Promoting offices. New needs and trends
The developers and the owners of office buildings have had to adapt over the years to tend the needs required by the companies at every moment. The companies have been evolving in the same way as the society and their priorities have undergone modifications according to the trends of the moment.
What do the companies want at present?
1. FLEXIBLE SPACES
Current, comfortable, sustainable, healthy spaces, without assigned work places take precedence. Open and flexible work areas, with abundant natural light and best use of the lobbies.
It is fundamental for owners to be attentive to the new concept of the work stations and to an increasingly more exacting demand, transforming the spaces according to the type of client (national vs. international) and adapting to new markets such as the co-working areas.
2. SUSTAINABILITY
Sustainability allows the owner to reduce the environmental costs but also the economic costs, due to the greater use of the resources of light, energy and water, for example.
Sustainable and intelligent buildings allow the owner to lease the offices more quickly and with higher rent and guarantees. In turn, the tenant improves the worker’s experience.
SUSTAINABILITY CERTIFICATES
There currently are 3 types of certificates that measure the sustainability of the buildings:
- LEED: Sustainability and environment
- BREEAM: Sustainability and environment
(Both depend solely on the owner/developer) - WELL: Wellbeing of its occupants
In this case, the developer must deliver the building with some minimum standards, but it is the tenant who is responsible for the space complying with the wellbeing requirements of its employees.
3. SOCIAL CHANGES
Finally, one has to take into account the changes that the society has undergone in recent years and adapt to the new worker profiles that are incorporated to the labor market, the millennials. Teleworking, flexible hours or other remunerations such as gymnasium, recreation area,… are some of the requirements that this generation demands most.
The development of connectivity is another of the factors that has changed the current society. The Internet connections are increasingly faster and efficient, which helps in making the work spaces flexible.
In addition, in order to attract and retain the talent and foster the culture of innovation, companies are beginning to abandon the decentralized areas to return to the center of the cities (CBD). Among their requirements when applying or accepting employment, the new profiles include having good communications, being able to go to work walking or by bicycle or enjoying all the cultural and leisure services that the center of the city provides.
And what will the spaces of the future be like?
In order for us to be able to imagine what the offices of the future will be, we have to put ourselves in the skin of the profile of the new workers.
With our sight placed on community, creative and co-working spaces we will adapt to a future where technology will mark how and where we will work:
- The exponential growth of connectivity with the implementation of 5G.
- The importance of data.
Capacity to compile, analyze and store large volumes of information, which will allow saving space and management of the data from any device connected to the network or the cloud. - Use of smartphones by more than 75% of the adult population.
The mobile phone as a work tool. A potent computer of reduced size that allows connecting and working from any place. - Internet of Things (IoT).
Connectivity among all the devices of the office, in order to manage the productivity, sustainability and the worker’s experience. - Artificial intelligence.
Automation of the simplest tasks in order to be able to stress more the development of the creative tasks and of innovation, which will generate greater productivity and added value to the companies.
The role of the owner in view of a new paradigm
Having reached this point, what is the role of the owner in this new paradigm?
At Alting, we work as a property management group with a vision, with the objective as investors and owners, of revaluing and maximizing the value of the assets and achieving an occupancy rate as high as possible and maximizing rent and guarantees.
The owners of buildings in the center of the cities must constantly adapt to the demand, modifying and adapting their facilities to the evolution of the business models and ways of working.
This is currently achieved by means of the design of flexible spaces, optimizing the work stations and securing the wellbeing of the employees and the reduction of costs. For example, one must provide areas for parking bicycles, dressing rooms for the users of the building or the use of the roofs as recreational spaces, elements that will increase the worker’s experience and will make these buildings more competitive.
One much take into account that when this transformation and adaptation of the prime assets are executed with the support of a technical “in-house” team, there is a better use of the resources and a higher Capex (Capital Expenditure – Investments in capital goods).
Alting, property management vocation sustainable over time
At Alting, awe currently have 2 buildings of our select portfolio of buildings in process of transformation. They are 2 of the recapitalized assets in the Prime Zone, one in Barcelona and the other in Madrid, which have been recently vacated:
- Diagonal, 371 (Barcelona):
Located on the corner of Avenida Diagonal /Pau Claris / Rosselló, next to the Paseo de Gràcia, with a total constructed area of 3,082 m² (2,112 m² of commercial use and 970 m² of storage and parking).
Built in 1992 by the architectural firm FARGAS ASSOCIATS to house the headquarters of Natwest Bank, it was also the headquarters of Landscape, a real estate affiliate of the Banc de Sabadell. - Ruiz de Alarcón, 5 (Madrid):
Located in the exclusive district of the Jerónimos, next to the Madrid Stock Market, it has a total surface area of 5,650.15 m², distributed on seven floors plus the basement.
The building, constructed in 1920 and refurbished in the 1940s. It has housed the offices of the Compañía Azucarera de España S.A., of EBRO – PULEVA and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Aware of the low percentage of vacant corporate office buildings in prime areas and with the objective of maximizing the profitability of these assets, the Developments department of Alting is immersed in a complete renovation plan of both buildings to adapt them to the currently existing demand:
- Incorporation of new technologies and sustainable elements for the environment and making them comfortable, which will allow obtaining the previously cited certificates.
- Flexible spaces, high ceilings and technical floors, for the optimization of the work stations.
- Useable terraces on their roofs converted into recreational areas.
For Alting it is essential to have our assets updated and we are aware that a higher Capex is necessary. In this way, this adaptation will allow us a higher return due to the increment in rent that the tenants of these buildings will be willing to pay and because ADAPTING will involve maximizing the value of the Core Plus Value Added assets.
