HOUSTON-Responding to demand from small and medium-size tenants, local Texas commercial real estate office building owner Boxer Property has launched its new design called Boxer Workstyle. The premise behind Workstyle is the offering of upscale office space to small businesses and entrepreneurs, which allows them to work within a collaborative environment complete with amenities including a coffee bar, dedicated conference and AV facilities, break areas and wireless services.
Because the needs of smaller business owners can differ, Boxer Workstyle's space offerings range from a single desk, to private offices for individuals or small teams, to a full floor complete with multiple private offices. Though Boxer has been experimenting with the model's concept for the last couple of years, the concepts official inauguration is in a Boxer Property-owned, 71,854-square-foot building at 2855 Mangum Rd. in the US 290/northwest near submarket. Twelve more locations, including six in Houston, are in various stages of construction and design.
Boxer Property COO Justin Segal says the Boxer Workstyle is different from something that Regus might offer in that the former provides flexibility, based on tenant needs. "In some spaces, the market is right for individual desks, in others, we design club floors where all the suites are private," he explains. Though the space requests can encompass everything from a physical desk to several thousand square feet, "all tenants can take advantage of the amenities, collaborative spaces and conference center," Segal notes, adding that the building on Mangum Road is the first one to offer individual desk space and different design approaches within the individual offices.
Segal tells GlobeSt.com that the idea for Boxer Workstyle came from the evolution of the workers to their work spaces, and how that environment has changed. "The reasons why people used to go to their offices were to be close to paperwork, close to their computers, to interact with their assistants, coworkers or administrative help, or to find their files," Segal explains.
But with technology, the need to be close to paperwork or even computers has evaporated. As such, Segal points out, the reasons people use to go to offices have changed. "They're coming in for interaction, for creativity, for proximity to others who are doing the same things," he says. In such an environment, he goes on to say, the need for desk space might not be as strong, but the need for collaborative spaces is. In other environments, "we can provide a better experience for tenants by creating public art or by providing a fun place to go," Segal says. In one Boxer Workstyle location, such events include tenant barbecues and educational seminars.
Sometimes the Workstyle center can evolve into affinity centers. Segal discusses a situation in which a company that does lighting for special events took space in the Workstyle concept. That tenant brought an event planner into the building. The event planner then brought in a graphic designer who worked on invitations and a photographer. "They became an affinity group, and can actually operate like a virtual company," Segal comments.
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