Sombre figures point to a deceleration in CBD revival

Sydney’s CBD has emerged on top with growth of three percentage points from 45 to 48 per cent between January and February.

On the contrary, following recent snap lockdowns, Melbourne and Perth CBDs both had less workers at the end of February, with Melbourne’s CBD recording only 24 per cent occupancy in the final week of last month.

“It is clear that snap lockdowns have had an impact on CBD workers’ ability to return to their offices and their confidence to do so,” said Property Council chief executive Ken Morrison.

He judged that while it’s naturally expected that more people will continue to work from home as part of the new COVID-normal, “thriving CBDs will be critical to Australia’s economic recovery”.

“Lively city centres are not only important for the thousands of businesses who rely on foot traffic, but also for millions of jobs and hundreds of billions of dollars in broader economic activity generated in our CBDs.” 

Judging by the Property Council’s findings, the most COVID-resilient city is Darwin, where occupancy stood at a firm 80 per cent in February. Darwin did, however, suffer a slight setback, losing two percentage points from December’s 82 per cent.

But recognising the need to boost office occupancy, Mr Morrison underlined the imperativeness of a join approach by policymakers, employers and the property industry.

“There is an economic imperative for all stakeholders to instigate policies and initiatives that will ensure our CBDs return to full activity as quickly as possible,” Mr Morrison said. 

According to the survey, greater flexibility was featured as one of the key barriers to full occupancy. Government lockdowns and public health restrictions were also noted as a major factor. 

“As Australia’s public health response reaches a new phase and the vaccination program rolls out, we’re looking forward to more CBD workers coming back to their offices to enjoy the benefits of face-to-face connections and collaboration,” Mr Morrison concluded.