One Ottawa office hopes the renovations will serve as a catalyst to revitalize downtown.

The new office is located on Metcalfe Street, and Corey Bannerman, Director of People and Culture at Orangutech, said, "The entire office is actually designed for connection and collaboration in larger groups."

The newly designed space was created in collaboration with company employees in an attempt to transition from remote work to a flexible hybrid setup, with weekly in-person team meetings.

Bannerman said, "We don't want people to come for silent work; we hope they come to connect, collaborate, and create new ways to work together."

Commercial real estate experts say they are far from the company trying to activate its space in an effort to fill the remaining vacancy in offices and downtown core, but the size of the empty spaces is alarming.

Jared Janiczek, a commercial real estate agent at Real Strategy, said, "It still sees a huge shortage of tenants and people compared to pre-pandemic levels."

According to the latest National Market Snapshot, investment company Colliers assessed vacancy rates in 12 Canadian cities.

The report stated the vacancy rate averaged 13 percent, compared to 8 percent pre-pandemic.

In Ottawa, in the third quarter, Colliers found a 10.6 percent vacancy in the city.

Janiczek said, "In the past, the average ranged between two and five percent."

Some Ottawa employees working in similarly renovated spaces say the change was an incentive to return to the office more frequently.

Nalik Lassine, who works in the federal public service, said, "We went last week, they redesigned it, it’s like a new Shangri-La hotel."

But among the main concerns about the new spaces was the lack of privacy and the ability to work quietly.

Others expressed concerns about commute times, separation from family and pets, and the potential loss of productivity.