No matter what sector of real estate you focus on, E-Commerce affects us all. Its disruption of the commercial real estate world has accelerated exponentially due to COVID-19’s effects on our shopping behavior. This disruption is forcing property owners, especially industrial and retail, to re-think how they “maximize” the sites they own. It’s also spilling … Continue reading Development Strategies for Maximizing E-Commerce Demand
Ten minutes with Jeff Rinkov, CEO and Chairman of the Board, Lee & Associates. Our Leader. We sat down to discuss how we are growing our company and what makes us different.–Bigger, publicly traded CRE companies are focused on growing predictable revenue….CRE brokerage commissions are not that predictable. –How is Lee growing: – NFL cities – Diversification … Continue reading Ten on One- Growing a CRE Brokerage Company
It’s no shock that a recent McKinsey study showed that workers want more flexibility in their work. (See below for more) What was shocking is that today 58% of people surveyed are now being offered some flexibility in their work—that is 92 million Americans. This is a structural change in how we work, hire, build … Continue reading Accept the Workplace Change–Flexible Work
Over the past 18-24 months, our C2 Voice has been writing about the systemic change in office space working norms. The Wall Street Journal has printed a piece that does a great job summarizing all the issues that face workers, owners, corporations, and managers (see full article below my comments). There is a war going … Continue reading Why Employees are Clashing with their Bosses on One Issue After Another
The evolution of hybrid work continues as companies move on from the pandemic. While work from home (WFH) satisfies many, the allure of work from anywhere (WFA) may seem like a dream scenario. The article below from The Economist takes a closer look at the realities of completely untethered work. It’s important for employers and Landlords to understand … Continue reading Will Work from Anywhere Work?
In our latest Ten on One podcast, we spend 10 minutes with John Orsak, Vice President of Development at Lincoln Property Company, Desert Southwest. John oversees a huge office portfolio in Phoenix, putting him in the market seven days a week. He is in the know in all things office. Here are a few nuggets … Continue reading Ten on One- Latest Office Leasing Trends
For all of you holding out, it is time to accept Work-From-Home as mainstream. We think some version of this is here to stay, and while it may have peaked during the pandemic (check out my narrative on how a recession will impact WFH), it is something that all executives will have to take into … Continue reading Work-From-Home Explained
The Metro Phoenix Office Market hit a small speedbump in Q3 on the path to recovery. After posting a big net absoption in Q2 of +918,413 SF, Q3 slipped to -81,621 SF. This puts year-to-date net absorption at +532,634 SF, on track to finish well below our 20-year average of 2 million SF. What’s going with … Continue reading 1-Minute Phoenix Metro Office Market Update: Q3 2022
As you might recall, I am a long time Counselor of Real Estate (CRE). This organization puts out some of the most thought-provoking discussions about Commercial Real Estate. The below article is no exception, and is a great summary of the worker shortage, why we have one and what we see going forward. Here are … Continue reading Where Are the Workers?
The world ebbs and flows…the job market is going from being tight to soft. That is a cycle. The young people who have joined the workforce after 2008 have never seen a recession. It looks like one is coming, meaning many of the jobs they took for granted will disappear. A good article from the … Continue reading Job Market Softening
As you may recall, Andrew and I are a long time Counselors of Real Estate (CRE). Annually the Counselors of Real Estate organization has all the members vote and comes up with the most interesting and comprehensive list of Issues in our business. The 2022-2023 Top 10 Issues Affecting Real Estate report came out last … Continue reading Top 10 Issues Affecting Real Estate
Everyone is talking about the looming recession. While I personally think it’s likely to hit in 2023, no one seems to be talking about how it could bring people back to the office. The article below discusses the reasons why a recession will lead to remote workers heading back into the office. Layoffs are coming (actually, they’re already here), and unemployment … Continue reading Weakening the Work-From-Home Revolution
Want to understand how employees really feel about the hybrid workplace? Microsoft has put out a fantastic report called the 2022 Work Trend Index Annual Report. An independent research firm conducted a survey with over 31,000 full-time and part-time works across 31 worldwide markets. This report also used valuable data from LinkedIn and Microsoft 365. Here are … Continue reading The Latest Insights and Stats on Hybrid Office Work
Office space is changing dramatically right in front of our eyes. In this Narrative, we have talked about work from home, flex time, and how office space is becoming more experiential. Today I want to talk about another area: PropTech. The article below from prommodo is titled: The Coming Tsunami of PropTech. Proptech companies are showing up at … Continue reading PropTech is Changing Office Space
Zisler Capital Associates released a report that stated up to 70% of the total office inventory might be obsolete. This is a massive disruption for office building owners. Now, we know that how tenants use their space is changing dramatically post covid and with new, rising technologies (Zoom, Slack, everything in the cloud, etc). We also … Continue reading Up to 70% Office Building Obsolescene??!!
In 2010, psychologists Alex Haslam and Craig Knight did some experimenting with office space layouts (read the full article below for some fascinating history and thoughts). Here’s what they found: –Employees want to make their space their own. –When they get that opportunity, they do more and better work. Over a decade later and employees … Continue reading Office Space that Works
I recently wrote about office land sites going to industrial developers here. Below is one additional reason why this trend is happening. This is crazy. Take a look below, but first here are some of my thoughts: –The industrial market is on fire and the country is building out the last mile infrastructure. –Land prices … Continue reading Multi Story Warehouse
I’ve said it before and it continues to be true: Companies are moving out of California in record numbers. This migration is happening for a myriad of reasons. –rising business costs (taxes, energy, utility costs, etc.) –worker comp litigation and cost issues –cost of talent –cost of simply living The list goes on. Below is … Continue reading CA Companies Moving Out
It seems like every year there’s new research regarding office space layouts. There have been tons of studies on office layout and how they can help make employees happier and more productive. Below is a great study that surveyed employees at the end of 2019 to find out what they really think about their office … Continue reading Happy Employees
One huge area of change over the past decade is the amount of amenities tenants want and are now demanding. The competition for tenants remains fierce so landlords are providing more of amenities in their office buildings. The race to provide amenities got so heated over the last few years, we actually created an Amenity … Continue reading Building Amenity Checklist
As companies begin to return to the offices which have largely been left empty since the Covid 19 pandemic started, the first trend we are seeing is companies are going to have to transform the spaces into places where workers will want to be. This is an important move since there is now a shift … Continue reading Are the Suburbs Back? And other Office Trends from NAIOP
The office is evolving, not dying! Check out this insightful article put out by NAIOP Development Magazine. Going into the office must no longer be a thorn in the employee’s daily routine. It needs to be exciting. It needs to be inviting. And it needs to promote wellness. The author of the article, Trey Barrineau, … Continue reading Future Of Office
Last Mile Logistics is one of the hottest segments in Commercial real estate (multifamily remains smoking hot as well). Building out the ecosystem of companies (not just Amazon) to allow them to deliver products in a day (or even faster) is happening now. As a consumer, this is a fabulous and welcome change. However, the … Continue reading Last Mile Logistics
Have you figured out how your office will look in 2022 and beyond? Below is cool, quick article from Fast Company illustrating some of the changes happening in the office. Yes, they do mention some pretty big tech names, and we don’t all have the same construction budgets as Salesforce, but there are some great ideas … Continue reading Back to the Office, Differently
Considering how many companies have opted to allow employees to work from home since the pandemic, it’s good to know that many are still investing in workplaces, creating designs that are not only aesthetically pleasing but with features that are beneficial for the employees and the environment. The list below features multiple workplace designs from … Continue reading The World`s Best Workplace in 2021
The pandemic has created some new trends (mask wearing, expanded home delivery, ghost restaurants, etc.). That said, there has been even more acceleration of existing trends including last mile logistics, flex work schedules, and the rise of second-tier cities like Phoenix. Second-tier cities are growing like crazy and drawing the notice of institutional investors as well … Continue reading Second-Tier Cities Thriving
Parking is not the most exciting topic, but for office developers and users it’s critical. Technology is changing everything in our lives and parking is no different. Yes, Uber and Lyft have already started the change as people can now get to and from locations without having to worry about parking. And autonomous driving is … Continue reading Technology Changing Parking
A few weeks ago I wrote a narrative about rankings, and what I look for in markets where I believe companies will thrive. I posed four questions to ask with the number one question being: Is the market growing? Below is a great article from the Washington Post on where America is growing by new land … Continue reading Where America’s Developed Areas are Growing?
Business owners come to us and ask for our guidance and expertise on all things office space. One area that comes up all the time is the decision to lease or buy a building. We received this question so often, we created the below graphic to begin the conversation. While this is a great start, the … Continue reading Lease vs. Own
Now the messy part with hybrid work begins. Below is an article outlining the conversations we are having 5 times a day right now with our clients. How do we come back to work and what are the rules, office space layouts and long-term consequences of allowing everyone to partially work from home? Here is … Continue reading Hybrid Work Messiness
I recently read a fantastic article from the Wall Street Journal on some of the greater effects of remote work. Being an office broker, I of course am focused daily on the office sector, but this article explores much more as this trend spreads throughout urban geography across the US. Some of my thoughts are below: The … Continue reading Zoom Towns
Office subleases continue to prove a hot topic this year. Tenants in the market are eyeing subleases for their great prices, or are using them as leverage to bargain against traditional options. In the Metro Phoenix market, with 100 million SF of office space, we are now showing over 4.5 million SF of sublease now … Continue reading The Hottest Office Topic in the Valley
This narrative has been talking about changes in office space design, layout, and work flow for the last year. During COIVD-19, I decided to put together a summary presentation of the 10 changes office space users are making as we come out of the pandemic. I have given this presentation live (well, over Zoom) over … Continue reading COVID 19 Office Space Changes
I found the below article a nice start to a conversation all of our clients will have over the next year or two. Who will go remote and why should we still have office space? First, as you will recall from last week’s narrative, as few as 34% of jobs can even be considered remote. … Continue reading Office Space to Compete with Remote Working
“Messy” is right. Below is an article outlining the conversations we are having 5 times a day right now with our clients. How do we come back to work and what are the rules, office space layouts, and long-term consequences of allowing everyone to partially work from home? Here is what we are telling our clients: … Continue reading Hybrid Works Get Messy
Over the past year, I have been asked the same question over and over: What will happen to office space users? Will they all just work from home from now on? Will offices ever come back? 2020 showed us that many office jobs can be performed at home, and though I’ve written before about some of the drawbacks of being … Continue reading Jobs That Can Be Done Remotely?
There’s no doubt that the pandemic has had far-reaching consequences for industries worldwide. In my business, the pandemic created several great markets (residential development and industrial); a sandstorm in our area of office space leasing (no one knows where we are going yet) and has devastated other segments (retail and hospitality). One other segment that was … Continue reading Commercial Sales Volume in a Pandemic
For over 30 years, I have been telling tenants they should use me and my team to represent them. The first question I need to answer is, “why do I need a broker?” Below is a graphic we created for people who want to know why they need to engage a broker for their next … Continue reading Why Use A Broker?
I am still closely watching the work-from-home (WFH) trend that began a long time ago but really accelerated last year when the Covid pandemic first hit. Many businesses are now returning to the office, with optional WFH schedules or reimagined spaces. Every business is handling the return to their office differently, and some have found … Continue reading Who is Going Back to the Office?
Below is an older article (9/2016), that discusses the evolution of office space. Why am I sending this now, right after the economy shut down and the COVID-19 pandemic? Because the points made below can and will show you a couple of key topics that are still relevant when discussing commercial office design and investment: … Continue reading The Evolution of Office Space Utilization in the U.S.
The Wall Street Journal article below is a very good summary of what we are hearing a ton these days: How can I make my office more dynamic and experiential? As we go back to our offices, simply returning to the old, pre-COVID layout with the same furniture and work methods, is not going to cut it when it comes to competing for new … Continue reading Your Workplace is Changing
It seems like forever ago that the entire work force was sent home from their offices to hunker down and try to be productive while waiting out the pandemic. While telecommuting is not a new word, companies have always considered it an experiment and been very slow to embrace it. For years, telecommuting or working … Continue reading What Will Replace the Desk?
I’ve lost track of how many narratives I’ve written about how technology is changing the commercial real estate business. Here’s another one. 5G is on the way and it’s coming fast. What does this mean to the Commercial Real Estate Industry? Below is an article on strategizing for the arrival of 5G technology. Some of my … Continue reading 5G and CRE
I believe (as does Industrious’ Jamie Hodari below) that companies are going to be moving back into the office eventually for a number of reasons I have discussed in this narrative previously. As we continue to get our heads and arms around the pandemic, we still need to work. Here are a few takeaways from … Continue reading Returning to Work
Back in July, I sent out a narrative on one of the coolest buildings I have ever seen being built. The REI headquarters promised to be on-brand and in keeping with their ethos. It blended outdoor and indoor space to create a building that perfectly aligned with the company mission. Well, if you want an … Continue reading REI Headquarters Follow-up
We are spending a fair amount of time in this narrative looking at the issues of office space in a post-COVID-19 world. As I write this, we are still in a COVID-19 “sandstorm” without any real clear direction. However, we can look at the various options that are being thrown out as alternatives. One of … Continue reading The Counter Argument to WFH
The Counselors of Real Estate (of which Andrew and I are proud members) have released their annual top 10 issues affecting real estate. Please read the whole article below. As you can imagine, COVID-19 is currently leading the way on issues affecting real estate. Big shocker. We have written about the pandemic a ton in previous … Continue reading Top 10 Issues Affecting Real Estate
As we come out of the COVID-19 quarantine, the number one question I am being asked (other than questions about rent deferment or abatement) is “what is this going to do to the office building layouts going forward?” There are many prognostications and I have prepared my own presentation that I am giving to our … Continue reading This Trend is Likely Accelerating
The hub and spoke concept for companies using office space is an interesting concept. I am not sure it will work. I personally think it will be too complicated for companies to have 2-3 spoke locations for employees. That said, huge companies seem to have no choice as they search for talent. See Tech Crunch’s … Continue reading Office Hub and Spoke Model
The C.D.C. sent out some “suggested” changes for office space users as we head back into the office. I wanted to take these suggestions and roll them into what we are seeing our clients do on a practical basis. Additionally, the Wall Street Journal has a nice article on what we know about getting infected. … Continue reading C.D.C. Recommends Changes to Office Space
Over the past few months of quarantine, the most asked question my team and I have received has been, “Will there even be a need for office space in the future?” Short answer: Yes. Below is a great article from the Wall Street Journal that summarizes some of the critical issues facing companies as we … Continue reading Remote Work Isn’t So Great After All
Last week, I sent a narrative on some new ways we are working with our clients to measure space utilization (click here to read). I got quite a few responses about the topic from Real Estate facilities people (and a CEO) asking why we would incorporate new measurements into their spaces when they have corporate … Continue reading 10 + 1 Reasons to Measure Office Space Utilization
Every day we negotiate office leases. In 2019 alone, our team completed 145 leases. One item we always negotiate is rent per square foot. As we negotiate this for our clients, we also talk to them about how they could, and probably should, be looking at the rent differently than just per SF. Recently, we moved … Continue reading New Ways to Measure Workplace Utilization
Over the years, we have seen a proliferation of amenities and additions to office space that we lease. We assembled a nice overview of what we call The Modern Workplace. In addition to photos, I have added a little overview of the top amenities. Each of these amenities is from one of our listings here … Continue reading The Modern Workplace
I’ve shared some pretty cool buildings with this narrative over the years, and I’m bringing you another one today. As an avid backpacker for 30+ years, I wanted to share REI’s new headquarters. This one may be one of my favorites. REI is a co-op founded in 1938 that sells outdoor gear. I have been … Continue reading The Most Outdoorsy HQ Ever
I messed up. This is a narrative that edits what I sent over earlier this week. Below is the narrative and orange are my edits. Sorry for sending incorrect information. Craig Over the past several years, one of the trends my team has been tracking is the number of California companies that are moving to … Continue reading Most Expensive U.S. Office Submarkets
I know, we have been sending quite a bit of contradictory information about office space post-pandemic. The situation is extremely fluid and changing rapidly. Below is an article from National Geographic on this very topic. The CDC is also sending out new office guidelines (here is another article from the NYT). IF, and this … Continue reading Goodbye to open office spaces?
Tons of articles, surveys and speculation are flying around the world right now about the potential death of the office. There seem to be endless arguments to both sides and I get to talk about them daily with clients and colleagues. The article below explains the true needs for office space better than any article … Continue reading The Chemistry of the Unexpected
The trend of being able to work from home is now here for all of us. The COVID-19 quarantine has forced the issue. And according to a detailed study by Nicholas Bloom of Stanford, it’s good business. Bloom did a two-year study on the effectiveness of working from home. Below is a nice summary from a … Continue reading Working From Home
It was simply a matter of time before all office building tenant amenities would consider going green. Below are some pretty cool ideas for office building owners and tenants wanting be more environmentally-friendly. My favorite is the Margarita—I mean, smoothie—bike. 🙂 See below for the photo. What else is coming? – Balconies and … Continue reading Green/Healthy Tenant Amenities
When you get a survey result with 50% results, you pay attention. When you see 99% you better stop and make a change. Below is a 2019 report by Buffer on the State of Remote Work. The most important takeaway is that EVERYONE wants to spend some time working remotely — and by everyone, I mean 99%. … Continue reading EVERYONE Wants Time to Work Remotely
In this final week of my series, I wanted to talk about what companies are doing for their employees. Yes, we know a few already—meals, bocce ball, corn hole and napping pods all across Silicon Valley. But what about across the U.S.? For this I turned to one of our clients and a leader in … Continue reading Office Space 2020- The Employee Experience- Part 4 of 4
One of the first lessons you learn when you start representing owners and tenants in leasing office space is that the tenant rules. They drive everything. Rates, Tenant Improvements, where buildings get built, what buildings get built — everything. Deloitte produced a very nice 2020 Commercial Real Estate Outlook (the link to the entire study … Continue reading Office Space 2020- The Tenant Rules- Part 3 of 4
Today I want to look at the workforce for this coming decade. We are living AND working longer. I wrote a previous narrative about how five generations of employees are now in the workplace. Check it out here. What does that mean having five generations in your office?: – We are having to plan for, manage, … Continue reading Office Space 2020- Workforce- Part 2 of 4
Welcome to 2020. As we start the new decade, I have prepared a 4-part series of narratives on office space 2020. For the next 4 weeks, I’ll be taking a look at what is going on in the workplace from a high level to set the tone for the decade. Part One: The Future Office. Below … Continue reading Office Space 2020- A 4 Part Series (Part 1)
In 2015, I said this was not a good investment. In 2018, I said, I couldn’t believe this was still going on. In April this year, I reiterated this was going to crash….and it finally has. But that doesn’t mean I’m happy I was right. What was my prediction? WeWork (now We Company) was not … Continue reading I Got One Right… and I am not happy about it
One of the best parts of being a Counselor of Real Estate (CRE) is the annual debate about what issues are driving real estate. Boy have they changed over the last 5 years. For 2019-2020, our organization has come up with a couple issues that you would have NEVER guessed would have been on the top … Continue reading 2019-20 Top Ten Issues Affecting Real Estate – My Annual Take
McKinsey did a pretty interesting study on creating a superior customer experience strategy. As you can imagine, it’s not just the actions of the front-line, customer-facing workers that adds the ‘customer first’ experience to a company, but the executives and strategy as well. The more a company invests in the interests of their employees, the … Continue reading #1 Item for a Superior Customer Experience Strategy
Sometimes I geek out over office space. Today’s narrative is one of those just for the interested. Here is a link to a survey conducted by the National Association of Industrial and Office Professionals (NAIOP). This 50-page deep dive into the topic asks real estate owners and professionals their thoughts on Co-working vs. Building Collaborative … Continue reading Ready for an office space deep dive?
Below is an interesting article from The New York Times about office landlords seeking a competitive edge in leasing space to tenants. Our primary market is Phoenix, so when I travel or read, I am always watching out for trends and changes in what owners are doing and what tenants are leasing. Here are … Continue reading Gaining a Competitive Edge in Office Buildings
I saw the below graph and article and it hit me: there are 5 generations now in the work force. How is anybody managing that? Then my commercial real estate mind immediately kicked in and thought: how are we designing space to accommodate the various needs of each cohort? The truth is, I’m sure we are….at … Continue reading 5 Generations in the Work Force
The entire world is being disrupted. Readers of this narrative know this. Here is the latest disruption: vertical warehouses with four stories. Why are these taking off? –Consumer demand for instantaneous delivery has caused the industry to take a hard look at the “last mile” and seek new ways to speed up delivery. … Continue reading Vertical Warehousing
For those who have followed my narrative for a while now, you might recall that WeWork and the overall rise of Coworking office space has been on my radar for the past few years (Click here to read “Rise of Collaborative Workspace” and here to read “WeWork now a $5 billion co-working startup”). The market … Continue reading Building Collaborative Areas vs. Coworking Space
Anytime you look to the future, the word disruption always enters the conversation. I spend way more time now looking at companies that are trying to disrupt the brokerage business than I ever did in my entire career. As a 25-year CCIM, I found the below article worth sending out as one of my narratives. Many … Continue reading Who Will Be the Uber of CRE?
Our team handles 50+ tenant advisory assignments every year. Why? We like to think it is because we are really good. But there are many other reasons to hire a broker including: Researching and looking into office space takes up a large amount of time. Do you have the luxury of stepping away from your immediate job responsibilities … Continue reading Why Use a Broker?
Each January, I attend Abundance 360 produced by Peter Diamandis. One takeaway this year was how fast driverless cars are becoming a reality. This will happen in our lifetime. Google autonomous cars have over 1,000,000 miles in Palo Alto (click here). Tesla has a new package that will drive your car on the highway (click here) and there are at least … Continue reading Game Changing Trend is Happening Right Now
I spend a ton of time working with my team on growing their individual skills, increasing our deliverables and really making sure we are engaged. As we work with big and small companies and I talk to our clients, engagement has become one of the most desired (and least attainable) traits in companies today. A few … Continue reading Employee Engagement Sucks. Why?
Below is a 2013 article Andy Conlin sent me analyzing high-rise construction in the United States. David Holmes takes an in-depth look at the major economic factors affecting skyscrapers (defined as buildings 18 stories or higher in this article) built since 2000. This timeline would include only one construction cycle and two recessions, but the conclusions are interesting. I’ve … Continue reading An Analysis of U.S. High-Rise Construction Activity in This Century