To make the smartest real-estate decisions, organizations need to understand how their offices are actually being used. This discernment comes from occupancy data, which many enterprises don’t use to its full potential.
Our 2025 Enterprise Occupancy Tracking Report found that real-estate planning was one of the top use cases where occupancy tracking aligned with enterprise needs. Yet most firms in the study said they only use occupancy tracking for space optimization. This narrow focus leaves other high-impact opportunities untapped.
In this article, we’ll explain how occupancy data can strengthen your real-estate strategy by helping you:
- Make smarter lease renewal decisions
- Redistribute underutilized space strategically
- Choose locations with the right mix of space
- Prioritize capital projects that matter most
- Align space allocation with demand
Make smarter lease renewal decisions
As leases come up for renewal, organizations must decide whether the location can still support their business goals. Occupancy data provides the visibility needed to make that call with confidence, offering a clear picture of how well each location is being used.
If a given location shows signs of low utilization, more granular occupancy data can reveal inefficiencies that aren’t obvious at a glance. For example, if only a portion of the planned headcount actually uses the space, your real cost per person may be much higher than anticipated. Tracking real occupant counts over time helps identify these mismatches between planned and actual spend, letting you evaluate whether a lease is still worth the investment.
This data also helps you evaluate whether each location still supports your broader strategy. Is the space serving the teams it was intended for? Does it meet the needs of your evolving workforce? Occupancy trends show how often employees are on-site and which areas are over-employed or underutilized. Paired with departmental headcounts or role-based expectations, this helps real-estate leaders determine if the space still serves its purpose, or if needs have shifted.
And because policy changes—like a return-to-office mandate or a shift toward more flexible hybrid work—can dramatically affect how space is used, lease decisions have to reflect your current reality. A building that once felt underutilized may now be critical, while another that used to be essential may no longer justify the cost. Occupancy data reveals how these shifts play out in real time, so you can align your renewals with actual demand.
Redistribute underutilized space strategically
When organizations identify a building with low utilization, the first instinct is often to exit the lease and remove that space from their portfolio—and sometimes that’s the best option. But other times, underutilization can present even bigger opportunities for cost savings.
Not renewing underutilized buildings isn’t necessarily the best way to lower real estate costs, because they may be more affordable to operate than buildings in high-demand locations. By consolidating into a lower-cost building, you can eliminate more expensive real estate while maintaining the capacity your workforce needs. Occupancy data helps you see where these opportunities exist across your portfolio.
You might also find that an underutilized building is closer to the majority of your workforce, offers better commute times, or aligns more closely with your long-term real-estate strategy. Rather than simply cutting an underutilized space, you can use it as an opportunity to strengthen your overall portfolio.
Choose locations with the right mix of space
Real-estate decisions often focus on square footage and space types, but checking the right boxes on paper doesn’t guarantee the space will meet demand. Without data on how much of each type your teams actually use, it’s easy to misallocate resources. A space can be ‘well utilized’ and still be misaligned with how people work if it lacks the right balance of meeting rooms, workstations, private offices, and neighborhoods.
This challenge has become even more pressing as organizations navigate the evolving landscape of hybrid work and return-to-office policies. Fluctuating occupancy levels and shifting employee expectations make it harder to know what kinds of space will meet demand.
Occupancy data helps you move beyond blanket metrics like total capacity and evaluate how different types of space are being used. Over time, these usage patterns can reveal which areas are overbooked or underutilized, making it easier to know when you have too much of one kind of space or not enough of another.
This portfolio-wide visibility helps you understand how much of each type of space you need for a given employee population. So whether you’re comparing potential new sites or reevaluating your existing locations, you can invest in locations that support how your teams work best.
Sequence capital programs strategically
There’s a lot at stake when deciding which retrofits and construction projects to pursue. They’re expensive, and they represent long-term commitments that shape how your space functions for years to come. With multiple buildings often competing for limited resources, occupancy data helps organizations sequence capital programs more strategically—identifying which locations are most in need of investment and when.
Tracking how many people use a space over time lets you estimate the cost-per-person and benefit-per-person of proposed improvements. A large renovation may seem worthwhile, but if the space only serves a fraction of your workforce, the costs may be hard to justify. A modest upgrade to a high-traffic space might deliver a more substantial return and dramatically improve the employee experience—at a much lower cost.
When multiple buildings require similar upgrades, occupancy trends can highlight which investments are likely to have the biggest impact. By focusing first on the spaces that serve the most people or see the highest usage, you can maximize the return on your capital program and better support your workforce.
Align space allocation with demand
When remodeling an office or renovating a building, it’s important to consider how space is distributed and what kinds of spaces will meet demand. Occupancy data helps ensure these decisions are based on how employees actually use the workplace, not just how it was designed or how people assume it’s used.
Utilization trends show what’s working and what isn’t. If certain rooms are always booked while others sit empty, or if one floor feels crowded while another goes unused, that data highlights opportunities to improve space allocation. You may find you need fewer enclosed offices and more shared workstations. Or that certain collaborative areas would be more effective if expanded or relocated.
This visibility allows workplace leaders to plan renovations that match the way teams work. Instead of defaulting to legacy layouts or one-size-fits-all assumptions, you can tailor each space to serve your teams more effectively, and make every square foot count.
Learn more about the state of workplace occupancy monitoring
In The 2025 Enterprise Occupancy Tracking Report: Stats, Challenges, Insights, we surveyed North American and European enterprises from five different industries about their experience with occupancy tracking. Respondents shared insights into their top priorities, their greatest barriers to adoption, and how well different use cases align with their business needs.
You can access the entire report for free—we won’t even ask for your email.