 and ThinkAdvisor
Already have an account? Sign In Now
*May exclude premium content© 2025 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to asset-and-logo-licensing@alm.com. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
Brian J. Rogal
Brian J. Rogal is a Chicago-based freelance writer with years of experience as an investigative reporter and editor, most notably at The Chicago Reporter, where he concentrated on housing issues. He also has written extensively on alternative energy and the payments card industry for national trade publications.
