Manulife US Reit manager eyes ‘hotelisation’ of office assets amid dour outlook

THE manager of  Manulife US Real Estate Investment Trust (Manulife US Reit) is coming to terms with the fact that workers in the US are simply not returning to the office as expected.

As at Jul 11, physical occupancy across Manulife US Reit’s office assets stood at 28 per cent. While an improvement from physical occupancy of 25.3 per cent in the first quarter, it is a far cry from earlier expectations.

“There are a couple of trends that have become really clear to us,” Tripp Gantt, chief executive officer of the manager of Manulife US Reit, said at a briefing following the release of the Reit’s financial results for the first half ended June.