Will Commercial Office Space Ever Be the Same Again?
What will happen to commercial office space?
Covid19 has impacted the "office space for lease" market in myriad ways, some official and transparent, others emotive and opaque. The health concerns of a work force in a pandemic environment are always two fold – immediate personal health is one thing – but ensuring there is no transmission to friends and loved ones is the other. That’s why WFH is such a preference because it negates both possibilities at the same time. The two-fold danger needs to be substantially diminished before employees will consider returning to a shared office, if only ever for two or three days a week.
The bother of manoeuvring within an office rental lease clearly designed and outfitted pre Covid19 is just not worth it for some staff.
Let’s take the journey together: 1/ You want to use the microwave in the office kitchen but there is a new staff member in there making a coffee. Pre Covid you’d just cram into the tiny kitchen but now you wait at the entrance, and wait and wait. 2/ You want to catch the lift downstairs to go out and get some air. The tiny lift comes but there are already four people in it looking very uncomfortable with each other, you wave them away and wait for the lift to come back up again to the 15th floor. 3/ You are sitting by the window and across the room at the other side a fellow employee is sneezing. All you want in the world is to open up the window next to you and get some fresh air to circulate but the window was never built to open. 4/ The meeting room gets used a lot these days to conference with the WFH colleagues but the room is just too small. Its private but now it’s too small to fit every manager comfortably under Covid19 protocols and you can't just knock down the walls! And even when everyone is fully vaccinated, there is still the hesitancy, "Its fine, you guys have your meeting – just give me a summary later".
Windows that don’t open to fresh air. Office kitchens that have no space. Meeting rooms that are fixed and not expandable. Tiny cramped lifts. No natural light. Even when everyone in the office is fully vaccinated there is still going to be that hard-wired sense of precaution embedded in all of us – our personal space, our moat – has now extended three feet and it will stay like that for years.
The previous checklist that a prospective lessee used when searching for office space to rent or office rental space near me has now been re-defined. The questions to the leasing agent will be very health-centred. How large are the meeting rooms? Can the office suite windows be opened? How many lifts service the office rental space? What sort of AC filtration system does the office space have? Is there any natural light? Are there any rooftops or balconies or gardens for the staff to access? Good luck with all of that.
The conventional commercial office space will never be the same again because the Covid19 pandemic has necessitated new requirements for a healthy work space. The pandemic has effected business office space requirements on numerous levels – not only must there be more space but it will be for less people. Whereas employees once splashed at the shore of the WFH option under the concerning eye of management, Covid19 has seen millions of people dive right in and for many there is no going back to that old commute, all those wasted unproductive hours travelling back and forth. They have tried a new way, and it works. If you want them to come back to the office, the office space has to change.
Thankfully there is an alternative to all of this. For the wise business owner there is no need to try to remodel an office lease and spend funds on adapting a space that was designed in another time for another reality. The sensible alternative is to open the door to the option of a Virtual Business Address and an instant presence at a famed corporate location.
Your company can have a premium business address at a renowned office building in the city CBD, probably a more respected address than the previous one. The business mail and packages can be delivered to your virtual business office and you can get immediate notification when something has arrived.
Your business can avail of the great business address for all corporate marketing from business cards to email templates and you have no worries about long term locked in leases during these years and months of uncertainty.
Let your people WFH and simply book the meeting rooms and conference facilities in the same building as your Virtual Business Address. Choose meeting rooms that are expandable and adaptable and fit for purpose in the pandemic age. When you want your staff to come and meet and brainstorm and share the outline for the next quarter – bring them to modern stylish meeting spaces in the centre of the city, spaces with access to fresh air and natural light, a spacious environment that you simply book when you need it. Consider the Virtual office solution and talk to us about our great Virtual office packages at sought after locations across the nation.
The commercial office space is evolving amid a whirl of challenges and opportunities. Flexibility and Versatility are the keywords to business survival in these tumultuous times. Think of the Virtual Address option for your business. It is a very real option that is providing thousands of businesses the adaptability they need. Save your money, you don’t need to bring in the decorators. Save your patience, you won’t need to cajole your WFH people to gather with you at superb meeting rooms with city views. Choose the perfect ambience of the latest furnishings and conferencing amenities.
The commercial real estate market will adapt. A respectable address will still matter. People will still crave to meet people. It’s just that life will be a bit more virtual. And if that keeps down costs and promotes a healthy outcome, then it’s a good thing, a wise option.
Think about a Virtual Business Address. Think about Meeting Rooms and Conference Rooms when you need them. Think about stylish hygienic meeting environments that are great places for clients to visit. Say farewell to that conventional office space model that’s not really fit for purpose anymore. Choose the versatile option in challenging times. Natural light. Great air circulation. New furnishings, natural and easy to clean. Couple your Virtual business address with excellent meeting room spaces and make the astute choice.
Commercial office space won’t ever be the same again. The model was always evolving but the utilisation of new technology coupled with the reality of the Covid19 pandemic have shifted perceptions and altered assumptions about commercial property leasing. It is a time to look for advantages outside of the old paradigm, look at the virtual advantage.
