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Here’s what you need to know today:
- Hana Enters First Owner-branded Agreement
- Flexible Office Agency Directors To Part Ways
- Location’s Role In The Future Of Work
Hana Enters First Owner-branded Agreement
The Connell Company has revealed that it will partner with CBRE’s flexible office branch Hana to open Round Table Studios, a shared workspace in Berkeley Heights, New Jersey.
The workspace will offer services ranging from coworking, private workspaces and team meeting rooms for medium to large companies and take up 40,000 square feet at The Park. The space in the 1.5 million square foot mixed-use development is expected to open later this year.
This marks the first time Hana will be entering an owner-branded agreement, where it will still manage and operate the office operations.
Connell Park will also use CBRE’s services that include a tech platform and app, as well as gain access to CBRE’s hospitality and concierge team.
“As employee and business needs continue to evolve, we wanted a flexible office solution that allowed The Park to cater to all potential employer needs, whether they are a single entrepreneur or a large tenant looking for a traditional long-term lease or a prebuilt flexible workspace,” said Shane Connell, executive vice president. “We have been hearing from many tenants that they are increasingly looking at flex to help address the increase in remote work, the need to be in the office a few days a week for collaboration and meetings, and to be in a conveniently located, highly amenitized area like The Park.”
Flexible Office Agency Directors To Part Ways
Reports have revealed that Douglas Green and Will Kinnear, directors of flexible workspace agency Green Kinnear Real Estate (GKRE), will be going separate ways to start their own consultancies.
Both will continue serving the flexible office industry, with Green launching g8 Consult and Kinnear starting Hewn. Kinnear joined Green at his existing business and GKRE was formed in 2013.
“We remain very proud of the success we achieved together, but after seven years felt that the time was right to pursue different projects,” a joint statement read. “Crucially, we remain confident in the prospects of the flexible workspace market, which is so well-positioned to help businesses and individuals adapt to the changing world of work brought about by the pandemic.”
Additionally, Kinnear noted that he anticipates that landlord and flexible office partnerships are expected to be on the uprise in the future.
“Tenant demand is moving away from traditional leases and landlords are realising that the operator has the skill set and they [the landlord] have the building,” said Kinnear. “Put the two together and that’s where the market is going to go.”
Location’s Role In The Future Of Work
The way society views the workplace has undoubtedly altered how businesses have operated. With millions of employees working from home, companies who have been hesitant to adopt any sort of flexible workplace policy are now reevaluating if this arrangement could be a permanent solution to ongoing circumstances.
While history has taught us that pandemics can completely change the course of the status quo, it also reveals that they can simply accelerate trends that were already anticipated. For instance, experts have long predicted that businesses would become more flexible in the next decade. However, pandemic expedited this change after companies had no choice but to adopt remote working en masse.
Now, it is up to companies to recognize and understand what role that remote working plays in workplace operations. Choosing where to locate, who can work from home and who is required to have a physical office will be essential moving forward.
For corporations in particular, location strategy decides the type of talent a company has, and whether those workers are satisfied with their positions.
Traditionally, large companies open a headquarters in large cities that are hubs for their industry. That is why we associate the Bay Area with technology companies, Los Angeles with entertainment and Detroit with industrial companies.
According to a Harvard Business Review statistical model that tracks hundreds of Fortune 500 headquarters’ locations, 70% of those headquarters are in metros.
Although it is too early to indicate how the pandemic will transform the economic geography of America, businesses will surely use location as a determining factor for their talent searches.
