One of the benefits of working in a full-service real estate firm like CBRE is the accessibility it provides to other professionals practicing as landlord representatives, tenant representatives, corporate real estate advisors, property managers, and construction specialists. As an investment sales specialist focusing on office properties, I am always seeking to identify and understand new trends that can help to create value, and I often piece together these trends from the valuable knowledge of my colleagues.
One concept that has gained critical acceptance—and today resonates louder than ever—is the idea of real estate being used as a recruiting tool. C-suite executives often speak of recruitment and retention as the keys to driving growth and innovation within a company. Labor is always one of the largest line items in an operating budget, so high turnover brings even more attention to recruitment efforts. Providing employees with an appealing work environment therefore becomes a top priority to effectively recruit and retain.
Tenants keep this priority in mind as they look to offer their employees an assortment of on-site amenities that include food service, fitness facilities, day care, recreational space, and even nap rooms. (I often wish we had a nap room at CBRE.) Recently, I have attended numerous meetings with tenant representatives who profess that employee recruitment and retention is the No. 1 goal of many companies today, and a huge factor in the selection process for office space.
So, if you are a building owner, how do you capitalize on this trend to give yourself a competitive advantage?
There are several common area amenities and interior design elements that can effectively satisfy tenants’ requirements for dynamic space. For instance, collaborative common area space, Wi-Fi service in lobby areas and outdoor patios, glass office fronts that allow natural light and sight lines into the building core, seating areas, television screens, and music feeds can all serve as large draws for potential occupants of a building. For even more examples of popular amenity concepts, check out the conference center at Preston Commons in Preston Center, the amenity packages planned for Crescent’s new project at McKinney and Olive, the glass-front lobby areas in tenant space at Tower 2600, and JPMorgan’s renovation plans at Crescent.
The more you equip your tenants to offer their employees a rich amenity package suited for the needs and desires of today’s worker, the more competitive your building is likely to be when C-suite executives are making their space selections.
John Alvarado is senior vice president within CBRE’s Investment Properties Institutional Group in Dallas and Houston. Contact him at [email protected].
