Office occupancy in Australia’s two largest cities has hit an all-time low as stay-at-home orders keep workers away. covid19 pandemic offices
The premium office towers that dominate Sydney and Melbourne’s skylines are effectively empty, with occupancy hitting an all-time low while stay-at-home orders keep workers away.Extended lockdowns across Australia’s two largest cities in August saw occupancy in Sydney’s CBD slump to just 4 per cent, while Melbourne’s plunged to a record low of 7 per cent compared to pre-pandemic levels, Property Council of Australia figures show.
“All the gains made earlier this year to reactivate the city have now been lost as workers have again been forced to desert the CBD in droves due to lockdown, and the city again resembles a ghost town,” the PCA’s Victorian executive director Danni Hunter said. David Makin, who runs Axil Coffee Roasters’ 16 venues in Melbourne, said he will likely close several cafés when the government-mandated code of conduct for rent relief finishes in February next year.One Axil Coffee venue in the city has got more than $100,000 in deferred rent. “We’re getting to the stage where we are going to have to walk away from a few,” he said.
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