Link between offices and wellbeing is too important for landlords and occupiers to ignore

Link between offices and wellbeing is too important for landlords and occupiers to ignore

by • Facilities management, News, Property, Wellbeing, Workplace design

Developers and landlords who invest to create offices that embody the occupier-driven focus on wellbeing will reap their rewards commercially while those that don’t face diminishing returns, according to a new report from Cushman & Wakefield. The Well Workplace report claims to map out the major trends, opportunities and challenges of the future facing owners and occupiers of commercial office space due to the growing emphasis on employee health and vitality as part of the work environment.  Improved lighting, layout and use of plants are all known to benefit wellbeing and can increase employee performance. Gains through boosting performance far outweigh potential cost savings through real estate efficiencies – making the imperative for occupiers clear, according to the report’s authors.

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BCO predicts how Brexit might impact on demand for office space to 2022

BCO predicts how Brexit might impact on demand for office space to 2022

by • Facilities management, Legal news, News, Property, Workplace

Commercial property occupiers remain cautious about the future, and hard data indicates that demand has, so far, been largely unaffected by Brexit, claims a new report from the British Council for Offices (BCO) . ‘Brexit and its Potential Impact on Office Demand’, examines how Brexit might impact on demand for office space on a national and regional basis through to 2022. According to the report, almost one year on from the Brexit vote the situation is one of uncertainty, feeding through to slower growth, with ‘an almost palpable sense that choppy waters lie ahead, particularly with regard to trade and movement of labour’. However, businesses continue to make long-term investments in the national economy and even in the City, some large investment banks have committed to large new office buildings. There is much variation in the relative performance of the UK’s major office centres, though, with some expanding and others apparently in decline.

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What we may be missing about IBM’s decision on flexible working

What we may be missing about IBM’s decision on flexible working 0

by • Comment, Flexible working, Property, Workplace design

In May, the Wall Street Journal reported that IBM had announced that it was obliging a significant number of its staff to give up on remote working and instead move back to corporate offices, many of them regional hubs. Although we had been aware of the change in policy since February, the issue only went viral as a result of the WSJ story. Comparisons were quickly made with Yahoo’s poorly received decision to summon staff back to its corporate HQ in 2013 and commentators expressed dismay that such a major corporation would be willing to return to the command and control structures of a previous era, especially given its sector and track record of encouraging flexible working. What such commentary missed was a particular nuance of the story that might suggest this is more of a continuation of existing IBM policy than they have been given credit for.

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Tech and media firms dominate commercial property take up in the City so far this year

Tech and media firms dominate commercial property take up in the City so far this year 0

by • Cities, Facilities management, News, Property

Lacon House in the City fringeCompanies in the tech and media (TMT) sector have accounted for the greatest proportion of City take up so far this year new figures from Savills suggest. This is the largest amount of take up ever by this sector in the first five months of a year, representing a 20 percent share of the market, ahead of the professional services sector at 17 percent and insurance and financial services sector at 14 percent. TMF firms took 517,069 (48,036 sq m) of space out of a total of 2.25 million sq ft (208,699 sq m) to the end of May 2017. Key deals to complete in the City recently include visual effects company Industrial Light & Magic (owned by the Walt Disney Corporation) taking 47,010 sq ft (4,367 sq m) at Lacon House in the City fringe (Theobalds Road, WC1), joining other tech companies Argus and Exterion Media in the building.

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Mayor launches initiative to enhance the design of Londons buildings and spaces

Mayor launches initiative to enhance the design of Londons buildings and spaces 0

by • Architecture, Cities, News, Property, Workplace design

The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, has this week launched his Good Growth by Design programme to ‘enhance the design of buildings and neighbourhoods for all Londoners’. In a speech at the London School of Economics, the Mayor spoke of his vision for the future of London as the city’s population heads towards 10 million people. In what is claimed to be his first major intervention on this topic, the Mayor is calling on London’s architectural, design and built environment professions to help realise his vision of London as a city that is socially and economically inclusive as well as environmentally sustainable. According to the Mayor’s office, the Good Growth programme will leave a legacy of world-class buildings, outstanding public realm and large-scale regeneration for Londoners of the future.

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Serviced and coworking offices top London leasing market for the first time

Serviced and coworking offices top London leasing market for the first time 0

by • Coworking, Flexible working, News, Property

 Serviced and coworking office space providers have accounted for the largest share of space leased in Central London for the first time, according to new research from Cushman & Wakefield. During the first half of 2017, serviced office or co-working providers – such as WeWork and The Office Group – accounted for 884,235 sq ft of newly-leased office space in central London. The second quarter of the year in particular witnessed a dramatic escalation in activity by serviced office and co-working providers with 651,540 sq ft leased – around a quarter of central London’s take-up across April, May and June. This was more than London’s traditionally dominant occupational sub-sectors such as technology, media and financial services. The H1 2017 total is more than serviced office and coworking providers accounted for in the whole of 2016 (853,178 sq ft). and is just a deal or two shy of the sector’s average annual take-up between 2012 and 2016 (908,972). It seems certain therefore that serviced office and co-working providers will this year surpass their record annual volume of 1,267,926 sq ft set in 2014, according to the firm.

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UK remains most attractive global commercial real estate market, despite Brexit

UK remains most attractive global commercial real estate market, despite Brexit 0

by • Facilities management, News, Property

UK remains most attractive global commercial real estate market, despite BrexitOne in three (31 percent) commercial real estate investors say that the UK remains their preferred region to invest in, with a figure that has remained the same since June 2016 despite the UK deciding to leave the European Union in that period. While a quarter (24 percent) of real estate investors favour Germany as their location of choice for commercial real estate opportunities; however, according to the latest BrickVest commercial property investment barometer this represented a fall from 28 percent in June 2016. More than one in five (21 percent) selected the US, the same as last June, while France saw an increase from 13 percent in June 2016 to 15 percent in June this year. The Barometer also revealed that French, German and US investors are more favourable towards the UK since June last year. Nearly a quarter (24 percent) of French, a fifth (19 percent) of German and 23 percent of US investors suggested they prefer the UK in June this year, representing an increase from last year across the board from 22 percent, 18 percent and 20 percent respectively.

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Balfour Beatty predicts a human free construction site by 2050

Balfour Beatty predicts a human free construction site by 2050 0

by • AI, News, Property

Balfour Beatty has  published a paper called Innovation 2050: A Digital Future for the Infrastructure Industry, which predicts that the construction site of the future will be in stark contrast to what we see today. Most notably it will be human-free with work moved off-site with remote control of machinery and new materials and techniques exploited to improve cost, safety and efficiency. The report claims that technology has already revolutionised contemporary life to such an extent that it’s not so hard to imagine radical changes for construction not least the emergence of new roles and the requirement and evolution of new skills to support delivery of the future pipeline of construction projects.

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Business Centre sector continuing to thrive amidst increased competition and Brexit uncertainty

Business Centre sector continuing to thrive amidst increased competition and Brexit uncertainty 0

by • Flexible working, News, Property

New research published by the Business Centre Association (BCA) in collaboration with CBRE claims that the business centre sector enjoyed a 13 percent increase in turnover and was home to around 11 percent more workers in 2015 and 2016, despite initial fears about the impact of Brexit on the sector, and increasing competition from new entrants into the market. The sector is worth around £3.3bn in terms of turnover, up from £2bn in 2013. The findings come from The UK Business Centre Market report which surveyed 580 business centres, representing 23 percent of the sector across the country, to assess the current state of the market. Overall, the report found the UK wide business sector is now home to 93,000 individual small businesses which employ over 480,000 people, supporting around £18bn of GDP.

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British Land launches Storey flexible workspace brand

British Land launches Storey flexible workspace brand 0

by • Company news, Flexible working, Property

British Land has launched Storey, a new brand providing flexible workspace for businesses employing between 20 to 70 people and larger organisations seeking additional space on flexible terms. Created to fill a perceived gap in the London office market which customers say is not being satisfied, Storey provides offices for companies who have outgrown co-working space and whose needs have evolved. Storey also suits existing or larger office customers seeking project or shorter term space on top of their core requirements. Storey will operate within British Land’s existing London assets, predominantly at its Broadgate, Paddington Central and Regent’s Place campuses. These have ‘a critical mass of office customers and offer the ideal environment for ambitious organisations looking to grow. Storey customers will be able to access facilities traditionally reserved for larger organisations and automatically benefit from the broader campus environment where a focus on wellbeing also supports growth and productivity.’

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Hong Kong and London’s West End again top global commercial property costs, according to CBRE

Hong Kong and London’s West End again top global commercial property costs, according to CBRE 0

by • News, Property

Hong Kong (Central) and London’s West End topped the list of prime commercial property occupancy costs again, according to CBRE Research’s latest annual Global Prime Office Occupancy Costs report. Hong Kong’s (Central) overall prime occupancy costs of US$303 per sq. ft. per year topped the “most expensive” list, followed by London’s West End (US$214 per sq. ft.), New York (Midtown) (US$203 per sq. ft.), Hong Kong (West Kowloon) (US$190 per sq. ft.) and Beijing (Central Business District (CBD)) (US$183 per sq. ft.).  Global prime office occupancy costs—which reflect rent, plus local taxes and service charges for the highest-quality, “prime” office properties—rose 1.9 percent year-over-year, with the Americas up 3.6 percent, EMEA up 0.8 percent and Asia Pacific up 1.2 percent.  Durban (South Africa) had the highest increase in occupancy cost overall, though Stockholm (Sweden) registered some of the fastest growth in Europe, along with Palma de Mallorca (Spain), Belfast (U.K.) and Amsterdam (Netherlands). In Asia Pacific, Shanghai (Puxi) in China had the highest growth in occupancy cost, followed by Guangzhou, Bangalore and Shanghai (Pudong). Buenos Aires showed the biggest increase in the Americas overall, while suburban Denver, suburban Houston and New York Midtown South saw the largest occupancy-cost increases in the U.S.

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Commercial property giant acquires controlling stake in London based flexible office provider

Commercial property giant acquires controlling stake in London based flexible office provider 0

by • Company news, Flexible working, Property

While we should never read too much into a single piece of business, the news that one of the world’s largest property investors is buying a young and still growing British flexible office provider is surely a sign of things to come. As Blackstone, a private equity giant with £140 billion of real estate assets worldwide acquires a controlling stake in The Office Group for £500 million, we must view the deal in the context of a market in which the most dynamic players are WeWork and its contemporaries. The Office Group has grown from seven buildings to thirty-six since it was founded in 2003 and provides flexible office and coworking space to start-ups, freelancers, small businesses and increasingly, corporates such as Facebook, Dropbox and British Gas.

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