Bingo!

Wanna bet upper management and board members spend some of their money buying up nearby or distant-but-commute-friendly property just before a new "campus" is announced? Not the actual land the campus will be built on, of course. That would be a conflict of interest.

This is exactly it. We've been spending money in our suburbs for too long and it's killing the restaurant businesses that they own.

The Gov of New York has basically come out and said exactly that.

I think that is one variable but I also think senior execs want to walk into buildings with large groups of people that are less than them on the pecking order.

Getting your ass kissed all day can not feel the same remote as in person.

You can't replicate remotely the feeling of taking the elevator to your office with everyone you pass on the way knowing you are a big deal in the company.

This is all about "collaboration", wink wink.