How it works
A restack starts from the current stack plan and a target: release a floor, make room for a new team, or reunite teams that have drifted apart. Planners test alternative stacks until one meets the target with the fewest moves and the least damage to adjacency.
The approved stack becomes a move plan. Moves are sequenced so each receiving area is empty before a team arrives, which often means using swing space or moving teams in a set order over several weekends. Each wave needs desks assigned, equipment ready, booking data updated and people told where they are going.
A restack is where a consolidation saving is actually realized: the floor it frees is what goes back to the landlord, gets sublet or absorbs growth without a new lease.
Examples
- A company on six floors restacks onto five so it can hand one back at a lease break, moving three teams in two waves.
- After a reorganization, product and engineering teams spread across three floors are restacked onto two adjoining floors.
Common mistakes
- Approving the target stack without a move sequence, so two teams need the same floor on the same weekend.
- Forgetting to update desk assignments, neighborhoods and booking data, so people arrive to find their new desks already taken.
- Telling employees too late; most restack problems are communication failures, not logistics failures.
- Sizing the new stack to headcount rather than peak-day attendance, which either wastes the saving or overcrowds the busiest day.
How Kadence helps
Kadence SpaceOps includes a guided workflow to restack a building. Auto-stack proposes a new floor allocation from real occupancy data, planners adjust it, and the approved plan can be published to live neighborhoods and assignments in WorkOps. In WorkOps Pro, Move Manager handles team relocations with bulk moves, move notifications and personal move sheets that tell each employee where they are going.
SpaceOps · Scenario planning · Pricing
Frequently asked questions
What does restacking mean in commercial real estate?
Restacking means reallocating occupants across the floors of a building. For an occupier, it usually means moving its own teams between floors to release space, absorb growth or improve adjacency. For a landlord, it can mean reorganizing tenants to create larger continuous blocks of space.
What is the difference between a restack and a relocation?
A restack moves teams within buildings the organization already occupies. A relocation moves people to a new building or site. Restacks happen more often and are smaller, but they still need planning, sequencing and clear communication.
How long does a restack take?
It depends on the number of teams and whether swing space is available. A small restack of a few teams can be planned in weeks and carried out over a weekend, while a full-building restack is usually phased in waves over several months.
Why do companies restack their offices?
To free a floor for sublease or return at a lease event, to fit new teams without taking more space, to bring collaborating teams together after a reorganization, or to adapt floors to hybrid attendance patterns.
Related terms
- Stack planning A floor-by-floor plan of which teams occupy which floors and buildings, used to test moves and consolidations first.
- Move management Planning, sequencing and carrying out workplace moves, from one desk change to a whole-team relocation.
- Office consolidation Moving teams from several floors, buildings or sites into less space, then giving up or repurposing the space that is freed.
- Swing space Temporary workspace people use while their permanent space is refurbished, reconfigured or not yet ready.
- Sublease Letting leased space you no longer need to another party, while staying responsible to the landlord under the original lease.
Kadence editorial team · Last reviewed