By Doug West
From prebuilt office spaces to reimagined amenity offerings, commercial building owners and landlords in major metropolitan markets across the United States are exploring a host of different strategies for encouraging leasing activity. Determining what upgrades are deal-breaker requirements, which solutions will perform best in the market, and how they align with desired tenant groups remains a significant challenge. Rather than gambling on getting lucky with the experimentation process, owners and landlords can learn a lot from circa-2018 building repositioning practices.
The most common commercial upgrades pre-pandemic were time-consuming and expensive – facade reconstruction, sparkling new lobbies and restrooms, window replacements – but they had something in common: they were done with the whole building in mind. The approach was holistic and aimed not just at remaining current but boosting the building’s profile and presence.
In today’s landscape, having this overarching vision before ever updating an amenity space is critical to long-term success.
Developing the Strategy
Successful building repositioning strategies will inspire leasing activity and attract new tenants, but there’s no silver bullet. Legal and financial firms expect different features than creative agencies or tech start-ups. High-end finishes in a shared conference room, for example, might offer greater appeal to a lawyer than a graphic designer, who may prefer the inclusion of flexible, incubator-style workspaces. Knowing the target audience and what spaces work well for them is key to developing the go-forward strategy.
It’s also important to consider the building’s context in this process. If it’s located on the same block as two highly successful coworking spaces, a short-term leasing model may not be the best approach – unless you can offer something especially unique. Similarly, if its neighborhood is home to dozens of venture capital funds, it might be worth considering how to attract businesses that would want to network with those investors, rather than competing for the funds themselves.
All of these factors form the foundation of the repositioning roadmap and allow an owner to determine how best to boost the building’s profile accordingly.
Building “One Brand”
A whole-building brand identity relies on a distinct design DNA to unify the property across all of its spaces, from the lobby to the rooftop lounge. Outside, the building’s architecture can be blended with the character of the surrounding neighborhood to emphasize its legacy or serve as a counterpoint, presenting future tenants with the opportunity to be bold in going against the grain. Inside, the cohesion of materiality, lighting, color palettes and accents woven throughout further establish the strong sense of place. The visual connection between disparate settings – like a prebuilt suite and the shared conferencing floor – allows even the smallest corporate tenant to feel as though they own the entire building.
TPG Architecture’s design DNA for 575 Madison Avenue in New York City leaned on gray-veined marble flooring and slatted wood accents throughout to create a balance of warm and cool materials. Subtle variations in the scheme – such as the use of a walnut herringbone floor, instead of marble, in the amenity space – signal transitions in the program while maintaining visual familiarity for tenants and visitors alike.
Curating a Collection of Brands
For owners targeting a handful of different tenant types and revenue streams, a single aesthetic may provide less benefit. An iterative approach to building repositioning looks at each space as its own “brand” with a unique look, feel and function. Spreading these spaces across the building’s stack like Easter eggs to be discovered invites a bit of playfulness while allowing tenants to self-select what amenity areas they use and how. This strategy ensures different types of businesses are simultaneously catered to while providing owners and landlords with room for ongoing experimentation.
TPG Architecture designed a tenant “clubhouse” following this model, using dark walnut floors and wildlife-themed wallpaper to differentiate it from the clean, refined aesthetic of the rest of the building. The space feels like a secret, further enhancing its intrigue to existing and prospective tenants.
Conclusion
Both repositioning strategies unlock a building’s potential to reaffirm its place in the market, going beyond simple infrastructure and amenity upgrades by addressing the specific wants, needs and expectations of a particular business (or several businesses).
Featured image courtesy of TPG Architecture.
This is the second in a three-part series on office real estate by Doug West. Read part one and part two.
