Podcast: Episode 1043: Building Trends Impacting Commercial Real Estate

Key Points:

• Contactless access and pay are likely to stick around.
• Contactless technology could translate to the commercial real estate sector.
• Office spaces could look different going forward to accommodate hybrid workforces.

The world experienced many changes during the pandemic. As a result, many things might translate to the commercial real estate (CRE) sector. Weaver Beyond the Numbers Real Estate Edition hosts Howard Altshuler, Partner-in-Charge, Real Estate Services, and Rob Nowak, Partner, Tax Services, shared their thoughts on these possibilities.

“I was thinking about some things I’ve seen, like contactless entry points and payments, and how those might translate to CRE. How can we make buildings smarter and more responsive?,” Nowak replied.

“Some of the innovations coming out of this period are here to stay just because they are more efficient, and secure. Do we even need to push a button for the elevator anymore?” Altshuler pondered.

“These things are already out there; we just haven’t seen them in office buildings. We may even combine biometrics so that, instead of a key card, facial recognition just opens the door,” Altshuler said.

In the office environment, there are still some unknowns about what they will look like. Still, in most cases, it’s probably going to be a hybrid approach. “It’s generally been portrayed as extremes of either the death of the office or everyone rushing back. It’s probably going to be somewhere in the middle, and we are social beings that don’t want to be cut off,” Nowak described.

With a change in who’s in the office also comes possible shifts in office architecture and space planning. Nowak added, “We’re back to open floor plans, but the separation between is likely to increase, because people don’t want to disturb each other. So, that’s just a good business practice.”

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