Observations and predictions on the impact of the pandemic on commercial offices from Mark Grant of White & Partners, a real estate advisory firm based in Brisbane.

This is the first in a series of episodes focusing on emerging future trends in commercial real estate driven by the pandemic.

Our conversation with Mark includes discussion of a broad range of changing elements in office design, from human density in offices unwinding, to the importance of lighting and acoustics to facilitate all those Zoom calls, to the criticality of in-person interactions for creative endeavours.

Timestamps

3.21 White & Partners moves back to the office

6.02 Current state of the market

9.46 Pandemic lease renegotiations

13.53 Office market breakdown - by location

15.24 Face rents will potentially come back

17.09 Influence of sublease activity

18.24 Pandemic impacts on demand - up and down

20.54 Creativity can't be done by remote

24.19 Pandemic promotes better work patterns

25.39 Tenancy layout changes - density et al

28.30 More thoughtful design in office space

30.51 High desk density will unwind

32.51 Meeting rooms - meeting is who we are

35.26 Videocon tech; acoustics and lighting

38.40 We need training to present virtually

44.10 Suburban focus - hub and spoke

48.46 Collab. leasing approach to persist

51.01 Mark's passion for the ocean