Monthly Archives: April 2021

While some headlines suggest the office will go away as people embrace working from home almost exclusively, the research identifies a more nuanced, hybrid future. Most people expect to work in the office most of the time, but they also expect greater flexibility from their organizations going forward.\

A More Flexible Approach to Work

The global experiment in working from home has shown it can be part of a viable work policy, but it requires each organization to consider its own culture, processes, technology infrastructure and real estate strategies.

After spending months working from home, people expect to be allowed to continue in some capacity. How often they expect to do it differs significantly, which means leaders need to consider what policy is right for individuals, teams and the organization overall.

The majority of people say they expect to spend more time working in the office than at home and do not expect to work at home every day. In most countries, the majority say they expect to work from home one day a week or less.

People in France and Germany, which have strong office-based work cultures, are least likely to expect to work from home. People in India and Mexico, on the other hand, expect to work from home more frequently. A word of caution to leaders in those countries: Both countries experienced significant productivity and engagement drops the longer people who were dissatisfied working from home did so, indicating the need for careful consideration of what work-from-home policy is best.

The majority of people say they expect to spend more time working in the office than at home and do not expect to work at home every day.

How Often People Expect to Work From Home

The majority of people in most countries expect to work from home one day a week or less post-pandemic.

Noteworthy: People in France and Germany expect to work from home the least. People in India expect to work from home the most.

Leaders Anticipate More Flexibility

As people expect working from home to be an option, more organizations are listening and responding. Early in the pandemic, many leaders did not see a need to change their policies, but now 87% of leaders around the world say they expect they will allow more flexibility about where, when and how people work — which is a 38% increase from April 2020. More companies in more countries are allowing for the increase of flexible work policies.

Leaders Expect More Flexible Work Policies

Responses indicate growth in the number of leaders who expect employees will have more choice and control to work from home or elsewhere post-pandemic.

The Emerging Hybrid Model

The global experiment in working from home is shifting to become an experiment in hybrid work. As organizations consider the right approach for their people and their culture, predictions that people will work exclusively from home are being passed over for more flexible options.

Nearly a quarter of all businesses will continue to work in the office as the primary destination, and the majority of organizations will take a hybrid approach to work, in which employees work from both home and the office.

In fact, the number of organizations that expect people will work from home exclusively only increased 2% globally since the beginning of the pandemic. Nearly a quarter of all businesses will continue to work in the office as the primary destination, and the majority of organizations will take a hybrid approach to work, in which employees work from home or a third place, and the office.Some organizations are considering a range of options beyond their primary offices or campuses. Given that the lack of commute is the number one reason people like working from home, organizations are beginning to explore options for people to work closer to their homes, such as satellite offices or co-working facilities. Leaders who plan to embrace more working from home options in their organizations are considering a mix of buying, building, leasing or private co-working options.

Global Leaders Anticipate More Hybrid Work

HYBRID WORK: BY COUNTRY

When asked in September 2020 what their expectations are for work post-pandemic, most leaders see three main approaches — with many considering a hybrid model in which some time is spent in the office and some at home or a third place.

Noteworthy: Just as people in France and Germany are less likely to expect to work at home, their leaders agree, saying more people will work predominantly in the office. India, China and the UK are much more likely to embrace a hybrid model, with people working from home more often.

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2021 Commercial Outlook

After talking with three commercial agents about their outlook for the future, we have determined that the Treasure Valley is a fantastic place to live. The only downside is that someone let the secret out, and everyone else wants to live here too! In the early days of 2020, business was booming, and the valley was dealing with exponential growth. Not much has changed. Although Covid brought everything to a screeching halt and we saw unemployment rise from 3.5% to 11.8%, our market has recovered quickly. In the end, the shutdown sped up the demise of dying national franchises and gave the valley a brief respite from growth.

Unlike many in the country, our unemployment rate is back down to 4%, and we are struggling to find talent, especially as new businesses relocate here. Whether people are escaping struggling cities or looking for a slower pace, the treasure valley continues to grow, and our three commercial agents are here to help us make sense of it all and share why they are optimistic about the future of the valley.

National vs Local Markets

Holt Haga works for BVA development which focuses on strategic capital investments and large-scale commercial development. BVA’s portfolio includes office, industrial, retail, medical, and even a little residential development, with Class A office buildings comprising 75% of their core activities. Haga believes it is crucial to understand that not all markets are created equal. “National media outlets paint a pretty bearish outlook. They are reporting on primary markets in New York City, San Francisco, and Seattle. What we are seeing in Boise is just a completely different story.”

Haga suggests that Boise has rebounded so quickly because companies are leaving these primary markets and coming to tertiary markets like Boise. “I think we are going to see a continuation of trends that existed long before Covid, such as the hub and spoke models. You have companies reducing the size of their footprint in those primary markets and creating tertiary markets (spokes) or regional headquarters. So, the Treasure Valley and Boise will certainly continue to benefit from that.”

Waiting & Watching

Lew Manglos with Colliers International focuses on real estate property management, brokerage, leasing, and sales. Most of his work is in the Treasure Valley, and he sees the most activity in our industrial and multifamily sectors with low rent growth and high demand. In contrast, Covid has more significantly impacted the office and retail spaces.

While the market is healthy, Lew has seen more hesitation from tenants regarding expansion and leasing. “They are kind of waiting and watching. Generally, [tenants] haven’t made decisions to give up space. The vast majority are trying to continue to have office space. If we go back a year, some might have been looking to expand because they added employees. That same tenant is now more likely to wait and see how things shake out before they make a decision to move.” Ultimately Manglos expects things to return to the way they were before Covid, albeit with more flexible employee schedules.

Flexibility

Peter Oliver at TOK Commercial focuses on investment sales and leasing. He covers office space, industrial, retail, and multifamily. His time is split evenly between investment sales and leasing, mainly in the Treasure Valley. Like Manglos, Oliver agrees that tenants have been hesitant to act but that things are beginning to change as they gain more visibility. In fact, local companies have been quick to move in ways that national companies may regret later. While national companies made blanket mandates for return-to-work dates, they failed to look at markets individually.

In contrast, local companies have already pivoted and brought their workforce back to capitalize on the Boise market’s resurgence. Part of that pivot has been negotiating shorter lease terms until they have more certainty to move forward. “A lot of tenants were trying to do as short of a renewal as possible because they were trying to grasp what things look like on the other side.” With a typical lease term ranging between 3-5 years, businesses have been trying to do 1-2 year extensions instead. Even if they sign onto a longer lease term, they want the ability to terminate the lease even if there is a penalty. They want flexibility while simultaneously not losing their space and facing a price jump for a new build.

Community Of The Office

While some national companies are transitioning to a full-time work-from-home model, Oliver observes that local companies value collaboration and believe in-person work is important. Lucky for them, most employees want to come back. “Over the last year, the demand for mental health services skyrocketed. The WCA in Boise has seen an 84% increase in demand for their services. We are just not meant to be in solitary confinement. For a lot of people, their company is their community. It is their social life in a lot of ways, so I just don’t see [the office] going away.”

Standing In The Light

As Haga says, “In the early parts of 2020, everybody was kind of in the fetal position looking down a very long, dark tunnel wondering how far away the light at the end will be.” Trends, statistics, and maybe a little bit of optimism suggest that within the next 60-90 days, we will be standing in the light again. Fortunately for us, the area is very well positioned for when that day arrives.

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When Police Chief John Dyer interviewed for his position at the Lake Stevens Police Department (LSPD) in 2016, a new facility was already in discussion. At the time, the LSPD was in a 4,000 square foot, triple-wide, manufactured building with much of its evidence and vehicle seizures processed off-site. While the facility may have been adequate when built 15 years ago, the city’s population had grown drastically. Today the city has 40,000 people compared to its mere 6,000 people twenty years ago. Additionally, the department’s old location was far away from a majority of its calls for service. As the Chief puts it, “When you have a city with a lake in the middle of it, and you have to get to the other side of town, that causes a little bit of an impediment to doing that.”

Relocation

To better serve its community, it was important for the LSPD to relocate. So, the city started looking for a new building. Around that time, the fire district was selling its headquarters building originally used as a real estate office. The property’s primary draw was that it offered three separate buildings that would allow the department to bring all its operations to one secure location. They chose to buy the buildings and completely remodel the space. It required almost a total gut of the space, changing all the office configurations. Now the department has a place to process evidence on site as well as house vehicles from seizures. Even more critical for the growth of the department is their new training facility. With the room to host regional classes, the department will receive free seats in those classes providing more training for the department and serving the city better.

Customizing Offices

When it came to the main building, there was a lot of work to do. In order to accommodate 41 employees, it was necessary to rework the space. This included converting four new offices out of areas that had previously been designed for one. The functionality of these spaces became essential. That is when OEC got involved in the process. As the chief shares, “We had some really good experiences with [OEC] to really make this our own building. The part I appreciated the most was working with the OEC design team to customize each individual office. I got to bring each employee into my office, and they sat and talked about where the desk would go and the types of things they would need. It was custom furniture for each individual room because the sergeants, patrol officers, and detectives knew best what they needed. So, having the ability to do that was just fantastic, and it really added to the morale to be a part of that.”

“The part I appreciated the most was working with the design team to customize each individual office.”

Functionality

Making the workspace function was vital to the department. A good example being the patrol spaces. They previously had a room with a big round table and a few stations around it. That was where they would brief, eat lunch, and process evidence. There was no privacy and no ability to work individually. Now they have individual stations with a separate briefing room that will go a long way to make it much more conducive to how they work.

Another example is their forensics detective, who has a lot of computers and telephones. Creative solutions like pegboards proved useful to hang wires and cables, and granted plenty of storage for everything else. By customizing their furniture, the department was able to meet the specific needs of their officers.

Interior Design

The LSPD was the largest project that OEC’s junior designer, Gabriella Garcia, has ever done.  And the customization of each office added to its scope. “It was a long process and super personal, and that spoke to me in the sense that I knew it means a lot to them.” Gabriella was a pivotal part of interior design as well. When the Chief reached out about overall design, she created a color board with flooring, wall protection, wall paints, and even wallpaper that the department loved. “It was a pretty awesome experience being able to customize the furniture and use my creativity. Since I created [the color board], I already knew which way I wanted to go with the furniture selection.”

Unique Spaces

While every room is unique, there are a few that were particularly special to Gabriella. Those rooms included the “Warm Interview Room” for witnesses or victims and the “Comfort Room” for anyone who needs a moment of peace. The people using these rooms range from toddlers to the elderly, so creating an atmosphere of comfort was of utmost importance.

“Designing this space became very personal to me. I was able to put myself in other people’s shoes and recognize that those in these spaces were in situations that they did not want to be in, and that can be scary. So it was emotional in a sense that I wanted each person to feel some comfort and
control in this environment.”

Gabriella’s favorite room to design was the Chief’s office. “He is so devoted to the police department and the city of Lake Stevens. “He wanted it to be a space that was unique to him, but when folks came in to discuss anything with him, he wanted them to feel comfortable, but not too comfortable.” Gabriella had to walk a fine line by creating something traditional yet modern and did so with some surprises. One such welcome addition was a custom glass table with the LSPD logo. Special details like this were well received by the Chief and his staff. “I love my office, and I hadn’t even thought of the table, so that was a surprise that I was pretty happy with.”

Back Up To Speed

With a fully outfitted new facility, the LSPt is looking forward to better serving their community. As the Chief says, “Lake Stevens is a great city with a great department and really good folks. And now that we have this new facility, we are bringing the city up to speed where it should be as far as law enforcement.”

With a fully outfitted new facility, the LSPD is looking forward to better serving their community. As the Chief says, “Lake Stevens is a great city with a great department and really good folks. And now that we have this new facility, we are bringing the city up to speed where it should be as far as law enforcement.”

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