WASHINGTON—Outside-the-box amenities like rock walls and ping-pong tables won't be around for long if they don't prove to be an efficient use of space for companies, Colliers International's president of investor services and real estate management services Karen Whitt and marketing manager Jason Meldhof tell GlobeSt.com exclusively. (Colliers International is a GlobeSt.com Thought Leader.)

Whitt, who has studied the "new now" of amenities, from green roofs to better bike storage, says in order to have staying power, office amenities must not only help attract and retain talent but also contribute to companies' bottom lines.

It's no secret that office owners are spending considerably more time, effort, money and space on the amenities their buildings offer. A recent white paper by Colliers states, "In in the past, approximately 3% of portfolio space was committed to features like gyms and on-site dining. Today, owners should expect to allocate approximately 10%, and those who are trying to attract highly sought-after tenants should look to reserve 12% or more."

For the purpose of our discussion, we focused on CBD vs. suburban-office amenities; this includes vertical campuses that offer fully functioning gyms, cafeteria amenity space and collaborative space. Some of the must-haves for this space include advanced bike storage, electric-car charging stations and showers—because people are using bikes, walking and skateboarding to work vs. driving. "But if less people are driving, what should we do with the extra parking space?" says Whitt. "We may never get there because people of a certain age will continue to drive their vehicle, but this will likely be a dilemma down the road."

Whitt says Millennials are not just concerned with the building itself, but also with the feeling the building is giving out and whether it is representative of the brand of companies in that space. "Amenities will shift depending on the tenants. We're now seeing companies that are complementary businesses in the same building; they are wanting to be together to leverage off each other in order to advance both of their businesses."

She adds that because Millennials have grown up working as a team, office life today is less about individual achievements and more about the team. "They bounce ideas of each other, and that causes a shift in how we set up our internal work. It's playing out into how office space is being built."

Of course, with the war for talent going strong, in order to lease space, many office owners are getting creative with the amenities they are introducing, but not all of them have staying power. How can we know which will catch on and which will soon die out? "From a landlord perspective, they can ask if an amenity creates efficiencies or drives higher rents," says Whitt. "Also, does it make tenants' lives easier and allow them to hire more capable people? For example, a rock wall is really cool, and people might climb it a few times, but I haven't seen anyone on a rock wall when I've toured these spaces. But on-demand services that create efficiencies are different."

Whitt gives the example of an on-demand trash-compactor collection service that will allow for pick-up during off-peak times rather than at a regularly scheduled time, therefore lowering the price. Another example is a booster-fuel service that goes to offices and business parks and fuels gas tanks when people are at work; it's cheaper than stopping at a gas station. "Which items are gimmicky and not needed?  Employers could begin to take away the things employees may consider fun to use on their downtime because these things are not making the company any money. Bottom line: amenities that increase efficiencies, reduce cost and make life easier have staying power. Which amenities will leave and which will stay is really going to be tied to the economy."

GREEN ROOFS

Green roofs are an amenity that caught on a while ago, but their purpose has shifted. (Whitt recently wrote a blog about this subject.) "There's bene a shift from what we may have defined as a green roof before—moderating rooftop temperatures, protecting the rooftop membrane to allow rainwater to be captured, less strain on the HVAC system—to what it is now," says Whitt. "Green roofs are becoming more of a space for gardening and forming garden clubs, growing herbs or having a serene place to be and relax. Some green roofs have WiFi so people can work in that environment."

Meidhof says not only do green roofs serve the purpose of a little getaway or "serenity now!" type of area, but they also serve the purpose of rainwater retention and are still a play for sustainability. "They're really more of a dual-purpose amenity."

Speaking of sustainability, amenities that are aggressively green are being positively received in the market. "There may be solar awnings that create the ability to have parking or plug-in stations—an amenity at a lower cost," says Whitt. "wind farming is not an amenity, but it reduces cost in a building from non-renewable energy sources. Millennials have been raised to recycle their trash; they have been trained on Earth Day and raised as a culture of people who serve out the environment, and they want to see buildings doing everything they can to promote sustainability. In many cities, Styrofoam food containers have been banned. They look for the right way to do things, and people expect that in the buildings in which they want to office. Millennials say they want to work for a company that does the right things, and that includes sustainability above pay."

Meidhof says the new sustainability or greening trend in offices is manifesting itself in dual-purpose amenities. "It's not necessarily that dogmatic, 'everything must be LEED' sustainability, but how do you bring things in on a community basis? Things like better bike storage and better access to lockers and showers to accommodate the number of people who commute not by car. The community/environmental amenities are starting to really take hold. Rather than simply changing out incandescent lightbulbs to LEDs, these dual-purpose sustainable amenities are starting to gain some interest."

Of course, workers' expectations of the office experience are shifting, which influences the types of amenities they are seeking. Whitt says tenants are now thinking of the workplace as an extension of the home place, not in terms of decorations—although many offices now have couches, TVs and some of the physical pieces of home—but in the design of the space. "Does it allow people to work together like a family? Does it allow for collaboration and that thought process, to bounce things off one another? The design of the space needs to reflect how people will utilize it. Technology is behind this because people no longer have to be tied to the leash of a desk in order to work."

So, what should office owners know about amenities for 2016? Whitt says it depends on the economy, but owners should be aware of people wanting to use services and not just buy goods as part of their amenity packages. "We've seen the sharing economy come across in terms of Zipcar and Breather. Because of the way people are shoved in together, they seek a shared environment for breakout office space. We're seeing Uber for everything. People are going to want it when they want it and not want it when they don't. This applies to building equipment and services."

Whitt adds that amenities within the building will work the same way, and connectivity is going to continue to be really important as technological opportunities become more important; from elevators to apps to WiFi to making sure there's no interference with bandwidth. "People will want 24/7 connectivity no matter where they are in a building. It's going to be about how efficient the space is utilized vs. how fun the space is."

And not just how efficient the space is, but how flexible it is too, says Meidhof. "People are working as teams or families. It's not the footprint of the manager or principal with closed-door office and the cube farm in the middle anymore. A more-mobile workforce space has to be flexible to accommodate people with a more-flexible working lifestyle." He adds that it's going to get really interesting as the economy shifts and that amenities may experience somewhat of a rollercoaster effect. "We may build out the stock halfway and then redo it as the economy shifts."