The global pandemic has significantly changed the corporate real estate scene, but climate change may be poised to have an even greater impact.
According to Axios, multiple companies are beginning to change locations, move headquarters or acquire new real estate in areas believed to be insulated from the effects of climate change. Conversely, this has meant that some locations that have been home to iconic businesses for years are seeing them move out.
For example, Charleston, SC has seen an iconic hospital moving from its downtown home of 165 years to higher ground, after multiple floods impacted it.
Similarly, Hewlett Packard Enterprise is moving from hurricane-vulnerable Houston to Spring, TX after it experienced flooding in 2016 and 2017.
Spirit Airlines is also adding a campus in Orlando, FL, to compliment its Miramar location. Not only will the new location be less vulnerable to hurricanes, but Axios says the new campus will be hardened specifically to resist any hurricanes that might hit it.
With scientist warning that many of the effects of climate change may be unavoidable at this point, it’s a safe bet that climate change will increasingly factor into the corporate decision-making process. While this may come at a significant cost for coastal areas, inland locations may be poised for a real estate boom as companies move inland.