Brokers and landlords know what tenants want from their office environments, and they’re zeroing in on the places that have it all.

Offices in mixed-use districts and master-planned communities have become stiff competition for standard standalone buildings. And the success of these buildings and how to stay relevant if you aren't one of them was a hot topic at Bisnow’s Future of Houston Office event at 2100 West Loop South last week.

Since the pandemic, it has become clear that offices need extensive amenities and a good location to attract tenants.

With complete control over surrounding businesses and amenities, developers of master-planned communities and mixed-use districts are having the easiest time attracting businesses to occupy their office buildings.

But there are more businesses than those developments can house, and with the proper strategy, other buildings can compete for tenants, panelists said at the Aug. 20 event.

“When you're competing with projects like CityCentre or Memorial City that have walkable amenities, if you're a standalone building, you've got to do something to stay relevant,” said Lucian Bukowski, vice chairman for CBRE’s occupier team.

Before the pandemic, tenants had a checklist of amenities, including items like a conference room, a fitness center and a deli, Bukowski said. Today, the quality and diversity of demands for those amenities are a bit more intense.

Tenants want lunch options at a variety of price points and conference centers with enough room for everyone to fit, panelists said. Having these amenities won’t significantly bump rental rates or boost occupancy — they’ll simply give office buildings a chance to compete with amenity-rich districts, Bukowski said.

“It’s a requirement,” he said. “You have to do it to play the game.”

Midway Chairman and CEO Brad Freels said he has experienced this trend from a developer and tenant perspective. The office space at Midway’s 150-acre mixed-use East River is fully leased, he said, adding that creating a mixed-use district there has so far worked like a charm.

“We found that our hotels do better in an environment that’s mixed-use,” Freels said. “They perform better. Our office performs better. The retailers perform better.”

But Freels also experienced what tenants may be missing when he moved offices about a month ago to Post Oak Central, an office building Midway is redeveloping as Parkway’s development partner after Parkway acquired the building last year.

After working out of CityCentre for 14 years, with close to 30 restaurants within walking distance, Freels said he was unpleasantly surprised by a lack of options at Post Oak Central on his first day.

“I have an option of one deli. I said, ‘I hate it here. I wouldn't go back to work either. I'd stay home,’” he said. “My mindset was just totally screwed up because I was used to an amenity-rich environment. I came to one that is void of that, and my outlook was just, ‘This sucks.’”

Yet the experience showed Freels the opportunity Midway has from a redevelopment perspective, he said.

Location also matters when competing with mixed-use districts, and Post Oak Central’s location on Post Oak Boulevard between Westheimer and San Felipe streets is a good one to have, Stream Realty Partners Senior Vice President Brad Fricks said.

Howard Hughes has that advantage when attracting office tenants to its master-planned community of The Woodlands, since it can offer opportunities like good schools and discounts on its multifamily rents, Howard Hughes Development Manager Riddhi Doshi said.

While vying with well-positioned offices, employers must also compete with amenities near an employee’s home. If someone has a supermarket, coffee shop and gym near them at home but not the office, they’re unlikely to want to go in, Corgan Vice President Mariju Wille said.

“It’s the combination of what the tenant is looking for, what the building has and what the surroundings have that will attract folks, like it’s a destination,” Wille said.