Landlords in Brooklyn are finding ways to adjust to the post-pandemic reality, with an emphasis on flexibility.
With tenants shifting to hybrid work policies and looking for shorter leases, coworking spaces within buildings has become necessary.
“It feels like we live now in the year 2035 … working from home used to be 5%, now it’s 30%,” said Matthias Hollwich, founder of architecture firm HWKN. “The future is, we have to offer experiences to people to work for our companies … that’s changing everything in the way we think about these buildings.”
Design has also been shifted away from cubicles to focus more on collaboration, location and amenities.
“The way that we work is going to change. And offices will not be utilized in exactly the same way they were before,” said Joseph Kohl-Riggs, principal at Hudson Cos. “Nobody really knows exactly what that’s going to look like but I think that Brooklyn specifically is poised to benefit … even if those markets in the general sense — nationwide or in New York City — suffer, Brooklyn is going to walk them through well.”