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Barry Dube
Title: Principal, Cresa Boston
Age: 55
Experience: 25 years
Working with commercial real estate tenants on their space needs didn’t used to be this complicated. Private offices and cubicles are on the way out, replaced by an assortment of huddle rooms, bench seating, “collision zones,” breakout areas and private phonebooths. As Boston becomes a magnet for industry-leading tech companies, tenants are scrambling to offer unique amenities that give them an edge in recruiting. Barry Dube, a principal with Cresa in Boston, heads the project management division at the tenant representation brokerage. Dube has worked with companies filling more than 3 million square feet of office space in New England, including Apple, Partners in Health and GSN Worldwinner.
Q: What’s the biggest recent change you’ve seen in the role of project managers?
A: The biggest change is the space itself. Two decades ago, it was perimeter offices across the board. It wasn’t just isolated to law firms. That was the norm: high cubes and a much more closed environment. Now the trend is away from that. We’re still seeing a lot of it with law firms. They’ve gotten to the point where they want a lighter and brighter environment. And the legal assistant’s role has diminished. We’ve seen the footprint shrink pretty dramatically per head.
Q: What are some of the recent clients you’ve worked with in the tech sector?
A: (Online gaming company) Worldwinner GSN was moving into Boston (at 100 Summer St.) and the employee base likes to be close to where they live. The base tends to be the 23- to 28-year-old who lives in and around Boston, especially South Boston to the North End.
Worldwinner was in Waltham and wanted to attract younger talent. They also were looking for a lot of amenities, so the workforce can go out after work, and green space outside. We’re finding public transportation is key as well and companies are paying for parking for those who have to park downtown. They’re footing the entire bill.
The new space, I call that the “cruise ship effect.” You have maybe a small cabin for your personal space, but there’s a lot of amenities around the workspace. We’ve done some buildouts in Copley Place, such as the Bridgespan group. They were one of the first to go with a full open environment. That was a huge transition for them, coming from a regular office with high cubes.
Q: How does the project management process work and how long does it take?
A: At Cresa, the entire process is integrated with the brokerage. So we’re starting very early. That’s when we start programming in. We haven’t even done a survey of the building. How much space do you need? Then our brokers can do that survey and say, “These 20 buildings are available.” And then it gets funneled down to the three that are most desirable. Then we’ll do a fit plan to lay that program into the space on CAD, and put together a financial analysis: moving, construction.
It’s not just rent: it’s all those incremental costs. In a regular fit-out, the buildout is nine to 13 weeks for construction. And permitting works very well in Boston. The building permit is only 10 days to two weeks. The big question is how long does it take to design the space? So start to finish, with the lease negotiation, you’re 20 to 24 weeks
Q: Are more companies taking employee surveys before they move?
A: That’s fairly new, and now it’s commonplace. We did it spottily five or six years ago, and now we’re doing them on 90 percent of the projects. It ranges from what type of amenities are important to you and outside-the-space amenities.
Q: What are the most in-demand amenities right now?
A: The first thing is the location of the building, what’s around the building as far as bars and restaurants and public space. People like to ride their bikes.
Inside, it varies. Part of that is driven by costs. It’s balanced out with reducing the footprint by putting people in a bench rather than a cube. That allows for amenities from nap rooms to soft seating, breakout areas, private phone rooms. Kegerators are back now. Those were around in the dotcom days, and they are coming back. Large break rooms with food and snacks are huge now. With the changing environment in Boston right now, these are younger workforces. They have no dress codes, so they’re showing up in sandals and shorts and they’re going in a building like 60 State St. that also has established law firms. So it’s quite a dynamic situation.
Q: How are companies using noise mitigation in open workspaces?
A: We’re doing sound masking in probably 90 percent of them. It’s inexpensive and it works well. Years ago, it was noise on top of noise, but now (white noise generators) really do cancel out the small noises. When we’re putting in a preliminary budget, we add that in because it’s that common.
Q: What’s the next major evolution in workspace design?
A: The AV has come a long way. We’re in the infancy of wireless AV. People fought back and said it’s not (secure) and then they said the quality’s not that good. Now you can put in AV and you’re getting full HD resolution. What we’re going to see in five years will be pretty dramatic. We did a project out in Waltham, Compuware, that had a $600,000 AV budget. That’s the biggest change I see. Things are getting cheaper, smaller, faster.
Favorite Boating Spots On Nantucket Sound/Cape Cod:
- Sampsons Island, Cotuit
- Lake Tashmoo, Martha’s Vineyard
- Cuttyhunk Elizabeth Islands
- Washburn Island, Waquoit
- Monomoy Island
