SAN FRANCISCO-Kevin Bender, EVP, CBRE, just recently wrote in an exclusive GlobeSt.com article, the conventional “corporate office” has played a starring role in countless movies and television shows over the years—consider Wall Street, Office Space, and of course, the hit television series aptly named, The Office. The problem is, “the office,” as a character, has become highly typecast, and not in the most positive way. Recently, a new movie called The Internship turned the old character of “the office” completely on its head, said Bender. This time, the setting—and arguably the star of the movie—was the Google corporate headquarters in the Bay Area, where everything we thought we knew about “the office” was different.
This office was collaborative, technology-driven, productive, efficient, exciting. And people not only wanted to be there, but actually thrived in it. And the movie stayed pretty true to the new reality.
Google real estate project executive, Jay Bechtel, recently joined other tech experts at ALM Real Estate Media's RealShare Bay Area conference, where he pointed out that the war for talent continues, and in order to compete—and attract the bright 23-year-old engineer MIT grad, for example—you have to continue to refine the amenity programs.
Some of the Google amenities he pointed to include things like Google's free food program—at high quality with no cost; a free shuttle program with Wi-Fi to help take cars off the road; massage programs; daycare; a wellness facility; and more.
The idea behind Google's amenity programs are to “make the work environment as comfortable and stress free as we can.” We want to “Take away the friction… Once you are there, unless you have an emergency, there aren't a whole lot of reasons to be away.”
And the company continues to refine its programs. In its break rooms and cafe, for example, where you used to find bins of M&Ms, now have all the foods color coded. “The cheeseburger is red and the tofu salad is green,” he said. “We are always working on making those programs better for the employees.”
And Google isn't the only firm. According to Jenny Haeg, founder and CEO of Custom Spaces Inc., who works with tech tenants, Dropbox, for example, has a band jam room with all kinds of instruments--sound proof—for employees to unwind, and have razor scooters to get around their large floor plate.
“They adapt to the space they have,” added Nick Slonek, principal and managing director of Avison Young.
The biggest shift Paul Woolford, SVP and design principal of HOK, sees is in “stay.” According to Woolford, “Build-to-suit developers are looking to entitle R&D space and residential space as well. So, instead of seeing an environment that is 8-5, they are looking to 24/7 environments.”
In addition to that, Woolford said, the clients he works with aren't just looking to calibrate a LEED rating, they are looking to create a living, regenerative building. “The tech industry is propelling the development world to look that way.”
He added that “The young people that work at these environments are saying that is what they want to be in… it requires different ways of thinking. I think it is impacting the construction and design industry fundamentally.”
Bechtel added that “I have had developers visit us and ask what clients like us want, and I think it is hard to put and return on investment on a volleyball court or an amenity. At the end of the day, that's what the users and young engineers are expecting, and the developers that do that, and that understand that, will be more successful than those that don't.”
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Natalie Dolce
Natalie Dolce, editor-in-chief of GlobeSt.com and GlobeSt. Real Estate Forum, is responsible for working with editorial staff, freelancers and senior management to help plan the overarching vision that encompasses GlobeSt.com, including short-term and long-term goals for the website, how content integrates through the company’s other product lines and the overall quality of content. Previously she served as national executive editor and editor of the West Coast region for GlobeSt.com and Real Estate Forum, and was responsible for coverage of news and information pertaining to that vital real estate region. Prior to moving out to the Southern California office, she was Northeast bureau chief, covering New York City for GlobeSt.com. Her background includes a stint at InStyle Magazine, and as managing editor with New York Press, an alternative weekly New York City paper. In her career, she has also covered a variety of beats for M magazine, Arthur Frommer's Budget Travel, FashionLedge.com, and Co-Ed magazine. Dolce has also freelanced for a number of publications, including MSNBC.com and Museums New York magazine.
