When developer Fred Geis and his partners launched an office revamp of a long-empty industrial building in the Flats last year, they didn't plan to spend $3,500 on a sink for the lobby.
Fast-forward 10 months, and that handwashing station is part of their marketing pitch. So are air purification systems; garage doors in place of windows facing the Cuyahoga River, to let in the breeze; and lockers to allow for food and parcel delivery without human contact.
The 20,000-square-foot Avian at Thunderbird building on Carter Road appears to be the first property in the region attempting to cast itself as the office of the post-pandemic future.
In March, the spread of the novel coronavirus prompted employers to send white-collar workers home — and sparked debate about when, and if, they'll return to their desks. The crisis clearly will reshape office demand and design, though it's too early to say for certain how many square feet companies will shed or how high cubicle walls might climb.
On Scranton Peninsula, just across the river from downtown Cleveland, Geis and fellow investors are betting that tenants will be more focused on fresh air, natural light and access to outdoor gathering spaces. By changing their approach midstream, adding what Geis described as "a marginal increase" in costs, the Avian's developers aim to stand out in a market where experts say the power largely has shifted from landlords to tenants.
"We see this whole COVID thing just accelerating trends that were already happening, around personal health, mental health. What does the space offer to me, as a tenant, distinct from working from home?" said Jesse Grant, one of Geis' partners at Avian and in the broader reimagining of the long-fallow peninsula as a mixed-use riverfront neighborhood.
More than three months into virus-induced changes to how we work and with no clear end in sight, uncertainty is the common thread in conversations with office users and landlords.
Companies are setting office reopening dates, then pushing them back 14 to 30 days at a time amid concerns about surging cases of COVID-19, the illness caused by the coronavirus. Real estate advisers are telling tenants to avoid long-term commitments in favor of one-year lease extensions. Some employers have put office renovations and furniture purchases on hold.
"We are not in a new normal today. We are currently in a temporary abnormal phase. The next normal hasn't presented itself," Michael Cantor, managing director of Cleveland-based Allegro Real Estate Brokers & Advisors, said during a recent webinar on landlord/tenant dynamics arranged by the local chapter of NAIOP, a commercial real estate association.
Across urban and suburban office buildings, landlords say only 5% to 10% of the pre-pandemic workforce has returned, said Janice Parham, executive vice president of the Building Owners and Managers Association of Greater Cleveland. When tenants do come back, they're likely to encounter significant changes, from signs limiting elevator occupancy to hands-free technology.
"Owners are definitely working at installing more sanitation stations, whether it be hand sanitizer or washing," Parham said. "A large number of buildings are requiring that visitors and, in some cases, tenants have a mask on. Some buildings have definitely gone to keycard access."
Landlords are fielding frequent questions about cleaning protocols and ventilation.
The Dalad Group, which manages more than 2.5 million square feet of real estate in the region, is installing less porous air filters and running HVAC systems for long hours to increase air flow through its buildings. Cleaners are giving more attention to door handles and elevator buttons, Neil Viny, the Independence-based company's president, said during the NAIOP program.
In bathrooms, which have emerged as particular points of anxiety for tenants, Dalad expects to gradually replace older fixtures with no-touch versions. At office building gyms, the company shut off water to the showers because it was too tricky to disinfect them after every use. Cafeterias are transitioning to individually wrapped meals, which tenants might order by phone or mobile app for pickup or delivery.
"Before the first of the year, our salad bars were particularly popular," Viny said, "but perhaps they're a quaint relic on a going-forward basis."
Local HVAC companies have been flooded with queries about air purification measures, from ultraviolet light to bipolar ionization. Clients also are inquiring about ways to boost indoor humidity, based on research that suggests viruses spread more easily in dry air.
Some technologies have shown promise against other viruses. Others aren't yet proven. Misinformation and unrealistic expectations abound, contractors said. And there's no system guaranteed to protect you if a sick co-worker sneezes near your desk or coughs on the copier.
A few clients of Geauga Mechanical, a contractor based in Chardon, have upgraded their HVAC systems, said CEO Craig Berman. For planned projects, some customers have specifically requested quotes for air purification equipment, which might add 5%-10% to a job's cost.
"Fresh air and running the systems as much as possible, even potentially around the clock, that's really the most important," Berman said.
Allegro, which has a 5,000-square-foot office near Cleveland State University, had been planning a redesign to create a more open, collaborative environment. That project is on hold, said Damon Taseff, a principal at the tenant-focused real estate company.
"We can't do it until we know how our people are going to work," he said.
Taseff has clients who put the finishing touches on new offices early this year but, due to the coronavirus, never fully moved in. Now, they're reassessing their space designs. He hasn't seen companies let leases lapse in favor of remote work yet, though one client is considering "a significant divestiture" of office space spanning a handful of sites in the region.
"Directors of real estate are going to be looking at how much square footage they need a lot differently once this pandemic passes," he said. "But we don't know when this pandemic passes."
In such a dicey moment, he characterized the approach at the Avian as a bold move.
"That's a unique project," Taseff said. "I haven't seen anything else like that, and I think they're being smart business guys, very opportunistic in the moment. I'm seeing a lot of activity with smaller tenants now willing to make short-term decisions. I just don't know how companies are making long-term decisions."
The CBRE Group Inc. brokerage is positioning the Avian as a single-tenant building that could be ready for an occupant within 60 days of signing a deal. A promotional brochure for the project mentions health, safety and wellness on nearly every page.
The leasing team, Conor Coakley and Isabel DeRoberts of CBRE, won't reveal the asking price for the space. Neither will Geis, who simply said the rate will be comparable to downtown rents, but with deeply discounted parking.
"We've gotten a ton of really good feedback from the brokerage community and from tenants, but I think right now things are really just on hold as people re-enter," DeRoberts said, adding she believes headlines proclaiming the death of the shared workspace are overblown.
"I think there's always going to be a place for the office," she said.
"will" - Google News
June 28, 2020 at 03:00PM
https://ift.tt/2NDnsCk
What will the post-pandemic office look like? Developers in the Flats have one idea - Crain's Cleveland Business
"will" - Google News
https://ift.tt/2xyU8J2
https://ift.tt/2zfWs7Z
Bagikan Berita Ini
0 Response to "What will the post-pandemic office look like? Developers in the Flats have one idea - Crain's Cleveland Business"
Post a Comment