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November 7, 2023
To 2026 and into the next decade…
There is an inner soothsayer in every decent real estate developer.
They have placed a significant bet on the future: What can rise on an empty plot of land? Who must they tap to make this vision a reality? How will this hypothetical building fit into the greater landscape? Who will buy or rent this property?
Likewise, buyers and sellers of real estate have to make a prediction about what the financial conditions of the city (or the country) will look like as they decide the composition of their portfolios.
Real estate is such a long process that without some sense of where the future was going all business would grind to a halt.
Some of these owners or developers keep their heads down and trust in the hoary (if accurate) wisdom, “Never bet against New York.” They have waited out interest rate hikes and crime waves in the past, and they can do so again.
Others have pulled up stakes and turned to the secondary and tertiary markets, where the land is cheaper, the tax incentives are more plentiful, and the zoning boards aren’t quite so territorial.
Still others have looked at asset classes and products that they had never touched before and decided this is where the future lies.
However, the thing that’s been so vexing about the last few years is how much our internal oracles have failed us. Since the turn of the century, the U.S. has been embroiled in a slew of crises that not even Cassandra would have anticipated. Anyone who thinks they know what will happen tomorrow, much less a decade out, is almost always wrong.
“Ten years out is a bit too far to prognosticate,” said Savanna’s Nicholas Bienstock.
Yes, that’s absolutely true. Still, decisions need to be made here and now that will bear fruit five or 10 years down the line.
In this Owners Magazine, we asked the 36 men and women we polled to dig deep and tell us what they would be doing three years, five years and 10 years hence. Some skipped the 10-year part of the question. But enough answered to paint a fascinating portrait of how owners see the real estate landscape. (And you can always look directly at the source to see the answers in full.)
2026
To a certain extent, the next three years will remain defensive for a lot of owners.
“Our portfolio will diversify,” said Michael T. Cohen of Williams Equities. “Today it’s 100 percent office and retail, but I expect it will come to include other types of assets. We’re also looking to grow the portfolio and take advantage of the likely buyer’s market.”
Indeed, prices have been coming down in New York office for some time now, and one should expect a number of well-capitalized owners to pounce when the market has reached bottom — and many are making plans accordingly.
“Just in the last 20 months or so, we have purchased nearly half a billion dollars in property, primarily funded by dispositions of suburban assets, and diversified into residential to become a New York City-focused portfolio,” said ESRT’s Anthony Malkin. “Over the next three years or so, we think there will be an improved opportunity to buy property.”
It’s “similar in nature to what we last saw following the Global Financial Crisis,” said Bienstock. “At that time, Savanna was one of the most active buyers of distressed debt-to-equity transactions in New York. We see a similar opportunity emerging as we go into 2024.”
“2026 will be Marx Realty’s best-performing year in our history,” Craig Deitelzweig predicted boldly. “We are just beginning to see significant opportunities to purchase and reimagine bland office properties and to transform them with the Marx brand of hospitality-infused office properties.”
But, while New York remains important for many owners, a lot of developers and owners have been looking beyond Gotham in their hunt for yield.
“Over the last five years, we have had continued success in building our platform outside of New York City — in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Westchester and Connecticut,” said Jason Alderman of Hines. “This activity has generally been non-office, focusing on multifamily acquisitions and development and expanding our industrial platform.” Hines expects more of the same in 2026.
Of course, plenty are following a multi-pronged approach of being in New York and beyond. Savanna, for instance, isn’t strictly focused on New York; they’re in the process of building The Olara, a 1.6 million-square-foot condo and rental in West Palm Beach, Fla.
“By 2026, BRP Companies is anticipated to have doubled in size when compared to the firm’s 2021 stature,” said Meredith Marshall of his firm. “This growth is being driven by our active involvement in a substantial volume of transactions across New York, New Jersey, the mid-Atlantic and the Southeast.”
2028
Some are already laying out big plans for the next five years.
“We will have completed $5 billion of new P3 [public private partnership] developments,” said Don Peebles of the Peebles Corporation. “Angels Landing in L.A. and Affirmation Tower in New York will be under construction.”
“We are working on at least two … large-scale, long-term development plans that we expect will keep us on a pace of adding approximately 2,500 units to our portfolio every five years,” said TF Cornerstone’s Jake Elghanayan. “In terms of new business, we think there is a compelling office-to-residential conversion opportunity nationally, and so, five or 10 years from now, I would hope we begin to see the fruits of that labor.”
“We expect our total assets under management, today at $850 billion, to grow to roughly $2 trillion over the next five years,” said Brookfield’s Ben Brown. (Brown declined to be specific, but that should certainly tantalize all readers.)
Whatever else happens in New York City in the next five years, the demand for affordable housing will not be met. And that’s a big opportunity for owners.
“Our goal for 2028 and beyond is to build outside of the inner-city market in neighborhoods where the implementation of crucial affordable housing is key to their survival,” said BFC Partners’ Joseph Ferrara. “We have set our internal goals to always have a minimum of 1,000 units in construction and to add a minimum of another 2,000 units to our asset portfolio by year-end 2028.”
There are certainly more owners who think New York City will rebound and recover by that point.
MAG Partners will be “operating and building in multiple cities, and looking back and laughing at all those who said New York City was dead,” predicted MaryAnne Gilmartin. “And were wrong — again.”
One fair prediction would be that predictions change.
“Our approach is the opposite of the family real estate dynasties in New York City,” said Wildflower’s Adam Gordon. “For them, grandpa was savvy and entrepreneurial and built a fortune, which he passed onto future generations. … [Wildflower] operates more like a sports team than a family. The health and success of the franchise relies on fresh talent. When the talent has earned their Super Bowl rings and made their retirement earnings, they leave the team to find other adventures, and young and hungry talent takes their place. It’s an organic process much like the cycles of nature.”
2033
It’s here that the thinking becomes broadest.
“Long-term planning is what we do,” said Howard Hughes Corporation’s David O’Reilly. “In 10 years, we will have significantly advanced our development pipeline — starting with the roughly 30,000 residents who will be living in our community of Teravalis in the Phoenix West Valley as we launch into the next phase of master planning and development beyond Teravalis’ first neighborhood of Floreo.” Howard Hughes will also be concentrating on the Lakefront District in Downtown Columbia in Maryland; The Woodlands, in Texas; its movie studio business in Summerlin, Nev.; and Ward Village in Hawaii.
But, it’s rare to have megaprojects like that to focus on. Instead, by necessity, many owners that we polled spoke about three things: technology, climate change and housing.
“Over the next decade, we will continue to reinvest in our core commercial buildings to meet the rapidly evolving needs of our tenants,” said Fisher Brothers’ Winston Fisher. “This will include seamless integration of AI technologies into our buildings and embracing the digital world in our physical assets.”
“We will further enhance our commitment to sustainability and technology, revolutionizing the industry,” said Time Equities’ Francis Greenburger.
Energy consumption will be critical, no matter which side of the political aisle one inhabits. “Continued growth in real estate, continued growth in the energy sector with both fossil fuels and safe, efficient nuclear energy,” said Red Apple Group chairman (and former mayoral candidate) John Catsimatidis about his company’s priorities over the next decade.
Given the expectation that more than half a million more housing units would be needed to keep up with population growth in New York City by 2030, housing (and affordable housing, specifically) is on many minds.
“In a perfect world, we will have created some really dynamic public/private partnerships by then to allow us to build affordable housing with social services components,” said Charney Companies’ Sam Charney.
“The affordability crisis together with climate change are the most pressing issues our society faces, and it’s up to my generation to grab the baton and make serious headway in solving it,” said Tredway’s Will Blodgett. “It’s now or never.”
November 7, 2023
Where is Marx Realty is going to be in 2026?
2026 will be Marx Realty’s best-performing year in our history. We are just beginning to see significant opportunities to purchase and reimagine bland office properties and to transform them with the Marx brand of hospitality-infused office properties. In the years ahead, we will continue to see the benefits of some of these acquisition opportunities.
Where is Marx Realty is going to be in 2028?
Marx Realty has set the benchmark for a superior and unique office experience, and we are poised to expand our portfolio across New York, Atlanta, D.C. and beyond.
I expect us to be well positioned with an expanded portfolio of office products featuring our newest iteration of hotel-inspired sensibility through 2028 and beyond. We will always offer spaces that resonate and inspire, and will continue to be the leader in creating hospitality-infused offices — I expect the Marx brand to be even more powerful in 2028.
Where is Marx Realty is going to be in 2033?
We’ll be saying, “Just when we thought 2028 was our best year, 2033 is knocking it out of the park!” We will have the strongest product offering in the cities in which we operate and will continue on the incredible growth trajectory that started back in 2017.
Tell us about a successful financing in the last 12 months. Or tell us about an unsuccessful one.
We were able to finance a new acquisition with a 10-year, fixed-rate loan at a 3.4 percent interest rate and lock that rate in right before all rates increased dramatically. We, thankfully, did not have any unsuccessful financings. We didn’t have any refinancing requirements in 2023.
When will we know the market has stabilized? (Be specific!)
There are certain individuals in our industry who seem to time the market perfectly wrong. I will be watching the actions of these individuals carefully.
How do you think the 2024 presidential campaign will impact the commercial real estate market?
I believe people are tired of even thinking about the 2024 presidential campaign, and it won’t have any meaningful impact on New York’s commercial real estate market. New York real estate is very focused on New York.
If you were to invest your own money in someone else’s real estate, who do you like and why?
It would be fun to invest in the Aman Hotel.
What business advice are you most tired of hearing?
“Be patient.” I’m not.
What’s the biggest market opportunity as we round out 2023?
We are seeing the market pricing reset for certain assets, and this will represent the biggest opportunity in a generation.
Have you had a lot of staff turnover?
We have been very fortunate as our team has stuck together. I know that is unusual, and we are very blessed to have a team that really enjoys working together (in person, of course).
Who do you like for POTUS in 2024? Connor Roy.
Do you feel personally safe moving through NYC? Yes, except for certain blocks around Penn Station.
Jerome Powell: Are you a fan or critic? I think he raised rates too slowly on the way up and is likely to reduce rates too slowly on the way down.
Can’t-live-without technology now? The fully electric MarxMobile. It’s all charged up and free of charge. Our tenants access it through our MarxConnect app, which I use daily.
Elon Musk is …? The Benjamin Franklin of our lifetime.
Taylor Swift or Beyoncé? Rihanna.
Artificial intelligence — good or bad? Both.
Mischa’s or Nathan’s for a hot dog? Tough one, but the best hot dog is at Katz’s.
Netflix or Hulu? Netflix.
What character are you in “Succession”? I don’t relate to any of those characters. People often say I remind them of Harvey Specter from “Suits.”
This Week’s D.C. Deal Sheet
November 3, 2023
LEASES
Interactive gaming venue Immersive Gamebox is taking 4,500 SF of ground-floor retail space at Marx Realty’s The Grogan office building in Chinatown. New York-based Marx is repositioning the 21K SF property at 819 Seventh St. NW. Immersive Gamebox has locations in 10 U.S. states — including a location at Arlington’s Ballston Quarter Mall — as well as venues in the United Arab Emirates, Germany and the United Kingdom. The rapidly expanding brand expects dozens of branches to open globally by 2024, according to its website, including 10 new locations in New York and 14 in California alone.
Marx Realty Adds Immersive Gamebox to Historic DC Office BuildingNovember 3, 2023 | By: Keith Loria
Immersive Gamebox has inked a 4,500-square-foot lease at The Grogan, a five-story office building in Washington, D.C.
Marx Realty owns the 21,000-square-foot building, which was built in 1891, acquiring it in 2018 for $21 million.
SEE ALSO: Therapy Startup Headway Subleases 32K SF at 205 Hudson Street
Built to be a furniture store, The Grogan offers uncharacteristically high ceilings for a modern property, ranging from 12 to 15 feet throughout and featuring original wood accents.
“The building is an architectural gem,” Craig Deitelzweig, president and CEO of Marx Realty, told Commercial Observer. “It has original wood beamed ceilings and chamfered wood columns as well as dramatic ceiling heights. Immersive Gamebox also loved the hospitality-infused aesthetic of our lobby and felt it was a natural fit for their brand.”
Marx Realty is repositioning the property, which will include updating the façade with a new canopy and entry doors and converting the top floor into a collaboration space that will include a café.
Located at 819 Seventh Street NW in D.C.’s East End neighborhood, the property is just two blocks from the Galleria Metro station and Capital One Arena, home to the Washington Capitals and Wizards.
Immersive Gamebox, which offers an interactive group gaming experience, will be situated on the street- and lower-level space of the office building.
“Many tenants attracted to the building want to be social and to come to work and socialize in the office regularly,” Deitelzweig said. “These social groups will be visiting Immersive Gamebox for after-work group functions and team-building activities.”
Immersive Gamebox was represented by Logan Chambers Powell at Dochter & Alexander Retail Advisors, while Marx Realty was represented by Lindsey St. Maxens and Jennifer Price at KLNB.
Marx Realty’s D.C. office portfolio also includes The Herald, a 114,000-square-foot building at 1307 New York Avenue NW, and One Glover, a 110,000-square-foot building at 2121 Wisconsin Avenue NW.
Furniture Manufacturer OFS to Open Showroom at The Herald in DC
Furniture manufacturer OFS has inked an 11-year, 7,114-square-foot showroom lease at The Herald, the restored former home of the Washington Herald Examiner in Washington, D.C.
OFS will take more than half of the fourth floor to create an office furniture showroom when it moves in later this year. Asking rent at the property, at 1307 New York Avenue, was $74 per square foot.
Marx Realty acquired the 114,000-square-foot historic building in 2020 for $41 million. The Beaux Arts building was constructed in 1923 and held the newspaper’s offices and printing presses, to which it owes the 19-foot ceilings on the ground floor. It’s there that Jaqueline Kennedy Onassis (then Bouvier) started her career as a photographer and reporter.
“OFS was attracted to The Herald because of the building’s impressive ceiling heights and the unique qualities of the building’s interior design and finishes; they simply felt no other building in D.C. was a better fit for their brand,” Craig Deitelzweig, Marx Realty’s president and CEO, said.
The building features a 40-seat boardroom, a European-style cafe and the Bouvier Club, an 8,800-square-foot lounge that incorporates historic photos, curated artwork, newspaper-printing memorabilia and a fireplace.
As an extra perk, tenants also have access to the “Marx Mobile,” a 2023 Tesla Y that serves as The Herald’s house car.
OFS was represented by Michael Shipley of CBRE (CBRE), while Marx Realty was represented by Will Stern and Eli Barnes of Avison Young.
September 26, 2023
Manhattan, NY According to Marx Realty, Green Street Advisors has signed a long-term lease for 5,000 s/f of office space at 10 Grand Central. The firm, known for its commercial real estate research platform and exclusive news outlets, has provided trusted industry insights for over 35 years and has signed a long-term lease for space on the second floor at the repositioned office tower in the Grand Central neighborhood.
“It’s quite telling that a leading commercial real estate intelligence firm chose 10 Grand Central for its New York City office,” said Craig Deitelzweig, president and CEO of Marx Realty. “Green Street clearly recognizes and understands the need for office space that resonates with its entire firm and 10 Grand Central was a perfect fit. The convenient location in the bustling Grand Central neighborhood, combined with the warm and inspired workplace experience we’ve created with our hospitality-infused renovation, is unrivaled. The leasing velocity at 10 Grand Central has been on a consistently strong trajectory since its official launch in 2018 and we’re honored to bring Green Street Advisors to this premiere Manhattan location.”
Tenants have been drawn to the remarkable hospitality-infused sensibility at 10 Grand Central since Marx pioneered the concept. The façade, with its marquee, brass fins and walnut doors, is attended by a uniformed doorman. Walnut wood and brushed brass accents the lobby with a custom brass concierge desk and polished herringbone concrete floors. The 7,500 s/f indoor/outdoor lounge and club floor has a club-like vibe with oversized artwork and plush seating, a café complete with built-in appliances (including a gelato machine), and a 40-seat conference space.
Ian Lipman of JLL represented Green Street Advisors and Marx Realty was represented by JLL’s Mitchell Konsker, Kyle Young, Carlee Palmer, Simon Landman and Thomas Swartz. The asking rent was $67 per s/f.
The lounge space opens to the Ivy Terrace.
Reminiscent of a 1930s-era garden party, the Ivy Terrace is an outdoor oasis with table seating, landscaping and French bistro-inspiring awnings that provide shade with style. The terrace is a favorite among tenants who prefer to work and socialize outside the traditional office environment while media firms at 10 Grand Central have been known to use the space as a backdrop for content production.
10 Grand Central also offers tenants an upscale house car for transportation around Manhattan. The Marx Mobile is a branded state-of-the-art luxury electric Porsche Taycan and serves as an on-demand rideshare option available to all the building’s tenants through the company’s proprietary MarxConnect software.
Marx Realty has signed nearly 100,000 s/f of office and ground floor retail space at 10 Grand Central in the last 12 months. Notable tenants include bank holding company Merchants Bancorp; tour organizing company LIV Golf Inc.; weekly online news magazine The Week; real estate investment firm Benenson Capital Partners and popular lunch destinations, Cava, Little Collins and Sweetgreen in the street-level retail space. High-profile tenants also include Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson’s production company, Seven Bucks Productions (as reported by the New York Post); insurance giant MassMutual, and international news agency Agence France-Presse.
“This building and its one-of-a-kind aesthetic continues to attract a wide variety of high-profile tenants,” said Deitelzweig. “With the grand entry and lobby, and continuing through the sophisticated club floor and outdoor space, tenants are drawn to the members-only ambiance and elegant design details.”
The redesign was led by David Burns, principal of Studios Architecture.
2023 Notable Leaders in Real Estate: Craig Deitelzweig
Craig Deitelzweig
President and chief executive officer, Marx Realty
As president and chief executive officer, Craig Deitelzweig is leading the growth of Marx Realty by concentrating on value-added office investments in New York City, Washington, D.C., and Atlanta. Deitelzweig’s notable work includes the completion of a top-to-bottom renovation at 545 Madison that raised occupancy to close to 100% from near 40% when Marx Realty took over the asset. He also guided the launch of the firm’s MarxMobile concept, which has given the tenants of 10 Grand Central access to an on-demand luxury rideshare option. Deitelzweig is also an Urban Land Institute mentor and sits on the advisory boards of Tulane University, Shadow Ventures and Merchants National Properties.
Green Street Advisors Expands With First NYC Office at 10 Grand Central
September 15, 2023
Green Street Advisors is opening its first New York City office at 10 Grand Central, landlord Marx Realty announced this week.
The real estate research firm signed a long-term lease for 5,000 square feet in the Midtown building, which has an alternate address of 155 East 44th Street, around the corner from Grand Central Terminal, the landlord said. Asking rent was $67 per square foot. A spokesperson for Marx did not specify the exact length of the lease, saying only that it was for more than five years.
JLL’s Ian Lipman represented Green Street Advisors while JLL’s Mitchell Konsker, Kyle Young, Carlee Palmer, Simon Landmann and Thomas Swartz handled the deal for Marx Realty. A spokesperson for JLL did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The Newport Beach, Calif.-based Green Street — which analyzes more than 130 real estate investment trusts — currently has offices in London and New Jersey.
Marx Realty completed an overhaul of the lobby and Art Deco-inspired façade on the lower levels of 10 Grand Central in 2019. Office suites on floors 32 through 36 were also transformed with features such as an outdoor terrace and solarium, according to Marx.
“It’s quite telling that a leading commercial real estate intelligence firm chose 10 Grand Central for its New York City office,” Marx Realty President and CEO Craig Deitelzweig said. “Leasing velocity at 10 Grand Central has been on a consistently strong trajectory since its official launch in 2018.”
Other tenants at 10 Grand Central include bank holding company Merchants Bancorp, tour organizer LIV Golf, weekly news magazine The Week, and real estate investment firm Benenson Capital Partners. Lunch destinations on the street level include Cava, Little Collins and Sweetgreen.
Another Labor Day Came And Went Without A Spike In Office Occupancy
For the fourth year in a row, the days after Labor Day were touted as a moment when a critical mass of workers would return to the office in far greater numbers.
This year, with millions of workers under new attendance mandates and more companies aggressively enforcing them, office buildings were expected to be repopulated to their most significant degree since March 2020. But once again, available data shows that the expected Labor Day bump was little more than a blip.
Office occupancy was at 47% of pre-pandemic levels for the week after Labor Day, according to Kastle Systems’ Back to Work Barometer, which measures the number of security badge swipes in its buildings across the 10 biggest U.S. cities. That was slightly down from the week before Labor Day, when the 10 biggest cities averaged 47.3% occupancy.
The figures are higher than after Labor Day 2022, when the 10-city average was at 43.4%, per Kastle data. While Kastle doesn’t have access to all office buildings across the country, it tracks thousands of properties and has become the industry’s go-to source for relative office occupancy.
“I expect those numbers to go higher,” Kastle Systems CEO Haniel Lynn said. “There is an increasing employer push to bring people back in for collaboration reasons, for cultural reasons, for engagement reasons, generally.”
The San Jose, California, metro had the lowest occupancy last week at 37.3%, closely followed by Philadelphia at 38%. The market with the highest occupancy was Houston at 59.7%. New York City saw the biggest week-over-week increase, jumping 4.3%, but only to 42.5%.
Kastle reportedly doesn’t track buildings owned or managed by some of New York City’s biggest Class-A office owners, like SL Green, Vornado, Tishman Speyer, Rudin Management, Silverstein Properties, Brookfield, Boston Properties, Related and Rockefeller Group.
BXP President Doug Linde said on the company’s most recent earnings call that its internal data, which measures how many desks in a building have workers at them, showed weekly usage of its buildings at 80% in New York, 75% in Boston and 70% in San Francisco.
Rudin Management CEO Bill Rudin told Bisnow Wednesday that his firm’s portfolio, which spans millions of square feet in Manhattan, has seen a significant increase in usage. Specifically, he said 345 Park Ave. was 70% occupied on Tuesday, and two of his buildings reached 94% occupancy.
“Last week was a transition week,” he said in an interview. “We were hoping, and we are seeing the trends go up.”
If last year was the summer of revenge travel, summer 2023 has been the summer of mandates. In March, JPMorgan Chase said managing directors would be required to be in the office five days a week and told staff in a memo some people aren’t coming into the office as much as required.
In May, Amazon announced its three-day-a-week requirement, and the following month Meta, Facebook’s parent company, followed suit, saying that from Sept. 5 this year, workers would be required to be in three days a week.
Google said it would be tracking employee badges and covering adherence to the three-day hybrid schedule in performance reviews. Goldman Sachs “reminded” employees in August of its office policy, which is five days a week of in-person work.
“We’re giving people time over the spring and summer to get there … but we know that people that are coming to the office, they’re loving being here,” Amazon Vice President of Global Real Estate and Facilities John Schoettler told Bisnow at the unveiling of its new office in the former Lord & Taylor Building on Fifth Avenue this week.
He declined to give occupancy data for Amazon’s offices but said it has been climbing since the guidance was announced in May.
Kastle’s Lynn said that while the weekly uptick wasn’t significant, year-over-year usage has gone up meaningfully, showing a steady return to the office. He said he expects averages to remain muted because employees often avoid the office on Fridays as a matter of course.
“I think you’re going to see a heightened Tuesday and Wednesday across a number of weeks as we get into the fall, is my expectation,” he said. “Fridays are always depressed, so your averages don’t jump as much because Fridays are always pulling them back down.”
But Kastle data shows that even on the most occupied days of the week, offices didn’t see a big spike in usage.
In the top 10 cities, Wednesday, Sept. 6, was the most occupied day of the week, averaging 56.8% of pre-pandemic usage. New York offices were 58.9% occupied, while Houston offices were 67.4% occupied and San Jose offices were 46.6% occupied compared to the pre-Covid-19 baseline, according to Kastle data.
Marx Realty CEO Craig Deitelzweig said Mondays through Thursdays are back to 2019 levels at his firm’s buildings, which are in New York, Atlanta and Washington, D.C., although Fridays remain low. The first four days of the week range between 83% and 100% of pre-pandemic occupancy, he said.
“People think, ‘This is enough. I am ready to get back to work,’” Deitelzweig said.
Office occupancy is a different story around the world. CBRE’s 2023 Office Occupier Sentiment Survey found Asia Pacific has the highest attendance of any region, with 45% of respondents there saying that office space is highly utilized. By comparison, 15% of respondents in Europe and 24% in the U.S. said office space was highly utilized.
The American workforce, according to the brokerage, is dominated by a shift from voluntary to formal requirements around office use. In all, 65% of companies have a requirement in place, more than double the 31% of companies with an in-office mandate a year ago.
“It is very clear to me that companies have taken a different track in their thinking in 2023, and they have become much more comfortable about stating the types of policies and behaviors that they want their employees to adhere to,” CBRE Head of Occupier Research for the Americas Julie Whelan said.
“Once we’re in the fall time period, we will see a bit of a push forward,” she said. “I don’t think that we’re going to be seeing numbers that are getting us back to where we were before the pandemic, because I don’t think that’s ever going to happen. But I would expect that we’re going to see marginally better office utilization.”
Rolling out mandates and supporting workers in hybrid workplaces is an extra challenge for managers, workplace experts have long warned. Whelan said managers still aren’t getting the support they need.
“I think that’s still a blind spot. I think that the holy grail of having very robust change management strategies around a return to office is not one that most companies have achieved,” she said. “Part of that change management strategy is helping your managers learn how to manage and build relationships in this new world. And it does not seem in the data that I see that that is happening in a robust way.”
There has been backlash. Workers at Amazon were warned last month by CEO Andy Jassy that some workers aren’t complying, and those who don’t show up might be better suited working at other companies. At Google, some workers have reportedly vented about being tracked.
Regardless, by the end of the year, there will be 3 million more workers under return-to-office mandates than there were in 2022, according to JLL.
“I think [the return] has been real every year. It’s just, it hasn’t been as fast as I think we all would have thought,” JLL Americas Agency Leader Jeff Eckert said. “It’s the first time, I think, where everybody’s kind of said, ‘Hey, we need to get back under some sort of schedule together.’
Green Street Inks New Lease at 10 Grand CentralNew York & Tri-State + Midtown New York + Office | September 12, 2023
By: Emily Fu
Green Street has signed a long-term lease for 5,000 square feet of office space at 10 Grand Central in Midtown. The firm, known for its commercial real estate research platform and exclusive news outlets, has signed a long-term lease for space on the second floor at the recently repositioned office tower.
Marx Realty has signed nearly 100,000 square feet of office and ground-floor retail space at 10 Grand Central in the last 12 months. Other notable tenants in the building include Merchants Bancorp, LIV Golf Inc., The Week, Benenson Capital Partners, Cava, Little Collins, Sweetgreen, Seven Bucks Productions, MassMutual, and Agence France-Presse.
The lease was facilitated by Ian Lipman of JLL, representing Green Street, and Marx Realty was represented by JLL’s Mitchell Konsker, Kyle Young, Carlee Palmer, Simon Landman, and Thomas Swartz. The asking rent for the space was $67 per square foot.