Over 9,800 retail stores closed in 2019

Buildings Magazine November 2019 had an article on what amenities tenants should be investing in. Sodexo surveyed 3,593 employees around the world, and here are some of the results: For ‘Experience Enhancers’, Café or restaurant 71%; medical services/clinic: 66%; Car sharing or shuttle services: 62%; vending services: 61%. For ‘Experience Essentials’, Cleaning of the workplace:…Read More→

CNBC today announced that WeWork lost $1.25 Billion in the third quarter on revenue of $934 million. Its occupancy decreased to 79% as the company added 115,000 desks. If there is just the slightest downturn in the US economy, companies that have flexible rental agreements in WeWork facilities may exacerbate their predicament.

Having been through a number of economic booms and then downturns I like to be alert to early warning signs of an impending office slow-down in one of the hottest office markets in the US, San Francisco. We don’t have to worry about a suburban slow-down as Contra Costa and the Tri-Valley never took off…Read More→

WeWork has 528 locations in 111 cities in 29 countries as of June 2019. Before its valuation collapsed from 48 billion to 20 billion during the past month, it had identified 280 additional cities as targets. In 2018 it lost 1.6 billion and the first six months of 2019 it lost $690 million. “Landlords have…Read More→

I just attended the annual SIOR Conference in Portland (Society of Office and Industrial Realtors) an international group of 3,300 commercial brokers who have to take a lot of classes and document they are in the top few percent of the nation’s commercial real estate experts. I’ve been a member for 34 years and it…Read More→

What was that old saying regarding killing the golden goose that laid the golden eggs? Sure you get one solid gold geese feast but that is it for a future supply of golden eggs! The San Francisco Planning Commission just okayed a plan to raise office fees by 143%! Fees would go from $69.90 per…Read More→

In National Real Estate Investor, July 12019, there was a report on the biggest flex office space markets in the country, with Regus and WeWork dominating.  Manhattan reported 13.5 million square feet with 30% annual growth, Los Angeles, 4.2 million with 15% annual growth, and in 6th place San Francisco with 2.8 million feet and…Read More→

In the San Francisco Bay Area, office tenant improvement costs have gone through the roof.  A few years ago, new carpeting and paint was $6-8/sf, now $12-15/sf.  Second generation space could be remodeled for $20-25/rsf just five years ago but now $50-60/rsf is required just to move a few walls, life-safety, Title 24 and minor…Read More→

Using sensors and the new software analytics are helping companies to cut their office space by 30% or more.  Microsoft used this and “this has meant significant financial savings and it could mean Microsoft can make further consolidations that save it tens of millions of dollars.”  Bisnow.com July 2019

According to a new 2019 National Office Absorption report just out by CoStar, net absorption is down 26% Midwest, 18% South, 9% in the West, but up 2% in the Northeast. No reasons for this given perhaps continued increases in productivity, corporate downsizing and offshoring/outsourcing?  Here in the Bay Area, especially San Francisco, companies are…Read More→

San Francisco may finally begin to run out of office space as there are more than 8.1 million square feet of office space being proposed, but with the office cap on new construction of 2.1 million square feet, there finally may be an exodus to the East Bay!  Along the I-680 and Tri-Valley we have…Read More→

If you are an office user evaluating different office buildings and want a quick way to see how the building is maintained, check out the restrooms and stairwells in smaller Class A and all sizes in Class B office buildings as this is where spider webs, dirty floors, and lack of dusting can show up. …Read More→

The Internet of Things will become increasingly important in the operations of commercial buildings, keeping operating costs down, increasing building efficiencies, and improving employee satisfaction with their work environment. As one small example, if air conditioning repairs can be made before the unit breaks due to sensors and new technology, this can save money. If…Read More→

A recent Harvard Business School study of two Fortune 500 companies found that a cubicle-free workplace without private offices actually forces less face-to-face and more e-mailing and instant messaging. Employees have headphones on to drown out distracting noise. “There’s a natural human desire for privacy, and when we don’t have privacy, we find ways of…Read More→

One of the best components of the workplace to invest in is the lunchroom / breakroom. This is where almost all of the employees go at some point in the day, and making this an energizing and enticing place to visit for all age groups and job functions is key: Mix and match furniture heights…Read More→

At the recent Commercial Real Estate Allen Matkin’s / UCLA’s forecast, for California and overall, office space has reached the peak for this cycle with office rates as high as they will be for the foreseeable future. Warehouses are hot and for the East Bay, San Joaquin and Sacramento counties will remain sizzling for the…Read More→

Intel has a short online video showing how tech can enhance the office environment. It starts where an app tells the driver what parking spaces are available, sensors scan the employee, allowing access through security, the smartphone telling you which desk is yours for the day (or hour), and on and on. A little scary…Read More→

“Of the Bay Area residents who are still here, nearly half of those surveyed recently said they plan to move out of the region in the next few years, according to a poll released in June by the Bay Area Council.” (Bay Area News Group, July 15, 2018) Folks are leaving in droves, selling their…Read More→

The San Francisco Bay Area may be leading the nation in terms of workplace transformation. “Competition among tech companies to attract and retain the most talented employees has also fueled a steady evolution of what can be expected in today’s workplace culture and physical spaces, for both office and R&D environments … Diane Stegmeier, founder…Read More→