Why do people say that "return to office" is about raising commercial real estate prices?
A lot of times, when people discuss the phenomenon of employers ending work-from-home and try to make their employees come back to the office, people say that the motivation is to raise real estate prices.
I don't follow the logic at all. How would doing this benefit an employer in any way?
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A big thing in my country, business buildings are expensive because of location and what's around them. But if employees aren't in the office, restaurants, cafes public transport corner shops etc lower in demand or even close entirely. This makes the building itself less in demand and harder to rent out at a higher price.
A lot of these buildings are owned by banks, CEO's and financial institutions who have the money to push for changes like government to make people come into office and can use any reason like "think of all the failing cafes!".
Ah, hm... I guess that makes sense. Bringing people to the office raises the value of surrounding retail, which in turn raises the value of the office. Thanks, that explanation clears it up.
Don't forget if the company outright owns the building, any market price drop negatively affect there books, in asset/net worth section.