Friday, October 7, 2022

Co-Founder Geoff Gosling Returns to Struggling DIRTT

Tayco Announces Bill Melnik as CEO and Owner as Kevin Philips Retires

Packed Trains And Bustling Sidewalks: Boston’s Return To Office Is Finally Materializing

News

Manhattan posted its strongest quarterly office leasing volume since year-end 2019 in the third quarter with a 26% increase to end the quarter at 9.23 million square feet, according to Colliers.

Year-to-date leasing volume totaled 24.17 million square feet, a nearly 50% increase over the 16.34 million square feet leased during the same period in 2021 and Colliers expert say that if leasing volume were to continue at the same pace for the remainder of the year, 2022’s full-year leasing volume would surpass 2021’s full-year total (24.96 million square feet) by 29.1%. Net absorption clocked in at a positive 4.13 million square feet.

The train platform at West Medford’s commuter rail station Wednesday morning was filled with sleepy-eyed men and women dressed in business formal attire standing in silence as the train to North Station slowly came to a halt.

“You might have to go to the head car, there’s always seats up there,” the conductor told passengers as a warning that some cars would be full.

As remote and hybrid work trends have remained sticky since the pandemic’s onset, office markets in major metropolitan areas still struggle to amp up their occupancy levels. In Manhattan, the change in work schedules is impacting more than office building owners, it’s reverberating throughout the entire commercial real estate ecosystem.
It's taken a long time, and the signal is still faint, but that noise is the sound of the UK regions dragging themselves away from home comforts and returning to the office. Maybe.

The Workplace

There may not be a more aggressive purveyor of traditional office culture in the business world than Goldman Sachs’ CEO David Solomon. Throughout the pandemic, he’s pushed Goldman employees for a full return to the financial giant’s many offices. He was quoted at the Credit Suisse forum in 2021 as saying about remote work, “I do think for a business like ours, which is an innovative, collaborative apprenticeship culture, this is not ideal for us. And it’s not a new normal. It’s an aberration that we’re going to correct as soon as possible.”
Economic development agencies have long based the cash they provide to business on workers going into the office. But without an office, will that cash dry up?
It’s better than earlier in the year, and certainly than in 2020, but it’s still bad news for landlords.
There’s a lot of talk about reinventing the office to make it fit for the future. But what does that mean in practice?

For some of the speakers at Bisnow’s Office Politics: What Occupiers Want event, this is not a case of tinkering around the edges.

Much of what we hear about different generations in the workplace and what they want needs to be binned.
We polled CoreNet Global members worldwide, who told us their organization’s top priority was attracting employees back to the office. But what attracts employees to an employer or workplace has shifted.
The SC Johnson administrative building was Frank Lloyd Wright’s corporate masterpiece. What does it feel like?
Companies are now prepared to go beyond the addition of a few plants to make truly biophilic workplaces – environments that behave like the living, breathing organisms they host.
Tracy Brower of Steelcase explores how to successfully bring people back to the office through intentionality.
FMillions have a sense that working from home has had a bit impact on society. The National Association of Home Builders pointed to economic research from the National Bureau of Economic Research, and some analysis of its own, to shed some light, and some numbers, on the topic.

In the NERB paper, researchers at Stanford, Princeton, the University of Chicago, the ifo Institute in German, the Instituto Tecnologico Autonomo de Mexico, and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development surveyed people from 27 countries with controls for age, gender, education, and industry. The researchers used the U.S. mean as a baseline and controlled everywhere for age, gender, education, and industry, making six major observations.

A mailroom punching bag. Tuna cans with no can opener. A folded-up exercise machine. New marketing campaign seeks ‘the most useless office perk ever’ and draws in hilarious submissions.

Real Estate

The US office sector is in “uncharted territory,” according to a sector report from Colliers, as debate rages on about the future and importance of physical office space to companies and employees alike.

“The office sector is facing a set of challenges that could result in significant structural shifts over the years ahead,” the report notes. As of Q2, the US office vacancy rate is 15.1%, ”comfortably below” the record peak of 16.3%, while net absorption, was positive in over half (53%) of the office markets the firm tracked in its national survey in the second quarter. National office absorption totaled 3.1 million square feet and has been positive in three of the past four quarters starting in Q3 2021, the report notes.

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Feta, Facebook's parent company, is pulling out of its lease on Park Avenue South four years early, leaving behind a 200K SF vacancy.

Facebook signed the lease at Orda Management’s 225 Park Ave. South in 2016, but the company has exercised its option to terminate the deal, Meta confirmed to Bisnow. It is proceeding with plans to move into over 2M SF of new office space on the west side of Manhattan.

Office to residential building conversion is often offered up as the answer to both the housing crisis and the dim future for favor of commercial buildings – but the buildings that would be candidates are still too expensive for the practice to become widespread.

About 50 office blocks have been turned to or are in the process of being redeveloped into multifamily since the pandemic set in, the Wall Street Journal reports. In the United Kingdom, an average of 12,000 new residential units have come from old offices each year since 2015.

As more life sciences companies aim for increased transparency for the sake of engagement, talent retention, and breakthrough innovation, the boundary between workplace and laboratory continues to blur.
Before COVID-19 turned commercial office leasing on its head, landlords generally had the upper hand in negotiations when it came to downtown office space across the United States. Then, everything changed once the virus swept through and lockdowns followed. Office space sat vacant, remote work grew, and vacancy rates increased. Two years later, leasing for offices is still a mixed bag as vacancy rates across the country can’t seem to budge, which may explain why enhanced tenant improvement allowances, which were once offered by office landlords in a desperate attempt to keep tenants during pandemic lockdowns, are continuing to take center stage for post-pandemic lease agreements.

Coworking

Flexible workspaces must avoid stagnation by adapting to current challenges in order to remain relevant, match evolving business needs, and stay ahead of the competition.

Makers

DIRTT announced that Co-founder Geoff Gosling is returning to DIRTT. His actual role or title in the struggling company going forward was not announced.
Tayco announced Bill Melnik as its new CEO and owner as of September 30, 2022. Melnik will succeed Kevin Philips, an industry veteran who has worked with Tayco for over twenty-five years as the second-generation owner of the Canadian-based manufacturer.
Two major furniture manufacturers in West Michigan, MillerKnoll and Steelcase, are bracing for budget cuts.
Find out how a recycled aluminum chair led our brand partner Emeco to explore other reclaimed materials and create more sustainable designs in furniture.
Texas-based office furniture company Vari opens the doors of a new headquarters, VariSpace Coppell. Vari built the 180,000-square-foot VariSpace Coppell from the ground up. It is only the third building in Dallas-Fort Worth to receive Fitwel certification, which developers and workplace strategists have embraced as part of the growing trend to promote healthy workplaces.
Employees at Haworth’s Holland headquarters celebrated Chairman Emeritus Dick Haworth’s birthday with a huge celebration Sept. 21.
The office furniture industry’s two largest players expect slower sales but also growth in the near term as employers face an uncertain economy and they reshape their offices to accommodate hybrid work models.

Both MillerKnoll Inc. and Steelcase Inc. recently reported reductions in incoming order rates that occurred despite solid quarterly sales gains.

Together, the companies will collaborate to deliver best-in-class, unique, and simplified workspace solutions focusing on fit, function, scalability, and timeless designs for the world of work today and in the future.

Design

As offices downsize and the world of work becomes more mobile, fast-growing US company Convene is finding a niche providing on-demand meeting space with a hospitality-style approach.

WFH

America lags behind its peers in providing home office expense deductions to remote employees.

Hybrid Working

Companies are re-evaluating the purpose of the office. HOK’s Beate Mellwig and Kay Sargent explain how to put in place an effective hybrid work model that balances employees’ “wants” with the needs of the business.
Ending productivity paranoia, embracing the physical office as a collaboration tool, and re-recruiting employees will be key for hybrid work.

Products

Nick Cave will unveil a collaboration with KnollTextiles of upholstery, drapery, and wall coverings—the company’s first partnership with an artist.
Designed by Philadelphia-based Union Design, the Vaux table puts a modern spin on the traditional steel table base.
The Global Expressions celebrates the power of design with six globally-inspired patterns for commercial interiors.
Móz Designs introduces a new expansion to their signature Laser Cut Collection: ten new patterns inspired by motion in the built and natural environment.
Carl Hansen & Son relaunches the Asserbo Series, designed by Børge Mogensen for his own holiday home in 1961.
With the L1 Upholstered Back, Allseating is bringing comfortable ergonomics to a whole new level. The curvature of the chair’s back was carefully constructed using ultra soft and durable foam that surrounds an inner layer of mesh webbing, creating natural lumbar support with an emphasis on comfort.
“Equilibrium” is PVC-free, low-VOC, finish-free, and bleach cleanable, making it the perfect addition to a beautifully sustainable space.
Mute Launches Jetson : bringing new levels of innovation and sustainability to office pods.

Projects

Tangram, a curator of commercial interior environments and workspaces headquartered in Southern California, complete the RBC Project Gateway located at 250 Nicollet Mall, Minneapolis, Minn. Tangram provided furniture and installation for the 265,000 square foot bank space. Perkins+Will provided architecture for the project.
The 7,000 square foot space reflects Kinnate’s brand through the careful choice of colors, the incorporation of geometric shapes and a focus on a healthy workplace.

Metaverse

A new study commissioned by Ciena claims to have uncovered just how ready business professionals are to collaborate in the metaverse.

Last Word(s)

Is the jukebox the next water cooler? Companies have been adding them to their offices to boost connections among employees.
How the affordability crisis got even worse.
Find the best Contract Furniture Industry jobs and hire the best talent.
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