NYC Tops U.S. Cities In Post-Pandemic Return To Office

The financial capital of the world is leading the charge to get workers back into the office after the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to data from Placer.ai, New York City has nearly rebounded from the pandemic’s remote work shift, with April office building visits down just 5.5% compared to April 2019, the NY Post reports. The numbers position NYC as the national frontrunner in the return-to-office movement.

While most major U.S. cities saw an uptick in office visits compared to the previous month, their April attendance still lagged behind 2019 levels by an average of 30.7%. Cities like Los Angeles, Chicago, and San Francisco trailed New York, with office visits remaining 42% to 44% below pre-pandemic numbers.

Research shows office attendance in NYC’s busy Manhattan is back to 94.5% of pre-pandemic levels. Key areas include Park and Sixth Avenues, Hudson Yards, Manhattan West, and around the World Trade Center, where office lobbies and sidewalks are as lively as they were before March 2019.

This is great news for developers and landlords, as major new leases and expansions since January—from companies like Amazon, Aquarian Holdings, Amalgamated Bank, and several law firms—reflect a strong demand for office space that seems largely unaffected by ongoing hybrid work trends.

Industry insiders are also seeing a shift for real estate developers, as top executives at major firms like publicly traded SL Green and privately held Related Companies report that, since mid-2024, the work-from-home model is no longer influencing landlord or tenant decisions. The findings underscore a sharp shift back to in-office work as demand for traditional workplace models rises.

After going fully remote in 2020, many companies adopted hybrid setups in recent years, requiring staff to come in only a few days a week. But recently, corporate giants like Amazon, Dell, and Walmart have implemented full return-to-office (RTO) mandates, calling employees back five days a week. A 2024 study of S&P 500 companies found that firms were more likely to issue RTO mandates following stock declines, aiming to boost productivity and improve financial performance.

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