美国国家公共电台 NPR--Post pandemic: Return to the office lags — affecting commercial real estate

Post pandemic: Return to the office lags — affecting commercial real estate

Transcript¹

There are more empty office spaces now than during the 2008 financial crisis. These vacancies² could spell trouble for downtown city centers and the broader commercial real estate market.

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

For some people in this country, the return to the office has not really happened. The pandemic intensified³ a trend of working from home. And while many people, of course, have long since returned to the office, more than half of Americans now work from home either some days or every day, which has left many corporate⁴ towers and office spaces empty. NPR's Arezou Rezvani visited one block of downtown Los Angeles.

JAMES WALLACE SEARS: These are pandemic shoes.

AREZOU REZVANI, BYLINE⁵: For the last few years, 80-year-old James Wallace Sears has kept a collection of what he calls pandemic shoes...

SEARS: Move to left.

REZVANI: ...Drawers full of heels, boots, loafers, all dropped off at his shoe repair shop here in downtown Los Angeles back in 2020 and long forgotten.

SEARS: You know, they were here pre-pandemic, and they've never picked them up.

REZVANI: These shoes mostly belong to lawyers, consultants⁶ and financial advisers⁷. They used to leave their broken soles with Sears in this underground plaza⁸ before heading to work aboveground in nearby corporate towers. That all stopped when Sears shut down his shop for more than a year because of the pandemic. When he reopened, he thought he'd see them all again. But...

SEARS: But I'm very slow. But, hey, you got to start sometime if you want to try to make the comeback. So here I am, waiting and hoping the customers come back.

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: Are y'all still coming in tomorrow?

REZVANI: Now, here's the thing. Aboveground on this Thursday afternoon, a lot of white-collar workers seem to be here at work.

So it's lunchtime. People have come out of these high-rise buildings. Many are having lunch with colleagues. Some are taking calls. Others are in line for coffee. And I got to say, it looks pretty busy.

But Caleb Brown, a barista at the coffee kiosk, tells me it's not always bustling⁹ like this.

CALEB BROWN: Most people are only here Tuesday through Thursday, gone Mondays and Fridays.

REZVANI: Many companies here have pumped the brakes on a full-bore return to the office. With high inflation, climbing interest rates and tightening¹⁰ credit from recent banking¹¹ turmoil¹², companies are assessing whether they need all that pre-pandemic office space at all, says Kenneth Rosen, chair of the real estate research firm Rosen Consulting.

KENNETH ROSEN: The typical building has about half the number of people in it as they normally do. So companies, when their leases are up, they're cutting back their uses of space. And so leasing for office buildings has been very weak.

REZVANI: So weak that about one-fifth of office space across the country is sitting empty. That's even more than the vacancy¹³ rate following the 2008 financial crisis. Rosen worries that if companies continue to give up their leases, those who own these office spaces won't be able to collect rent and make good on their loans.

ROSEN: Because of this, I'd say the No. 1 implication is going to be defaults and foreclosures.

REZVANI: Those foreclosures could really hurt small banks that are often behind many of these loans, which is why Rosen says the office-based sector¹⁴, with so much money tied up in outstanding loans, may be the next shoe to drop.

ROSEN: And it's a big one. It's about a $1.2 trillion shoe. It's going to drop.

REZVANI: That is one shoe cobbler James Wallace Sears hopes he'll never have to see. But that hope is fading day by day.

SEARS: I've had some feelers out to different customers, and they - some of them say they're not going to come back. If they come back, it maybe only three days a week. So you never know.

REZVANI: Sears says, at that rate, his little shop, which his father opened 50 years ago, might be out of business by year's end.

SEARS: Thank you.

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #2: You're welcome. Thank you.

REZVANI: Arezou Rezvani, NPR News, downtown Los Angeles.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 vacancies   

n.空房间( vacancy的名词复数 )；空虚；空白；空缺

参考例句：

• job vacancies 职位空缺
• The sign outside the motel said \"No Vacancies\". 汽车旅馆外的招牌显示“客满”。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 intensified   

v.（使）增强， （使）加剧( intensify的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Violence intensified during the night. 在夜间暴力活动加剧了。
• The drought has intensified. 旱情加剧了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 corporate   

adj.共同的，全体的；公司的，企业的

参考例句：

• This is our corporate responsibility.这是我们共同的责任。
• His corporate's life will be as short as a rabbit's tail.他的公司的寿命是兔子尾巴长不了。

5 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

6 consultants   

顾问( consultant的名词复数 )； 高级顾问医生，会诊医生

参考例句：

• a firm of management consultants 管理咨询公司
• There're many consultants in hospital. 医院里有很多会诊医生。

7 advisers   

顾问，劝告者( adviser的名词复数 )； （指导大学新生学科问题等的）指导教授

参考例句：

• a member of the President's favoured circle of advisers 总统宠爱的顾问班子中的一员
• She withdrew to confer with her advisers before announcing a decision. 她先去请教顾问然后再宣布决定。

8 plaza   

n.广场，市场

参考例句：

• They designated the new shopping centre York Plaza.他们给这个新购物中心定名为约克购物中心。
• The plaza is teeming with undercover policemen.这个广场上布满了便衣警察。

9 bustling   

adj.喧闹的

参考例句：

• The market was bustling with life. 市场上生机勃勃。
• This district is getting more and more prosperous and bustling. 这一带越来越繁华了。

10 tightening   

上紧，固定，紧密

参考例句：

• Make sure the washer is firmly seated before tightening the pipe. 旋紧水管之前，检查一下洗衣机是否已牢牢地固定在底座上了。
• It needs tightening up a little. 它还需要再收紧些。

11 banking   

n.银行业，银行学，金融业

参考例句：

• John is launching his son on a career in banking.约翰打算让儿子在银行界谋一个新职位。
• He possesses an extensive knowledge of banking.他具有广博的银行业务知识。

12 turmoil   

n.骚乱，混乱，动乱

参考例句：

• His mind was in such a turmoil that he couldn't get to sleep.内心的纷扰使他无法入睡。
• The robbery put the village in a turmoil.抢劫使全村陷入混乱。

13 vacancy   

n.（旅馆的）空位，空房，（职务的）空缺

参考例句：

• Her going on maternity leave will create a temporary vacancy.她休产假时将会有一个临时空缺。
• The vacancy of her expression made me doubt if she was listening.她茫然的神情让我怀疑她是否在听。

14 sector   

n.部门，部分；防御地段，防区；扇形

参考例句：

• The export sector will aid the economic recovery. 出口产业将促进经济复苏。
• The enemy have attacked the British sector.敌人已进攻英国防区。