Associations and nonprofits are getting hipper about their work places and even more savvy about their real estate strategies.

Yesterday morning, Youth for Understanding USA president Mike Hill said at Bisnow’s Real Estate Strategies for Associations and Law Firms event that the lines are blurring between for-profits and nonprofits when it comes to office design and location. YFU, an intercultural student exchange program, recently moved from a remote location in Bethesda to DC’s Shaw neighborhood, which is not only helping transform the nonprofit’s image but also contributing to recruitment of younger workers. Young talent doesn’t accept that nonprofit office space has to look less than a for-profit’s space.

Hickok Cole principal Sean Wayne says no longer is an organization’s space within its walls. It now starts from the region around the building, to the actual building, which also conveys a certain message. Sean designed YFU’s space with offices of different sizes, not the open floor plans that so many other industries feel they need to have. Mike says it helps incentivize YFU employees to move up the chain into bigger offices. Sean says it’s all about designing the space to align with the corporate culture.