Tuesday at Bisnow's Creative Office & Tech event at Hotel Nikko, we caught up with Hines director Merredith Treaster, who's sporting a gift that Boston Properties gave partners and investors: a scarf of skyscrapers, which includes Salesforce Tower. Along with volume, air and light, another tenant perk at Salesforce Tower could be free WiFi throughout (the hope is carriers will foot the bill). The building's design can house eight people per thousand square feet, and turns out that's what prospective tenants want. Companies don't plan to be that dense the day they open, but they want to make sure they can grow as much as possible.
RocketSpace CEO Duncan Logan says his accelerator allows for workspaces to be pretty dense as long as there's also "escape" space, which can include sofas. Plus, not everyone comes into work at the same time. "If at any point we are 60% full that is rare." The idea of saving a real estate footprint and sending people home has backfired, he says. Humans are social and boredom and distractions increase while working at home. So, they work at coffee shops to be around others in the same boat. Now the new wave is going from coffee shops to their own spaces. Companies like Samsung, Sony, and British Airways send people to work in that kind of environment because it fosters collaboration.
Kilroy Realty SVP Mike Sanford, whose company just proposed plans to grow office atop a new San Francisco Flower Mart, says its seventh development in this cycle--dubbed The Exchange on 16th in Mission Bay--will have a "cool, hip vibe." These days tenants want different places to go with different experiences to stay productive. He jokes that the big design challenge is creating a "mood room," which changes every month to a different look and feel. As for Prop M concerns, projects that are pro transit, low income and save PDR uses will likely score better. Hines is avoiding anything that will be Prop M in this cycle because it will be so competitive, says Merredith, and her company is looking at changing uses from office to residential and multifamily for next-cycle deals.
ROSSI Builders prez Craig Rossi builds out projects with flexibility in mind, which is especially what groups in the gaming industry want. (When those companies get done with one project, they shift to a new team--which entails rearranging desks.) Other Millennial phenomenons? Kegerators and nap areas. He was in a meeting with the prez of a software company, getting ready to do some work on their space, and spotted a couple cots outside the conference room. A tech worker comes up, lays down and takes a nap next to the prez at 1:30pm. His dad and granddad would be flipping out, he jokes of his 3rd-generation family firm.
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)