Tons of articles, surveys and speculation are flying around the world right now about the potential death of the office. There seem to be endless arguments to both sides and I get to talk about them daily with clients and colleagues. The article below explains the true needs for office space better than any article I’ve … Continue reading The Chemistry of the Unexpected
I’ve talked in previous narratives about the pros and cons of the current trend towards open office layouts. Work and how it flows has changed dramatically over the past 5 years. 75+ percent of all office spaces we see built out these days are primarily open. Companies are trying to make their culture more collaborative. … Continue reading Work Modalities Chart
Back in May 2016, I wrote a narrative on the first solar road in the world (read here). Looks like I was way ahead of the curve on this technology. It is still coming but solar power inside a road seems to be a long way off. This road has been a total flop. Why? … Continue reading Three Years Later, the French Solar Road Is a Total Flop
The trend of being able to work from home is now here for all of us. The COVID-19 quarantine has forced the issue. And according to a detailed study by Nicholas Bloom of Stanford, it’s good business. Bloom did a two-year study on the effectiveness of working from home. Below is a nice summary from a … Continue reading Working From Home
After a strong start to the year, COVID-19 has stamped a pause button on the majority of office deals in the market. Closing out the first quarter, the Metro Phoenix office market absorbed just 310,280 square feet. This is 25% of Q1 2019’s figure. Vacancy crept up only slightly by 100 basis points to 16.2%. … Continue reading 1-Minute Phoenix Metro Office Market Update: Q1 2020
It was simply a matter of time before all office building tenant amenities would consider going green. Below are some pretty cool ideas for office building owners and tenants wanting be more environmentally-friendly. My favorite is the Margarita—I mean, smoothie—bike. 🙂 See below for the photo. What else is coming? – Balconies and … Continue reading Green/Healthy Tenant Amenities
The last decade (pre-COVID-19) was a lesson in taking the long road. I remember meeting with a couple CEOs of homebuilding companies every year and hearing the same story from 2009-2012: “Last year was bad but this next year is going to be a lot better.” This was the message for four straight years. Multifamily, on … Continue reading A Decade of Home Building
I first commented on this topic back in 2015 (click here to see my narrative and the video). The age of robotics is coming. And last month, it got even closer. Boston Dynamics announced their first commercial robot is going on sale. Yes, it will be expensive and limited, BUT it will be a commercially … Continue reading Robotics are Here!
Below is the US National Debt as a portion of the economy expressed as a graph. Since this graph was created, we have now surpassed World War II levels of debt, pushing debt to over 100% of GDP. You can see the most accurate calculation of national debt, which updates every second as it grows, here: https://www.usdebtclock.org/ The … Continue reading National Debt Growth
When you get a survey result with 50% results, you pay attention. When you see 99% you better stop and make a change. Below is a 2019 report by Buffer on the State of Remote Work. The most important takeaway is that EVERYONE wants to spend some time working remotely — and by everyone, I mean 99%. … Continue reading EVERYONE Wants Time to Work Remotely