With the novel coronavirus pandemic creating an economic recession, the future of real estate pricing may become a factor in how some businesses choose to proceed in the post pandemic future.
Some have argued that commercial real estate pricing may influence how some insurance organizations may plan to proceed with their business operations in the future. For example, would it be more cost-effective for some businesses simply to keep some, more, or all of their employees working remotely?
The question came up recently during the first episode of our webinar series in mid-April, COVID-19: Business Continuity in the Digital Age. Here’s how webinar panelist Steve Whitelaw, vice president of broker and industry partnerships at Applied, tackled the question.
Q&A with Steve Whitelaw (Mar. 25, 2020)
Q: Interesting point about being nervous about commercial realty. Will there really be a need for bricks-and-mortar multi-office buildings for brokerages?
A: Depending on the business model of the brokerage and their insureds, there will always be a need for some bricks and mortar buildings. We will come out of this, there will be a time when we are back in the office, but I imagine that the tools that support us will be different as brokers have been thrust into a digital landscape at a much faster rate than expected.
Feature image by iStock.com/bluejayphoto
