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Category: Industry Trends

Industry Trends Insights

Tenant Satisfaction and the New American Office

Remember when cubicles were all the rage? Office tenant preferences have changed over the years. Today, tenant satisfaction has been redefined as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and dramatic changes in the labor market.
Industry Trends Insights

Office Real Estate and COVID-19: the Great Shakedown

Like most of the commercial real estate (CRE) market, office came under pressure in 2020. Responding to local shelter-in-place health orders, up to 70% of the U.S. workforce was working from home (WFH) in April 2020, transforming once-bustling office buildings into ghost towns. That percentage has decreased to 56% since the beginning of the year, signaling a recovery is underway. The extent of that recovery and what it means for office real estate is still unknown, but there is some speculation.
Industry Trends

Workplace Amenities Bring Employees Back to The Office

There’s little doubt that COVID-19 has changed the future of commercial real estate. As the pandemic ebbs, we’re now left with the question of how best to satisfy the needs of a newly emerging marketplace. One answer is to take a fresh look at amenities, the happy office features central to employee acquisition and retention.
Industry Trends Thought Leadership

The Future of Multifamily

The ongoing pandemic has turned many industries upside down. But in an interesting twist, experts say the multifamily space has navigated the crisis surprisingly well when you consider how things started.
Industry Trends Sustainability Thought Leadership

ESG in Commercial Real Estate

The focus on Environmental, Social and Governance principles drives value for a long list of stakeholders, including commercial real estate investors.
Industry Trends

The Future of Retail and What it Means for Retailers, Property Owners and Investors

The U.S. has experienced a dozen recessions in the last 70 years. For most, the cause can be linked to the financial markets. This time around, that’s not quite the case. What many consider to be the “COVID-19 recession” was triggered by an unexpected global pandemic and subsequent lockdown that seemingly brought the world to a screeching halt. Thousands of businesses were forced to close, at least temporarily, especially those in the non-essential in-person retail space.
Industry Trends Sustainability

What Happens with Commercial Real Estate After the Pandemic?

For the first time an end to the COVID-19 pandemic is in sight. The daily case count has fallen substantially as more and more people have gotten the vaccine and there’s much talk about returning to “normal.” For millions of workers that means going back to downtown business centers and suburban office parks but make no mistake: the pandemic has left its mark, the new “normal” will be very different from the old one.
Industry Trends Sustainability

Commercial Real Estate Sustainability Trends in 2021

Sustainability continues to be a top priority for leaders across the globe, including newly elected U.S. President Joe Biden who has taken a whole-of-government approach to combating the ongoing climate crisis. In January 2021, Biden announced a series of executive orders, including his international and domestic climate change agenda that calls for investing in renewable and clean energy, rejoining the Paris Agreement, and achieving a net-zero emission economy by 2050. Nothing specific in these executive orders appear to point to the commercial real estate sector, but as plans are set in motion these actions will likely set a broader precedent for all industries. Here are some trends to look for as it relates to office:
Industry Trends

A Safe and Healthy Return to Work: A Roadmap for Building Re-Occupancy

For the first time it appears that the grip of the COVID-19 pandemic has begun to loosen. Hospitalizations and fatalities are down substantially from the highs seen in late 2020 and early 2021, and as a result it’s become possible to think in terms of a post-pandemic world.
Industry Trends Strategy Thought Leadership

Reinventing Organizational and Operational Models to Navigate Economic Uncertainty

The COVID-19 impact on real estate and the greater economy was severe in the past year, but its effect on consumer behavior and the resulting implications on tenant businesses are still playing out. Companies know they must respond to both evolving trends and sudden economic swings, but adapting to a once-in-a-century pandemic is another matter altogether. Smart corporations are rethinking their organizational and operational models to effectively navigate the demands and opportunities of an ever-changing market.
Industry Trends

Underwriting the Perceived Instability of Short-Term Office Leases

The threat of shorter office lease terms has been looming over the commercial real estate industry for several years. Companies first braced for the potential impact of new standards from the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) recognizing all leases on the balance sheet, which took effect in January 2019. Then, the office leasing world was hit with additional challenges from COVID-19 as many companies opted to work from home and re-evaluated the role of their physical office space.
Industry Trends Insights

Envisioning the Future of the Built Environment

Amidst the ongoing crisis, built environments are at the front lines of change and will play a huge role in creating a more resilient world going forward. Office architects are re-envisioning the future of the workplace—where and how we work. Unfortunately, there is no crystal ball to predict exactly what the new future-oriented office will look like, but what we do know is flexibility and adaptability will be key in resilient design.
Industry Trends

Why Texas is becoming a commercial real estate powerhouse

It looks like 2021 will be another big year for Texas, a year when a lot of major companies will make the jump and move to the Lone Star state. Just look at these transitions:
Industry Trends

3 Reasons It’s Important to Consider Safely Returning to the Workplace

Here is a statistic that is hard to believe: Remote working accounted for only 3.4% of the total U.S. workforce population prior to COVID-19, according to Gallup. In fact, many companies, including tech companies such as Yahoo!, famously banned working from home prior to the pandemic because the company craved “increased productivity and a more connected company culture.”
Amenities Industry Trends

Mobile Apps are Redefining the Tenant Experience

Mobile technology is changing the way commercial real estate (CRE) is engaging with tenants and partners, which in an ongoing and post-pandemic world, will become more important than ever before.
Industry Trends Sustainability

Walkability and Its Impact On Office

Walkability has become an increasingly important strategy for businesses and employers. Prior to COVID-19 restrictions, these “live, work, play” destinations were rising in demand and commanding a premium that companies and individuals/families are willing to pay.
Industry Trends Sustainability Thought Leadership

Smart Cities and Buildings of the Future

Smart cities are no longer visions of the future, they are here today and look a little different from what the world envisioned pre-2000. Today’s smart cities take advantage of Big Data and Internet of Things (IoT) to create better, cleaner and more efficient urban hubs, making for a better quality of personal and professional life than would otherwise be possible.
Amenities Industry Trends

Office Amenities Amidst COVID

The coronavirus pandemic will have a lasting effect on all industries. Navigating what’s next will be one of commercial real estate’s (CRE) greatest hurdles as owners/operators are forced to shift their business plans with a renewed focus on business continuity, tenant health and safety, and building relevance.
Industry Trends

Designing Office Space for Inclusion and Equality

As local governments begin lifting stay at home orders and more employees begin returning to the office, research points to heightened employee anxiety stemming from social unrest, COVID-19, and other economic pressures—factors that can negatively impact productivity and overall wellbeing.
Industry Trends Sustainability

Urban Beekeeping: Where Sustainability Becomes an Amenity

Urban apiaries—yes, urban beehives—are popping up on office building rooftops across the country, and are creating quite a buzz (no pun intended).
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