a big driver to the open plan is the cost of construction, which has skyrocketed. The cost of furniture is high too, though.
It used to be that the buildout cost $25/SF and the landlord gave you $25/SF (this obviously varies between cities and buildings), and it became a wash. Now, buildout is $60 and the LL gives you $25 so there’s a huge delta the tenant absorbs. In theory, they can’t take their buildout with them but they can take the furniture with them so it makes more sense to go open plan with alot of furniture than hard wall offices that remains.
That’s a great point. Anecdotally i have seen anchor tenants get huge TI benefits while everyone else languishes. Has that been your experience too or is everyone taking this kind of haircut on buildouts?