the most obvious thing about offices is that it's land use that brings people into local commerce without imposing the costs that new residents incur. you don't need to build schools for new office development, the policing burden is lower, etc. 1/

jurisdictions do sometimes impose more direct taxes. San Francisco (in)famously imposes a gross receipts tax on businesses to cover homelessness-related expenses. i don't think that's so common though. 2/

i think it's mostly commercial development gives a similar short-term boost (fees, property tax before inflation kills it), also inspires other taxable commercial activity (especially if it generates taxable sales directly), while imposing fewer long-term costs. /fin