The '80s gave us the end of the Cold War, big hair, and Michael Jackson’s moonwalk. It also brought us a building boom. And making those old office buildings look fresh again has kept firms like HITT Contracting busy. Three years ago, the construction firm was working on four or five repositioning projects, and now it has 25. Elaine Gray, Mike Bellusci, and Rob Rodgers, pictured giving a presentation to Avison Young, says trends include turning unused rooftop space into gathering and social areas, and adding building amenities like fitness centers, conference space, and tech lounges.

Another trend has been new entryways. (It's the first thing you see—unless you want to start repositioning parking spots.) HITT recently updated Tysons Metro III, whose single tenant moved out and left behind a dark, barely noticeable entranceway. The team bumped out the front and added a circular driveway and landscaping to make it more inviting as a multi-tenant building. The firm worked on an adaptive reuse project in Richmond where an office building (c. 1909) was converted to an apartment building near the campus of Virginia Commonwealth University, where housing is in demand.