Office leasing has come to an abrupt halt during the pandemic, but some office properties have been spared. Low-density, low-rise properties have continued to see leasing traction this year. Harbor Associates' garden-style property Bungalows Del Mar is among the lucky. The property has re-opened after a significant renovation and leased to health care, medical, financial services and technology tenants.

"Garden-style projects by their physical construction are conducive to leasing in a COVID and post COVID market," Rich McEvoy, a principal at Harbor, tells GlobeSt.com. "These projects are typically low rise with stairwells as opposed to elevators, include exterior walkways, direct tenant entries accessed from the outside and abundant open air. In today's world tenants are more comfortable in these settings than traditional high-rise buildings."

Smaller apartment properties in suburban markets have been leaders in leasing activity, outperforming traditional assets. "Garden-style assets are usually located in the suburbs and prior to COVID we saw a trend emerging of tenants looking for suburban office space," says McEvoy. "The average millennial is roughly 30 years old and living in a downtown environment may not be as appealing as it was three to five years ago. We think COVID accelerated a push to the suburbs that has been underway for the past 24 months."