NYC Office Owners Offer Portfolio-Wide Amenities to Tenants

Office building owners in Manhattan are engaged in an arms race of amenities to attract and keep tenants who are demanding a “hospitality” vibe at workplaces in order to give workers an experiential treat every time they come in to the office.

“Amenities” have been redefined to include two-story-high, coliseum-style steps where hundreds of people can gather to watch two giant flat screens broadcasting global sporting events all day—on their way to work, or on their lunch breaks, of course.

According to a report this week in the New York Post, some landlords are reaching for the nuclear option in the tenant amenities war: tenants are being given access to the amenities in any building in the owner’s global real estate portfolio.

The concept was started by Tishman Speyer, which established a suite of amenities at Rockefeller Center that are accessible to all tenants located throughout the complex. Tenants can schedule everything from yoga classes to meeting space using an app called ZO.

Tishman has now extended the concept to office workers in any of the real estate firm’s 41 buildings around the world, granting them reciprocal access to clubhouses, amenities and co-working spaces in buildings from San Francisco to Paris, the Post reported.

Brookfield Properties has launched “Activated Passport,” which allows its tenants to access lounges in New York, DC, Houston, Denver and Los Angeles. Brookfield’s Activated Passport Lounge in NYC is on one of the top floors of its new One Manhattan West skyscraper, which in addition to incredible skyline views offers a pantry, private offices, conference rooms and workstations.

“Amenity sharing” is the new paradigm in an emerging post-pandemic NYC office market that continues to be challenged by three-day-per-week occupancy patterns. According to JLL, the top amenity request of office tenants is “social gathering” space.

Vornado Realty Trust is in the midst of converting 160K SF of public space at Penn 1 into a center of hospitality.

The 2.1M SF project has giant “social” staircases that face equally large flat screens for stadium-like sports watching, along with a multitude of restaurants, wellness, fitness, co-working, conference spaces—and a library with a fireplace—most of it open to the public.

To get access, food delivery or reserve conference spaces, tenants use the company’s “WorkLife Live.Work.Do” app, which also validates your parking, the Post reported.

Vornado has added what it is calling a “bustle” to the upcoming Penn 2—a 100K SF space with double-height ceilings for a 280-person “town hall,” lounges and amenities, including a 17K SF roof deck with an indoor pavilion for all tenants. Madison Square Garden is planning to occupy 400K SF of offices on the top floors of Penn 2.

The crown jewel of Vornado’s original plans—the 2.8M SF Penn 15—was shelved when the company pulled the plug on new construction this year.

Empire State Realty Trust is creating a meeting space that can accommodate 125 people that will be a shared amenity for tenants at four of its Broadway office buildings. A new rooftop amenity at 1333 Broadway with its own entrance on West 36th Street will be open to all tenants of its portfolio—and have an unsurpassed view of the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, ESRT CEO Anthony Malkin told the Post.

RXR was ahead of the curve on shared amenities. In 2018, the firm made its conference facilities, executive club, outdoor terraces at 230 Park Ave. and reservations at 75 Rock’s restaurants available to all tenants.