{"id":1004552304,"date":"2021-09-30T09:11:53","date_gmt":"2021-09-30T17:11:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/?p=1004552304"},"modified":"2022-12-07T04:20:56","modified_gmt":"2022-12-07T12:20:56","slug":"the-future-of-office-an-ecosystem-mindset","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/the-future-of-office-an-ecosystem-mindset\/","title":{"rendered":"The Future of Office? An Ecosystem Mindset."},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>

Rebecca Udell, Angie Earlywine and Wendy Feldman Block discuss the future of the office at the 2021 CREW Network Convention.<\/p><\/div>\n

It\u2019s a whole new world for office tenants looking to bring their employees back into the workplace.<\/p>\n

The U.S. office market experienced a wave of change over the last 18 months, from a spike in vacancy rates, a sharp dip in leasing activity, and the availability of sublease space hitting an all-time high. While some markets\u2014namely San Francisco and New York City\u2014felt the impact more than others, no area has been immune to the shifting view of how and where employees work.<\/p>\n

That changing picture was the subject of a session yesterday at the 2021 CREW Network Convention in Las Vegas. A panel of office experts discussed the historic changes the sector has experienced since the onset of the pandemic, the idea of an office \u201cecosystem,\u201d and what the future of the office will look like.<\/p>\n

Office sector snapshot<\/strong><\/h2>\n

It\u2019s no secret the office market has experienced unprecedented headwinds since last year. Across the U.S., overall leasing activity is down significantly from pre-pandemic levels. According to data from Savills, volume is down 42 percent year-to-date, compared to the same time period in 2019.<\/p>\n

Availability of office space in the second quarter of 2021 reached 26.2 percent overall, with the highest change belonging to San Francisco, which experienced a staggering jump in available space of 1,520 basis points since the pandemic began. Meanwhile, the highest office availability at the moment is in Houston, the country\u2019s fourth largest city, which topped the charts at 31 percent.<\/p>\n

Concessions are at unheard of levels, with Washington, D.C.\u2019s office market recording the highest number of tenant concession packages for Class A trophy product in the U.S., increasing 30.9 percent since the start of the pandemic, according to Savills.<\/p>\n

\u201cEven for non-trophy products, initial offers we\u2019re getting so far exceed the best deals we could\u2019ve gotten in 2019,\u201d said Savills Executive Managing Director Wendy Feldman Block during the session. \u201cIt\u2019s mind-boggling.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cities with strong life sciences and tech sectors\u2014like Boston, Raleigh, and Baltimore\u2014were not as hard hit as others, while other major markets like New York City have started to rebound in 2021.<\/p>\n

Deciding factors <\/strong><\/h2>\n

One of the biggest challenge for tenants going forward is making their office a place that employees want to be. As the pandemic stretches into its second year and many office workers have gotten used to working remotely, what will make them want to come back?<\/p>\n

\u201cThere has to be a reason to go back, and it will be different for every organization,\u201d said Rebecca Udell, executive director of marketing strategy at KSS Architects. \u201cYou can\u2019t replicate office culture at home, it\u2019s hard to do.\u201d<\/p>\n

Udell pointed to office design focused on natural light, natural materials, and a connection to nature as the key to driving workers back.<\/p>\n

One big driver for being back in an office setting is the human connection. Surveys have found that personal connections and continued learning have suffered as a result of employees working remotely, with workers reporting taking more sick days and an increase in mental health issues from prior years. And for those in the earlier stages of their careers, not being able to connect with mentors or advocates virtually has been an obstacle.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey may have a roommate and no separate office space,\u201d said Angie Earlywine, senior director of the Total Workplace practice of Global Occupier Services at Cushman & Wakefield, pointing out that for many workers, their home working space may not be ideal or comfortable.<\/p>\n

\n

READ ALSO: <\/strong>When to Expect a Back-to-Office Surge<\/a><\/p>\n

\n

\u201cAs we think about designing the physical office for experiences, if people are only coming in one day a week or even one day a month, they\u2019re more of a visitor to the space,\u201d she said, adding that many companies are looking at their facilities management divisions to create positive experiences at the workplaces, like bringing in special food amenities to encourage people to come back.<\/p>\n

Adding to the struggle is what\u2019s been dubbed \u201cThe Great Resignation,\u201d a nationwide movement that has seen workers quitting and changing jobs at the highest level it\u2019s been since being measured decades ago. That power shift has led to more companies offering flexible and hybrid schedules.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not an office, it\u2019s an ecosystem,\u201d said Earlywine. \u201cEmployees expect flexibility and choice.\u201d<\/p>\n

As turbulent as the last 18 months have been for the office market and the entire county, that newfound choice for workers has been one of the few bright spots to emerge.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn my line of business, it\u2019s all about people and I think people have won this battle of choice,\u201d said Earlywine. \u201cNever have I seen executives being open to people being able to choose how they work. If we want to entrust and empower people in how they can work, I think we\u2019ve proven we can be successful working in many places. I\u2019m hoping the silver lining is that choice wins.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Experts at CREW\u2019s 2021 convention discuss the evolving notion of what an office means to a company.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":745,"featured_media":1004552313,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[23891,21742,21747],"tags":[33188,32799,34107],"class_list":["post-1004552304","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-national","category-latest","category-office","tag-crew-network","tag-cushman-wakefield","tag-savills"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nThe Future of Office? An Ecosystem Mindset. - Commercial Property Executive<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/the-future-of-office-an-ecosystem-mindset\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Future of Office? An Ecosystem Mindset.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Experts at CREW\u2019s 2021 convention discuss the evolving notion of what an office means to a company.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/the-future-of-office-an-ecosystem-mindset\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Commercial Property Executive\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/CPExecutive\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-09-30T17:11:53+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-12-07T12:20:56+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Holly Dutton\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/46\/2021\/09\/mikhail-derecha-q-XTB-YTsho-unsplash-e1633021820129.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@cpexecutive\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@cpexecutive\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/the-future-of-office-an-ecosystem-mindset\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/the-future-of-office-an-ecosystem-mindset\/\",\"name\":\"The Future of Office? An Ecosystem Mindset. - Commercial Property Executive\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/the-future-of-office-an-ecosystem-mindset\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/the-future-of-office-an-ecosystem-mindset\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/46\/2021\/09\/mikhail-derecha-q-XTB-YTsho-unsplash-e1633021820129.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-09-30T17:11:53+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-12-07T12:20:56+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/9259ffaba4775229ae3556b9555e566d\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/the-future-of-office-an-ecosystem-mindset\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/the-future-of-office-an-ecosystem-mindset\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/the-future-of-office-an-ecosystem-mindset\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/46\/2021\/09\/mikhail-derecha-q-XTB-YTsho-unsplash-e1633021820129.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/46\/2021\/09\/mikhail-derecha-q-XTB-YTsho-unsplash-e1633021820129.jpg\",\"width\":800,\"height\":598,\"caption\":\"Image by Mikhail Derecha via Unsplash\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/the-future-of-office-an-ecosystem-mindset\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"The Future of Office? An Ecosystem Mindset.\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/\",\"name\":\"Commercial Property Executive\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/9259ffaba4775229ae3556b9555e566d\",\"name\":\"Holly Dutton\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/46\/2021\/05\/Holly-D-Dutton-e1622041566670.png?w=75\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/46\/2021\/05\/Holly-D-Dutton-e1622041566670.png?w=75\",\"caption\":\"Holly Dutton\"},\"description\":\"Holly Dutton is a Senior Editor with Commercial Property Executive and Multi-Housing News. She joined CPE and MHN in 2018 and has reported on the real estate sector since 2012. She was previously with Real Estate Weekly and the Houston Chronicle. Connect with her on twitter: @HollyDutton\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/author\/hollydutton\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"The Future of Office? An Ecosystem Mindset. - Commercial Property Executive","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/the-future-of-office-an-ecosystem-mindset\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"The Future of Office? An Ecosystem Mindset.","og_description":"Experts at CREW\u2019s 2021 convention discuss the evolving notion of what an office means to a company.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/the-future-of-office-an-ecosystem-mindset\/","og_site_name":"Commercial Property Executive","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/CPExecutive","article_published_time":"2021-09-30T17:11:53+00:00","article_modified_time":"2022-12-07T12:20:56+00:00","author":"Holly Dutton","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_image":"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/46\/2021\/09\/mikhail-derecha-q-XTB-YTsho-unsplash-e1633021820129.jpg","twitter_creator":"@cpexecutive","twitter_site":"@cpexecutive","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/the-future-of-office-an-ecosystem-mindset\/","url":"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/the-future-of-office-an-ecosystem-mindset\/","name":"The Future of Office? An Ecosystem Mindset. - Commercial Property Executive","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/the-future-of-office-an-ecosystem-mindset\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/the-future-of-office-an-ecosystem-mindset\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/46\/2021\/09\/mikhail-derecha-q-XTB-YTsho-unsplash-e1633021820129.jpg","datePublished":"2021-09-30T17:11:53+00:00","dateModified":"2022-12-07T12:20:56+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/9259ffaba4775229ae3556b9555e566d"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/the-future-of-office-an-ecosystem-mindset\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/the-future-of-office-an-ecosystem-mindset\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/the-future-of-office-an-ecosystem-mindset\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/46\/2021\/09\/mikhail-derecha-q-XTB-YTsho-unsplash-e1633021820129.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/46\/2021\/09\/mikhail-derecha-q-XTB-YTsho-unsplash-e1633021820129.jpg","width":800,"height":598,"caption":"Image by Mikhail Derecha via Unsplash"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/the-future-of-office-an-ecosystem-mindset\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"The Future of Office? An Ecosystem Mindset."}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/","name":"Commercial Property Executive","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/9259ffaba4775229ae3556b9555e566d","name":"Holly Dutton","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/46\/2021\/05\/Holly-D-Dutton-e1622041566670.png?w=75","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/46\/2021\/05\/Holly-D-Dutton-e1622041566670.png?w=75","caption":"Holly Dutton"},"description":"Holly Dutton is a Senior Editor with Commercial Property Executive and Multi-Housing News. She joined CPE and MHN in 2018 and has reported on the real estate sector since 2012. She was previously with Real Estate Weekly and the Houston Chronicle. Connect with her on twitter: @HollyDutton","url":"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/author\/hollydutton\/"}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/46\/2021\/09\/mikhail-derecha-q-XTB-YTsho-unsplash-e1633021820129.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1004552304","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/745"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1004552304"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1004552304\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1004552312,"href":"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1004552304\/revisions\/1004552312"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1004552313"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1004552304"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1004552304"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1004552304"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}