SPACE MATTERS – MORE THAN YOU MAY THINK

 

Most of our clients understand the impact their office space can have on employee retention, morale, collaboration, productivity and recruiting. However, no one understands this better than Prophet. Prophet is a strategic brand and marketing consultancy with offices around the globe –  so understands this at a level unmatched by other industries.  Their experts work to drive brand relevance in complex ecosystems, gauging how their clients’ brand impacts customer behavior in a given category. They simply understand brand, culture and position better than most. As a result of this they wanted office space that was perfect for their brand and culture.

After understanding workflow, culture, cross business unit collaboration and possible efficiencies that support the necessary aesthetic, we completed an exhaustive search of the Chicago market and found the perfect space!

In fact, Crain’s Chicago Business thinks they have one of the coolest office spaces of 2012.

We think so too!

Space Matters……

 

 

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PUTTING YOUR SPACE TO WORK

As you may have heard, Steve Jobs knew a lot of things before anyone else did. And some of the most important things he knew had nothing to do with technology. In fact, one of these non-technical facts was arguably more responsible for the success of Job’s enterprises than any other single factor: Steve Jobs understood that space matters.

THE SPACE YOU WORK IN, THAT IS. IT REALLY MATTERS.

It makes much more difference to your success than most of us ever stop to think about. In fact, your work space does some of the most important work of your business, especially if your value proposition runs partly or completely on your employees’ ideas, ingenuity and innovation. How do you make sure you have enough of these infinitely precious resources? If you’ve been in business long, you know by now that you can’t order them up like a box of widgets. Perhaps you could send out a memo: “Each employee is hereby requested to produce at least three torrents of creativity per week.” Undoubtedly, this will produce a veritable avalanche of genius.

Instead, you could do something like what Jobs did when he was planning Pixar’s headquarters: locate the building’s …

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WHEN IT COMES TO YOUR OFFICE SPACE, IS IT REALLY BEST TO JUST “STAY PUT”?

In the last few years we’ve helped our clients renew their office leases more often than we’ve helped them acquire new office leases.  Why, you ask?  Some of our clients have thought it too risky to move to another location and commit to a longer lease, complete a full interior build out, and interrupt their business operations; others have simply opted for the path of least resistance at a time of great uncertainty about the future. Some have found themselves with reduced credit capacity, which has made acquiring new office space and posting a Letter of Credit difficult or impossible. Others have simply not had the mental capacity or human capital to think long term about their business, brand, and talent needs.

BUT, IT’S EASY.

The landlord has made these types of transactions relatively easy and attractive to these tenants by crafting, in partnership with the tenant’s professional, “blend and extend” solutions.  “Blend and extend,” as it’s known in the office leasing market, is the name given to the process by which a landlord renews a tenant with unexpired term on their lease by blending the unexpired term with the new term.  The tenant is happy because they …

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This entry was posted in Commercial Real Estate, Landlord Financial Issues, Lease Renewals, Tenant Representation, Workplace Strategy. Bookmark the permalink. |

TELECOMMUTING, THE UP AND COMING WORKPLACE STRATEGY

In their article, Workshifting Benefits:  The Bottom Line, The Telework Research Network gave compelling statistics about the benefits of employee telecommuting.  Telecommuting is a relatively new trend in business that allows employees to work from home, part to full-time.  With the current resources available through technology, it is likely feasible for 40% of the workforce and has benefits for the employer, employee and the community.  For the employer, more telecommuting employees means reduced real estate costs, turnover and higher productivity.  Telecommuting employees themselves will reap benefits such as saving money on gas, work related expenses and gaining back the time they used to spend commuting.  And, the overall community can benefit by the reduction of the overall use of oil, greenhouse gases, car accidents and highway maintenance.

Telecommuting or Alternative Workplace Strategy should be a consideration when conducting a facility needs analysis. Often times companies can achieve significant real estate cost savings by carefully evaluating whether adopting this strategy is something that works for their culture or workflows.

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