Open floor plates for collaboration are a must. It should be very new, or rather old, but nowhere in between. There should be a strong identity and a sense of place, likely accomplished with this furniture, that artwork and these lighting fixtures. Make it a space that young, creative startups can show off and use to attract other young, creative employees.
At the same time, keep the price to a minimum, but locate the tenant in a hip, urban area surrounded by other hip, urban companies designing software, clean energy technologies or in another cutting-edge field. Make sure it’s near public transportation and nightlife, as well as environmentally friendly. Oh, and whatever you do, don’t forget to tell us how much it will cost to wire the space for digital communications.
This is what some see as the new role of the commercial real estate broker – part realtor, part architect and part project manager. A commercial broker’s role is more than just determining rental rates and square footage these days.
“Companies today are focused on efficiency, open floor plans and tenant improvement costs, increasing the necessity of a broker’s heightened knowledge of project management,” John Boyle, principal with Cassidy Turley FHO, wrote in an email to Banker & Tradesman. “With this said, the role of a solid project manager working in conjunction with a tenant representative has become paramount.”
Knowing Limits
But it’s more than that, say some industry executives. Now more than ever, brokers are absorbing as much as they can from the project managers they work alongside during the build-up to tenant build-outs. Especially after one advertising firm, Arnold Worldwide, headquartered at 101 Huntington Ave. in Boston, recently hired a project manager (PM) to direct the process for its potential move in 2014, when the company is believed to need about 180,000 square feet. It is still unclear where the firm will choose as its new home, or if it will stay put.
However, the company hired its PM so they could directly oversee the broker selection process – something never done before, according to industry sources.
“PM companies have their own biases as to who they hire and who they don’t hire,” said one industry executive that asked for anonymity, citing a conflict of interest. “So ultimately, the PM making that selection, they may make a selection that ultimately benefits them more than the client. The genesis of the PM firm was to oversee a construction project. But the process and review of companies’ office space needs starts well before that. I’m not sure a PM firm is most qualified to know which brokerage firm to hire. Once the lease is signed, then the PM usually takes more of an active role. But they only represent a small part of the overall process.”
Not all brokerage houses believe brokers can play the role of project manager and architect, as well as the real estate side. William Motley, managing director with Jones Lang LaSalle, said that very soon after his firm is hired to market a property or space, the decision makers go right out and hire an architect.
“Brokers are not trained architects or designers,” Motley told Banker & Tradesman. “We can certainly look at how over the years the use of space has really changed. In the ’80s it was process-driven. Perception was that people go into an office, close their door and hammer out their work. Today it’s much more social and communicative and collaborative, particularly for high-tech companies. Companies are seeking higher density rates. But I wouldn’t try to design their space.”
Chris McCauley, senior vice president at Richards Barry Joyce & Partners, echoed Motley’s sentiments.
“I never pretend I can do anything more than I’m good at, and design is not one of them,” he explained. “Younger biotech-oriented companies are certainly placing more emphasis on a sense of space, having an environment that is more collaborative. But from a broker’s perspective, I would never pretend to have a design eye.”
