Originally published by Richard Florida for Bloomberg CityLab on May 14, 2021.

Just last spring, a chorus of pundits loudly proclaimed a sweeping urban exodus and the impending death of cities. Now, just slightly more than a year later, our cities are springing back to life. Sidewalks are starting to bustle; restaurants, which have spilled onto the streets, are teeming with patrons; museums and galleries are reopening; and fans are heading back to baseball parks, basketball arenas and even outdoor concert venues.

Originally published on April 13, 2021, by Roger Heerema and Dan Elkins for NAIOP.

Effective workplace design has never been about simply making an office look nice; it’s about supporting and inspiring those who will move within and around it. Now, a historic pandemic is highlighting a new opportunity for flourishing companies whose space needs have changed: To invest in build- or redevelop-to-suit design projects that enable them to manage the health and wellness aspects of their space – during a time when both are paramount.

Originally published on April 15, 2021 by Kathryn Hamilton for NAIOP.com.

Employees – office workers, in particular – have firm expectations about returning to the workplace as vaccines become more widely available and companies begin bringing the team back together. At the top of their wish lists: hybrid work schedules, says start-up workforce platform Envoy’s Return to the Workplace report.

Originally published on March 26, 2021, by Cary Chandler and Ellen Lieder for NAIOP

Although the long-term impacts of the pandemic on the office environment are yet to be determined, many knowledge workers could eventually go back to the office. When workers return to urban office towers, they may anticipate an exceptional experience that delivers more than their home office could offer: a workplace destination that has community attractions they’ve craved over several months of remote work.

Join the CLT Development Center for the launch of our new Digital Plan Room! 

The CLT Development Center has partnered with ePermitHub to launch the Digital Plan Room, a new electronic document review solution that is seamlessly integrated into the Accela Citizen Access environment. The Digital Plan Room is the next generation of electronic plan review. This solution will introduce many new features to optimize the plan review process, making it easier and faster for design professionals and plan reviewers to communicate so reviews can be approved faster with greater efficiency.

Originally published on behalf of NAIOP Research Foundation on November 19, 2020. 

Negative Absorption of Office Space Expected to Continue in Short Term, Trend Positive Beginning Q2 2021

The NAIOP Research Foundation has published the NAIOP Office Space Demand Forecast for Q4 2020.

Originally published by Marc Stiles on November 5, 2020, for Puget Sound Business Journal 

The tech-fueled evolution of industrial real estate is creating opportunities for underused assets, large and small. The possibilities seem almost endless.

Originally published in NAIOP's Development Magazine Fall 2020 Issue by Ray Kimsey. 

COVID-19 could spur greater interest in transforming suburban office parks into mixed-use developments.

Suburban office parks were already experiencing a renaissance in the years leading up to the COVID-19 pandemic. A combination of rising commercial and residential rental rates in urban core areas and the desire of millennial workers to reduce their commutes had led real estate developers to transform older office parks into competitive properties by offering the right mix of uses and amenities.

The National Forums program brings together industry professionals in select groups to share industry knowledge, develop successful business strategies and build strong relationships in a confidential and non-competitive setting. Learn more about this unique opportunity and apply for appointment today. 

The Forums provide a unique opportunity for members to openly discuss project challenges, business opportunities and lessons-learned in a confidential and non-competitive setting. Over time, fellow members become a trusted circle of advisors.

The City of Charlotte Small business network is more than 10,000 strong.

Add your small business to the Open for Business directory to have your information displayed on the Open for Business website and receive notifications when new access to capital opportunities and resources are available.

Having—for the most part—quickly sheltered in place in March and April, office workers across the U.S. are slowly venturing back to their workplaces, according to a new weekly report from Kastle Systems International.

The Kastle Back to Work Barometer is an average based on millions of aggregated, anonymous daily building access data points from Kastle-secured properties in 10 major metro areas: Austin, Chicago, Dallas, Houston, Los Angeles, New York, Philadelphia, San Francisco, San Jose and Washington. 

The COVID-19 pandemic might not have a massive economic effect on the office sector, but it could spark big new ideas on the use of space.

The office sector appears to be less vulnerable to disruptions associated with the coronavirus pandemic than retail or hospitality, but it’s not entirely immune to an economic downturn — or the acceleration of changes in the ways people have been working  during the crisis.

Mandatory closures and other social distancing measures have taken a toll on firms that are closely tied to the consumer economy, such as the British airline Flybe, which went bankrupt in March after travel bookings plummeted in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. Businesses that cannot conduct most of their business remotely are also in peril. On the other hand, many companies have learned that they can run their operations without anyone physically in the office, a trend that has the potential to depress demand for traditional office leases.

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Originally published on June 5, 2020 by Shawn Moura, Ph.D. 

The coronavirus pandemic has accelerated social and economic changes that were underway before the outbreak, while also leading consumers, workers and employers to adopt new preferences and behaviors. Collectively, these changes will require that commercial real estate firms adopt new approaches to design, customer relations and business operations to be successful in the future. Christopher Lee, founder and CEO of CEL & Associates, offered his predictions for how the outbreak will reshape demand for commercial real estate in the U.S. and outlined steps that firms can take to remain competitive during a recent NAIOP webinar.

Originally published on June 3, 2020 by Clay Edwards

As offices are set to reopen across the country over the next few months, many companies are considering all their options to make the workplace as safe and healthy as possible for returning employees. Companies will need to do more than put hand sanitizer dispensers everywhere and rearrange desks to put employees’ minds at ease.

Originally published on May 18, 2020 by Elizabeth Brink and Arnold Levin

At Gensler, we’ve been thinking hard about how to help our clients through these extraordinary times. As we’ve adjusted to the strange reality of the global work-from-home experiment, our clients have begun to ask what the future of work holds post-pandemic.

Bisnow interviewed Michael Kloppenburg, senior consultant for flexible office solutions at Avison Young, and Daniel Levinson, chairman, CRE Holdings, subject matter experts for NAIOP’s new Real Estate as a Service course on the REaaS model.

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As workers largely operate remotely during the COVID-19 crisis, will the shift out of the traditional office permanently change the sector? Register for the next Advantage Series webinar, April 8, 2 p.m. ET, to hear two experts share their perspectives on how the pandemic and its ripple effects have impacted office leasing activities and rates. 

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Join NAIOP Charlotte on Tuesday, March 24th at 2-2:30 p.m. ET for The Advantage Series is an exclusive member benefit, delivering expert insights into the latest research to help you make informed business decisions.

Repercussions from the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic are far-reaching and still quite unknown, but one thing is for certain: the impact on commercial real estate will be substantial. A week ago, CRE fundamentals were solid; will that improve our recovery timeline? What do experts see for the potential future of the industry? How do you recognize a deal today, and know whether it’s better to act quickly or hold? The questions are numerous, and NAIOP is here with guidance to support you today and get you thinking ahead for tomorrow. Have a question for our speakers? Submit it now.

Posted on November 26, 2019

Get the inside track on upcoming opportunities in the office sector in this member-only webinar on Dec. 17, 2-3 p.m. EST. This webinar will provide insights and data from the latest NAIOP Office Space Demand Forecast, and identify linkages between overall economic activity and the demand for office real estate.

Learn More & Register Here

Posted on December 6, 2019

The NAIOP Research Foundation has published the NAIOP Office Space Demand Forecast for Q4 2019.