COVID-19: Long-Term Implications For Corporate Real Estate

Access this research

Access all Building Digital Platforms & Operational Tech content with a strategic subscription or buy this single report

Need help or have a question about this report? Contact us for assistance

Executive Summary

This report provides corporate real estate executives with an analysis of how real estate and workplaces will change following the COVID-19 pandemic and economic recession. Despite continuing uncertainty on the pace of economic recovery and the success of virus containment measures, our research finds that COVID-19 ramifications are already accelerating real estate trends such as space rationalization, home working and greater risk-sharing between landlords and tenants. The report also sets out six predictions on trends we anticipate will outlive the crisis to inform corporate real estate executives’ longer-term strategies. 
How Will Corporate Real Estate Strategies Change Following COVID-19?  
Responding To COVID-19 In Real Estate Is A Multi-Dimensional Challenge  
COVID-19 Will Accelerate Space Rationalization And Home Working Trends  
Social Distancing Mandates Will Reverse The Trend For High Office Density In The Short-Term  
The Recession Will Accelerate Space Consolidation Across Offices And Retail Stores
Increased Homeworking Will Drive Firms To Redesign HQs As Collaboration Centres 
New Flagship Smart Buildings Will Be Designed To Support Resiliency And Staff Health
Predictions For The Future: Six Trends That Will Outlive The Crisis
Figure 1. Corporate Real Estate Priorities Will Change In The Aftermath Of COVID-19 
Figure 2. Remote Working Will Become A Permanent Feature of Business Strategies 
Figure 3. Employee Health Will Be A New Focal Point For Flagship Smart Buildings 
Figure 4. Six Trends That Will Outlive The COVID-19 Crisis

About the Authors

Dayann Charles

Dayann Charles

Senior Manager, Advisory Services

Dayann is a Senior Manager in the Verdantix Advisory Services practice, with extensive experience leading strategic projects across the Verdantix landscape. He specializes in ...

View Profile
Susan Clarke

Susan Clarke

Research Director

Susan leads the Verdantix Smart Buildings practice. Her current research agenda focuses on software solutions for real estate management including integrated workplace managem...

Other related content

Webinar
Real Estate Leaders
Real Estate, Facilities & Workplace Tech
Building Digital Platforms & Operational Tech
Built Environment Energy & Decarbonization
Agentic AI In Real Estate: The Deployme...

Agentic AI has become the label of choice for real estate software vendors, but Verdantix finds that genuine agentic capability delivers value in a far narrower band than roadmaps ...

Upcoming / 15 October, 2026

Blog
Building Digital Platforms & Operational Tech
The Race To Autonomous Buildings Has Be...

When Verdantix assessed IoT platforms for building operations in 2024, the focus was on software that could connect sensors, equipment and building management systems (BMS), then t...

05 October, 2026

Press Release
Building Digital Platforms & Operational Tech
Verdantix Introduces ‘Unified Building ...

London, UK – September 28, 2026. The market for building technology is entering a new phase, as organizations move beyond simply connecting and visualizing building data towards or...

28 September, 2026

Blog
Building Digital Platforms & Operational Tech
Deepki Makes Its Biggest Gamble Yet Wit...

Since raising €150 million ($175 million) in Series C funding in 2022 from investors including Highland Europe and One Peak, French sustainable real estate software provider Deepki...

21 August, 2026

Blog
Building Digital Platforms & Operational Tech
Hybrid Data Centre Cooling Emerges As T...

Compute-intensive AI factories are scaling up AI training and fine-tuning, with expected rack densities exceeding 150kW – well beyond the capacity that shaped conventional air-co...

24 April, 2026

Blog
Building Digital Platforms & Operational Tech
Power, Density And Software: The Forces...

The data centre industry is in the middle of a structural shift. Grid constraints are tightening, rack densities are climbing and operational complexity is intensifying at a pace t...

09 April, 2026