While investors grapple with the new requirements of occupiers and development challenges, the biggest opportunity over the next 10 years is unfolding in the office market, notes JLL.

The widening performance gap between office buildings with high sustainability and experiential offerings and those aging is both the biggest opportunity and the biggest challenge facing investors at this time.

Offices located outside the world's largest cities and not keeping pace with modern requirements are likely to be more attractive to investors looking to repurpose them as the sector becomes characterized by "the best and the rest," according to senior leasing brokers at JLL.

"We are all about to go through the biggest cleanse of office space in our careers," said Jeff T. Eckert, speaking on the Perspectives podcast. "Tenants want to be in quality assets. I'm not saying there won't be leasing for 'B' and 'C' offices in the future. There definitely will be. But where there is no demand, that property will be converted into something else. We're already starting to see that."

Data captured in the US shows a clear preference for buildings constructed in 2015 and later, with net absorption over the past four years of 122 million square meters, compared to negative 354 square meters for older buildings.

Difficulties associated with building new offices, including material and labor availability, rapidly moving ESG legislation, and viability concerns, are prompting occupiers to market their property requirements six years before the expiration of current lease contracts, brokers discussed.