Office users nationally said they expect to grow or maintain their footprints as in-office attendance continues to improve, according to a CBRE survey.

Office occupants’ expectations are “trending towards growth,” said Julie Whelan, an office occupancy analyst at CBRE.

Forty-three percent of respondents said they expected to expand their office space, while only 33 percent expected to use less space. The remainder, about one-fourth of respondents, expected their office space to remain the same.

The results from CBRE’s , released Monday, suggest the office market is continuing to gradually strengthen as it emerges from the pandemic-era doldrums.

The survey drew responses from 185 executive office occupiers in North America.

“We feel very strongly that this data gives us great sentiment about what our office markets are going to do over the coming years,” Whelan said.

Office analysts continue to see a trend of tenants chasing top-quality space. Many office users are “upgrading but downsizing” as they adjust to hybrid work policies, Whelan said.

The tight supply in the prime segment is only expected to grow scarcer as the construction pipeline is poised to deliver little new office space in the foreseeable future. The U.S. construction pipeline in the second quarter was about 21 million square feet.

“We’re going to end up this year with the lowest amount of office space delivered in a calendar year in the last decade or so,” said Manish Kashyap, CBRE’s global president for leasing.

Few tenants are trading down for more space. Instead, companies seek centrally located offices with excellent transportation options and a strong complement of amenities, and they’re willing to squeeze into smaller spaces as needed, Kashyap said.

“The dichotomy in the market is the scarcity is actually in better located, highly desirable offices,” he said. “That’s where the challenge is.”

Most companies have settled into a hybrid work schedule, with offices bustling midweek but more employees choosing to work from home on Mondays and Fridays, CBRE analysts said.

“A lot of American offices feel awesome on Wednesday at this point, but they do feel pretty pokey or uninspiring on Mondays or Fridays,” said Jamie Hodari, CBRE’s chief executive officer of building operations and experience. “I have found very few companies that have found a way to crack that particular code.”

More companies are tracking office attendance, with 69 percent of respondents monitoring office use, up from 45 percent a year ago.

“These increases show that companies have made significant progress on establishing a new baseline for work habits and office attendance after five years of adapting to hybrid work,” Kashyap stated in a news release.

Office attendance averages 2.9 days per week, a figure that continues to lag pre-pandemic levels.

The use of amenities to attract tenants has skyrocketed. Since 2021, CBRE has seen a 56 percent increase in office space allocated to amenities, said Lenny Beaudoin, the firm’s executive managing director for global workplace, design and occupancy.

Office tenants are looking for strong public transportation, ample parking for motor vehicles, strong food and beverage options, and good indoor air quality, the analysts said.

Evidence of improved sentiment among North American office users comes as Portland’s market has continued to lag. Office vacancies have climbed for 11 consecutive quarters, and set record highs, according to Kidder Mathews.

Portland saw 235,192 square feet of negative net absorption during the second quarter of 2025, according to CBRE’s most recent report. Vacancy rose to 26.6 percent but varied widely by submarket.

Tigard and Clackamas recorded less than 12 percent vacancy, while Portland’s central business district and Northwest Portland had more than 36 percent.

Rents in the Portland area rose to $33.11 per square foot on average. The average asking rent for class A space rose to $38.18 per square foot, while class B commanded $29.08 per square foot on average.

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WASHINGTON — The Federal Reserve, one of the most powerful financial institutions in the world, is receiving a $2.5 billion renovation involving two of its office buildings.

The project has become an for the embattled chair of the Fed, Jerome Powell, as he weathers nearly incessant personal attacks from President Donald Trump.

Trump has been clear about what he wants from Powell, whom he appointed to lead the central bank in 2017: lower interest rates. Yet the Fed is intended to be an independent agency, and the Supreme Court has signaled that the president can’t fire Powell just because the Fed chair won’t cut rates as fast as Trump wants. But he might be able to do so “for cause,” meaning some kind of malfeasance or neglect. Trump last week suggested that the escalating construction costs could be grounds to fire Powell.

With that threat looming in the background, the Fed decided to open the site of its massive project to a few journalists.

A massive project is revealed

On July 24, Fed staff led a small group of reporters, photographers and television camera operators on an extensive tour of the active construction site that comprises the two 1930s-era buildings. The renovation began in 2022, and the Fed hopes to complete it in the fall of 2027.

By providing journalists — and, by extension, the public — such extensive access, the Fed clearly hopes that greater transparency will help beat back the criticism emanating from the White House. Trump toured the same site several hours after the reporters and then downplayed his threats to fire the Fed chair.

In June, Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., the chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, which oversees the Fed, suggested the rebuild has been extravagant, and includes “rooftop terraces, custom elevators that open into VIP dining rooms, white marble finishes and even a private art collection.”

Fed staff, who requested anonymity to discuss the renovation, showed reporters what they said are future conference rooms that are sometimes used for meals, not “VIP dining rooms.” An elevator is being upgraded to increase accessibility to people with disabilities. And some white marble finishes were added at the insistence of a local commission (including several Trump appointees), the staff noted.

The journalists walked around dumpsters and pipes and evaded front-end loaders, while occasionally straining to hear the explanations of Fed staff over the sounds of drilling, cutting and hammering. Approximately 700 to 800 workers are involved in the project across two shifts each day. Reporters visited the roof of the Fed’s main headquarters, the Marriner S. Eccles building, which has sweeping views of the Lincoln Memorial, the National Mall and parts of downtown Washington.

Fed staff said the roof would not have “rooftop terraces” but instead would include grass and other plants as part of a “green roof” that would reduce cooling costs and stormwater runoff. There had been plans for a seating area, but that aspect was removed because it appeared to be an amenity.

Fed staff breaks down costs

The staff sought to highlight the many costs they said were largely out of their control: blast-resistant windows and other security upgrades, modern electronics and HVAC systems, and historic preservation efforts that led to the use of more marble.

The workers also used plywood extensively to protect stairs and many wall coverings, which Trump singled out as too costly.

“You saw the protection of plywood,” Trump told reporters after his tour. “I mean, that was a lot of money just to protect it for a period of time. I would have done it very gingerly and easily and not have to spend millions of dollars on protection.”

It is clearly a massive project. The Fed has shut down a street that runs between the two buildings. Underneath will be a part of a parking garage, as well as a tunnel connecting the two renovated buildings. After the project the Fed will be able to house more of its 3,000 employees in the two buildings and reduce its rented office space, officials said.

After his own tour, Trump appeared to lower the temperature around the project, at least for now, in a post on his social media platform Truth Social: “The cost overruns are substantial but, on the positive side, our Country is doing very well and can afford just about anything — Even the cost of this building!”

Should Powell lead the charge to cut the Fed’s short-term interest rates soon — economists say it could happen in September — that could appease Trump. And after that, you may never hear about the Fed’s renovation again.

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