NYC commercial real estate community gathers to discuss "Workplace of the Future" at NAIOP breakfast seminar

The arrival of the Millennial generation, combined with emerging technologies such as cloud computing, social networking, 24-7 connectivity and advanced analytics, will transform the infrastructure of commercial office spaces, according to Jones Lang LaSalle managing director Peter Miscovich, who served as the keynote speaker at NAIOP NYC's Sept. 27 breakfast seminar, "Workplace of the Future: The Next Wave in Tenant Interiors." Held at the Haworth Showroom at Park Ave. and 42nd St., the seminar was moderated by TPG Architecture founder Jim Phillips, who touched on every aspect of the integration of efficiency and design effectiveness in today's corporate workplace. Joining Miscovich on the seminar's panel were Michael Davidson, managing director and head of the New York Region and Global Investment Banking Real Estate Portfolio at JPMorgan Chase & Co.; Calvin Farley, a managing director at Tishman Speyer; and Pay Wu, who serves as the strategy and portfolio planning leader for Deloitte Services LP. "In the future, aggressive commercial real estate portfolio strategies will be enabled by expanding workplace mobility practices," said Miscovich, who develops integrated corporate strategies and solutions for leading Fortune 500 companies. "The resulting flexibility and efficiency will allow companies to improve occupancy metrics and workplace performance." According to Miscovich, today's average worker occupies about 200 rentable square feet of office space. Through the transformation of work processes, elastic workplace networks and optimization of space, this number will be reduced to approximately 50 rentable square feet per person by the year 2020. To facilitate the growing number of employees who work virtually from locations outside of the office, many companies are investing heavily in telepresence technology. Additionally, the trend towards hyper-collaboration has driven firms to invest in infrastructure improvements such as conference rooms with virtual walls that that have hand gesture-controlled interfaces. Davidson, who is responsible for JPMorgan Chase & Co.'s 11-million-square-foot real estate portfolio and $1.5-billion annual operating plan, believes that The Great Recession of 2008 served as a catalyst for many companies to begin taking a hard look at their workplace infrastructure. The resulting trend towards creating more efficient spaces has had a direct effect on the way office landlords develop and manage properties. "The office ecosystem is evolving and landlords must pay attention," said Farley, who oversees leasing and marketing activities for Tishman Speyer's 17 million s/f portfolio of properties in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut. "Things such as bandwidth for technology and Wi-Fi, increased capacity for HVAC and redundant electrical feeds are now mandatory for landlords." While the workplace environment will inevitably evolve as technology and the advent of hyper-specialization result in new business models, the panel cautioned that office users should be careful to look at what's happening today as a snapshot in time, determining what is a phase and what is a new trend for the future. "At the end of the day, with all of the technology, humanity needs personal interaction," Miscovich said. "It is that connectivity that produces innovation and yields growth." To join and learn more about the many events and programs planned by NAIOP's New York City Chapter, please visit www.naiopnyc.org. About NAIOP NYC Founded in 2008, the New York City Chapter of NAIOP represents NYC's most respected commercial real estate companies and is NAIOP's fastest growing chapter. The chapter provides members unparalleled industry networking, educational and socially conscience programs and events, in addition to advocating for effective legislation on behalf of its members. The Developing Leaders program is dedicated to providing emerging industry professionals aged 35 and under, with programs and educational services that further their growth and business development within the real estate industry. About NAIOP NAIOP, the Commercial Real Estate Development Association, is the nation's leading trade association for developers, owners, investors and other professionals in industrial, office and mixed-use commercial real estate. Founded in 1967, NAIOP is comprised of more than 15,000 members in 56 North American chapters and provides networking opportunities, educational programs, research on trends and innovations and strong legislative representation. For more information, visit www.naiop.org.