Reimagining Cities-Disrupting the Urban Doom Loop

KEY FINDINGS FROMOUR STUDY:

LIVE DOWNTOWN WALKUPS WORK

Downtown WalkUPs are extremely Work centric. Downtown WalkUPs contain 32% of real estate value in WalkUPs. They are much more oriented toward Work than other WalkUPs or the rest of the city and metro area. Other WalkUPs are more balanced. The three non-Downtown WalkUPs (Downtown Adjacent, Urban Commercial and Urban University) are much more balanced and in line with our estimates of an optimal product program (as shown on the right). The key finding of this research is that an optimal real estate product portfolio mix exists, and cities, particularly Downtowns, must rebalance their portfolios accordingly. This optimization would generate the highest real estate valuation price per square foot (PPSF) and GDP for WalkUPs. Office remains the primary component of WalkUPs’ real estate mix. While rebalancing is necessary, office remains the primary product type for WalkUPs, with Work accounting for the highest share (42%) of the three real estate types. Downtowns and other WalkUPs are logical locations for businesses, and these places disproportionately drive job growth and GDP creation.

PLAY

15.9%

14.5%

69.7%

OTHER WALKUPS

WORK

PLAY

LIVE

41.8%

44.0%

14.3%

OPTIMAL PRODUCT PORTFOLIO

WORK

PLAY

LIVE

31.0%

26.0%

42.0%

Businesses and jobs continue to cluster in the urban core, with 40% of 2024 Class A office leasing occurring in CBDs (in line with the 2017 2019 average of 42%).

3 Percentages may not total to 100% due to rounding.

6 Cushman & Wakefield