Ever so slowly, Brisbane’s CBD is putting pandemic behind it
Brisbane’s CBD was slowly reviving with office occupancy now at 57 per cent of pre-Covid levels, according to the Property Council.
Winter? What winter? Brisbane would be 27 degrees today.
The council’s latest report found that 44,000 square metres _the equivalent of the new 80 Ann Street tower _ was taken up in six months.
Occupancy dipped in July during the Omicron outbreak which coupled with a bad flu season, but August had showed positive signs.
Office workers were also returning to public transport which had been abandoned during the pandemic.
The Property Council’s Queensland executive director Jen Williams said the public transport patronage was back to 73 per cent of its pre-Covid levels during the week of August 14 and on August 9 it reached its highest level since the pandemic began.
She said the impacts of the pandemic were ongoing and the trend to work-from-home flexibility was still evident but the demand for quality office space was high.
“While these are all positive signs for the CBD, there is still a long way to go to restore the city centre ecosystem with inconsistencies in peak and low days of activity continuing to impact on many of the city’s small businesses,” Williams said.
She said the Brisbane Festival and the end of winter would help boost the recovery “towards a new normal”.
