Amenity Wars: Tishman Speyer Launches “Zo”

Tishman Speyer Properties LP is offering workers a program called Zo at Rockefeller Center in Manhattan an app-driven world of health, education and luxurious living in an effort to fight off rival landlords and attract corporate tenants by enticing their employees, reports Bloomberg.

Tishman manages 10 commercial properties, 8 of which will offer tenant the Zo app. It will let them book a range of amenities such as haircuts, lectures, backup child care, yoga class, or a nap room, all of which are now available at Rock Center. The app will reportedly be in most of Tishman Speyer’s U.S. properties by the end of next year, with the ultimate goal to cover the quarter-million employees in its global portfolio.

Competition to retain tenants with perks while gaining new ones is feirce in New York City. Companies like rookfield Property Partners LP, which operates Brookfield Place New York in lower Manhattan, Silverstein Properties Inc.,  SL Green Realty Corp., and Tishman are hard at work finding ways to do this.

“It’s all about making tenants happier, making buildings stickier” and lowering turnover, said Zach Aarons, a co-founder of MetaProp, which serves as a connection between traditional real estate companies and the many “proptech” startups that seek their fortunes automating the business of property.

Tishman’s competitors are offering apps similar to Zo. Some are created in-house while others, like the one Convene (a workplace-services provider) is developing as part of a package available to landlords for purchase. Examples include hOm, which sells an amenity package to residential and office landlords, and SL Green’s SL Living Green, described as a “suite of wellness amenities,” including mediation, speakers and health-food pop-ups.”