Historically, New York commercial buildings have not needed to offer amenities to stand out. The city served as the office backyard, providing food, fitness, and sub-cellar bowling alley experiences. Now, buildings are full of them. The competition amongst developers and building owners to lease space is so fierce that the need to differentiate is more important than ever. Today’s employees are sophisticated consumers who are choosing where they want to work based on specific preferences. Understanding how amenities can support their growing demands is key to unlocking a building’s differentiation strategy. In the tightly competitive commercial leasing market, how can a property stand out relative to its peers and support its tenants?
Here, we offer five ways that amenities can help developers and building owners attract and secure tenants by appealing to their inhabitants:
Embrace the Neighborhood and Building Authenticity — The amenities that a building owner elects to implement are ultimately a manifestation of the building’s values and a direct reflection of its tenant population’s perceived brand image. Therefore, services and offerings must be tailored and in direct alignment with the culture of the building’s population. For example, a shared game room is more affiliated from a cultural perspective with a Midtown South tech-centric boutique building than a Hudson Yards high-rise intended for law firms and hedge funds.
Some new high-rise towers in Midtown are focusing on attracting global, sophisticated high-end financial or professional services firms. A hospitality service model with club-like offerings is the best approach to attracting this type of tenancy. One in particular will offer a conference suite, which will be supported by a concierge, a fine dining restaurant, full-service bar, a flexible town hall, and a business lounge.
One World Commons, the amenity floor for tenants at One World Trade Center. Image © Garrett Rowland.
2. Understand Your Target Audience — Commercial real estate companies have had to adjust to competition from co-working spaces as tenants pack employees into smaller offices. While tenants benefit from amenity-rich buildings as a recruiting and retaining tool, they also benefit from being able to be more efficient with their space. For example, a tenant may be able to reduce its internal conference rooms where the building offers extensive conference facilities and fit in more employees.
In envisioning One World Commons, the amenity floor on the 64th floor of One World Trade Center, The Durst Organization wanted to create an environment that could build community for all the building’s inhabitants. It was important to design a series of spaces with programs that young media and tech tenants in the building could take advantage of, from Condé Nast to High 5 Games to Mic. The result is a grab-and-go café, a game room, a business lounge, and a multipurpose room that could be sectioned off for private events. By providing lunch and conferencing facilities, the amenity floor now serves as a programmatic supplement to future tenants looking for space in the building, affecting their own design and real estate decisions.