Are collaborative spaces and open space plans a temporary fad that will pass? David A. Singer at the Huffington Post Business Blog cites “Emerging Trends – 2015” a collaboration between the Urban Land Institute and PriceWaterhouseCoopers concluding that the world of work as it exists demands flexibility from a real estate industry built around rigidity. According to the report, office landlords and their brokers are looking for the perpetuation of the status quo – traditional credit tenants signing long term leases. However other respondents suggest, landlords offering collaborative and shared office locations themselves – as well as tenants renting out underutilized office space – could turn the office market upside down. A survey by CoreNet Global in 2010 showed companies allocating 225 square feet per employee. By 2013, it fell to 150 square feet or less. Fitch predicts the trend will contribute to vacancies and result in some landlords having difficulties leasing vacant space to traditional tenants. When Goldman Sachs moved into their new NYC space with nearly no private offices, I became a believer, but the need for breakout rooms for private and quiet space, which is the trend, is a must.
January 14, 2015
