Soaring warehouse demand boosts commercial real estate market as office vacancies mount
July 10, 2021 | Ari Levy | CNBC
After ShipBob decided last July to let staffers work from anywhere, the logistics start-up had its landlord erect a wall in the middle of its Chicago headquarters so half the space could be rented out to another company.
On March 1, the office reopened at reduced capacity for socially distanced meetings.
But while it’s using less office space, ShipBob’s real estate needs have been expanding at a breakneck pace. The company, which provides fulfillment services to online retailers, has more than doubled its warehouse count since mid-2020 to 24 locations today, including four outside the U.S., with plans to reach 35 by the end of 2021.
