For the past 250 years, office space has reflected the business and social mores of the various times during which it existed. Starting with counting houses in London in the 1750s, office space has represented the aspirations of generations seeking to move into the “corner office.” Office space has enabled workers to move out of factories, into what some consider ‘white collar factories.” Office space has been home to social movements, psychological analyses, political impact, and an entire litany of changes occurring over time. While there have been significant changes to date, brace yourself for a veritable tsunami.

The current wave of change in how offices are designed and how they work is being led by demographics and could be entitled “The Rise of the Millennials.” This tsunami of change (by 2022, 75% of the workforce will have been born after 1980) will force landlords to modify existing office building use if they hope to attract new tenants and reduce vacancy.

WHAT’S DIFFERENT IN OFFICE SPACE TODAY?These days there are 4 types of work space found in office building environments – focus, collaborative, training and socialization. In most existing offices today, space has been designed differently. There may be too many private offices, and not enough space for collaboration. In the alternative, there may be an abundance of workstations, but no place for focus work. While different conditions exist, one thing remains constant – new office layouts, new configuration of space, and new furniture systems are going to result.

In addition to seeking new office layouts embracing the 4 types of work space discussed above, tenants will want furniture and fixtures that embrace focus work, collaborative space, socialization and training as well. Therefore, much of the current layouts in office buildings, and the furniture used in those layouts, will not respond to the needs of the workplace moving forward. So what’s a landlord to do?

WHAT’S A LANDLORD TO DO?Landlords have to accept and embrace these changing demographics and the business issues they present. No longer will a simple “re-paint and re-carpet” be enough to release space. To the greatest extent possible, vacant space for lease needs to be flexible, ready to go, void of substantial customization, and leasable on a shorter term basis.

Buildings need to better reflect the needs and wants of Millennials and their employers. Therefore, landlords need buildings that:1. Have “plug and play” space that is ready to

lease without requiring months for tenant improvements;

2. Have flexible leases with lease terms shorter than 5 years, payment via credit card, and one monthly rental payment (as opposed to the current practice of rent, estimated expenses, etc.)

3. Have tenant/employee centric amenities such as conference centers, fitness centers, and concierge services for facilitating laundry, banking, tickets to events, employee lunches.

4. Promote sustainability;5. Work with local technology and economic

development authorities to provide incubator space as cost effectively as possible;

6. Have areas for tenant employees to store bicycles; and most importantly

7. Start looking at the building as a community, a neighborhood for tenant companies and their employees to connect, relate, and collaborate.

Those landlords that embrace the new, collaborative workplace, and offer amenities that compliment that workplace, will attract more than their fair share of tenants to back fill existing space.

Those landlords will know how to throw a party to which people like to come.

www.colliers.com/en-us/greaterbaltimore

Jonathan D. Manekin, MSREJon.Manekin@colliers.comOffice: 443-388-5785

Robert A. Manekin, SIORRobert.Manekin@colliers.comOffice: 443-297-9030

What if nobody came?Thought Leadership for www.smartceo.com on Office Space presented by Colliers International | Baltimore region

What if you had invested a lot of time, energy and enthusiasm in planning and throwing a big party, and nobody came? By way of example, you planned a fish fry for friends who were eliminating fried foods from their diet. Or you had a bull roast planned but inadvertently invited your vegan friends. A big problem – right?

Well, instead of throwing a party, think about the person or company that owns an office building constructed 30-40 years ago. They have an asset – or a location – that appeals less and less to those prospects in the market today. So if changes do not occur in how the building and its office space is positioned, just like in the dinner party examples above, no one is going to come to the party, or in this case lease space. That is the dilemma increasingly being faced by these landlords. Their office buildings were not built for today’s users of office space. And they need to change their outlook and their game if they are going to compete effectively.