Brave Ideas

Ryan Simonetti, CEO of Brookfield-backed Convene, joins Bold Founder, Caleb Parker in an inspiring episode on leadership and optimism on the future of commercial real estate.

Ryan shares the core values that's helped make Convene successful over the last decade, what's enabled him to take decisive action during the Covid pandemic, why he believes we're in the middle of "The Great Accelerator", how office as an asset class is going through a transformation and why buildings without Space-as-as-Service will struggle in the future.

Connect with Ryan on Twitter: https://twitter.com/rwsimonetti Connect with Caleb on Twitter: https://twitter.com/Caleb_Parker

If you have any questions or feedback on this episode, email [email protected]

Questions asked in this episode

1. You were quoted a couple years ago with saying that only 2 things keep you up at night: your 2 year old and your company's culture. Can you talk about the culture you've built at Convene?
2. Often business leaders keep quiet on topics that become politically polarized, but you've been vocal on social media sharing what you believe. Is that risky? Do you think more business leaders should take a stance?
3. You made the decision early on to close all Convene locations, even before the Government mandated lockdowns. What drove that decision?
4. ​​​​​​​​​​​​​​It's an understatement to say this is a difficult time - how do you balance maintaining optimism with facing the realities of today?
5. What makes you optimistic about the future of our industry?
6. You've been talking a lot about hybrid and virtual events - do you expect this to last long-term?
7. How is this going to affect occupancy or vacancy rates in commercial assets?
8. How do you think our industry needs to evolve to keep up with the growing demand for SPaaS?
9. Do you think #CRE needs an asset class for Space-as-a-Service?
10. What is your advice to commercial real estate leaders who are not convinced that SPaaS is the future of #CRE?

Value Bombs and tweetables

Leadership

• At the core of a company's culture is a set of beliefs and values - core non-negotiables.
• Core values are the high bar for which a company hires talent and the lens through which all decisions are made.
• GRIT as a core value stands for: Genuine, Relentless, Integrity, Teamwork, and is required for any disruptive company to succeed.
• Integrity is the most important core value.
• Business is the greatest team sport of all.
• We'll see more companies and executives take a proactive stance to have a positive impact on societal issues.
• "As the leader of a company I need to speak out on behalf of our team, and what we believe as a company is the right thing to do."
• The decisions that companies make during this pandemic will impact their value for decades to come.

Future of #CRE

• This crisis will be seen as the great accelerator for the Future of Work and Space-as-a-Service trends we've been seeing. Many of these trends that were expected to take 15-20 years for change to take effect will now happen in 3-5 years.
• Hybrid and virtual events and work is here to stay long-term.
• Talent wants choice, flexibility and experience.
• Shift toward the individual, not the company, being in control specific to when, where and how we work
• Remote work will make up 25-35% of a company's workforce
• #CRE needs to support people working in the HQ and remotely
• If an asset doesn't offer Space-as-a-Service it's going to struggle

About Ryan Simonetti

Ryan Simonetti is the CEO and co-founder of Convene, the company that designs and services premium places to work, meet, and host inspiring events. His unique expertise in real estate acquisitions, development, and structured finance has helped catapult Convene to become a pioneer in the commercial real estate industry. Ryan co-founded Convene in 2009 with the intention of disrupting the commercial real estate industry and transforming the workplace experience by capitalizing on converging trends in real estate, technology, and hospitality. His vision - to infuse hotel-style services into meetings, events and flexible office spaces - has been Convene's guiding force for the last 11 years, during which they have expanded to 32 locations across the US and UK. With Ryan at the helm, Convene has raised $410M in funding to date, and has been named one of America's 100 Most Promising Companies by Forbes and a Best Workplace by both Inc. and Fortune Magazine. Ryan has been recognized for his transformative achievements on Real Estate Forum's 50 Under 40 list, Inc. Magazine's "30 Under 30," a list of America's Most Promising Young Entrepreneurs, was named "Top Entrepreneur" by Crain's New York, and a finalist in Ernst & Young's Entrepreneur of the Year® New York Awards. Ryan, the first in his family to attend college, graduated from Villanova University, where he developed the concepts for and ran several "start-up" companies designed for students. His professional career began as a real estate banking analyst in the global real estate group at Lehman Brothers, where he focused on the structuring and securitization of commercial mortgage-backed securities. Following Lehman Brothers, Ryan joined Gramercy Capital Corp. as a vice president where he was responsible for the restructuring of a billion dollar loan portfolio including $600 million of hospitality related real estate investments. Ryan is an active supporter of the Urban Land Institute, CoreNet Global, IACC and was selected to be a member of New York Senator Kirsten Gillibrand's Small Business Working Group. In addition, he is an active venture investor and advisor to several start-up technology companies and their founders. Outside of work, he enjoys golfing, fishing, reading and thinking of the next 'big idea.' Ryan and his wife Lisa live in New York with their children Riley and Harley.

Sponsors Fortune Favours the Bold

Bold helps commercial real estate create & manage flexible spaces to dream, create, share, and succeed in. Now part of NewFlex (www.workbold.co)

Future Proof Your Portfolio with NewFlex

NewFlex delivers and manages a range of branded solutions for every type of building, in every type of location, for every type of occupier. Including the flexibility to develop your own brand. All enabled by flexible management contracts where we are invested in making money for you. (www.newflex.com)

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Annie Rinker, Director for the Office of Innovation at Hines and Board Member for the Global Workspace Association joins Bold Founder, Caleb Parker, to share how Hines is future proofing their portfolio with Space-as-a-Service.

Annie is the woman leading the roll out of Space-as-a-Service across the Hines global portfolio, which includes 539 properties across 205 cities in 24 countries on 5 continents (representing a whopping 232m SqFt.)

The two talk about management agreements with operating partners, what to look for in an operating partner, and how the right Space-as-a-Service footprint becomes less riskier than a conventional 10 year lease.

**Annie has some important advice for asset owners who are thinking about launching their own inhouse Space-as-a-Service operation.**

Questions asked in this episode

1. What drives the Hines approach to Space-as-a-Service?
2. Why create a sub-brand?
3. How do you determine which assets in your portfolio to roll out a Space-as-a-Service footprint in?
4. What are "fully integrated building amenities?"
5. Why go the operating partner route versus inhouse?
6. What do you look for in operating partners?
7. What does a financial model for landlords and operators that is sustainable for both look like? (Audience question from Benjamin Bach, Vice President Cushman & Wakefield)
8. What are the minimum amenities a building should offer?
9. Do you think all this remote work we're doing is going to increase the demand for Space-as-a-Service?
10. Do you agree with the JLL prediction that 30% of overall office stock will be Space-as-a-Service by 2030?
11. What is your view on asset owners who go the inhouse route to launching a Space-as-a-Service operation?

Value Bombs and Tweetables

• Coworking adds value through services to customers, which delivers revenue to the bottom line of a building
• Space-as-a-Service can add $2 NOI to an asset
• Real estate is becoming a much more service oriented industry
• Large companies need to be nimble, small companies need the ability to quickly grow
• Hines recognized they had to offer a Space-as-a-Service product in their buildings to attract and retain customers
• Space-as-a-Service becomes a competitive advantage for an asset
• Flexspace enables Hines to align with the needs of contemporary and future office customers
• With the ability to work remotely the physical office becomes more of a want than a need, so real estate owners need to think about the services that support culture and collaboration
• Hines chose the operating partner route versus spinning up inhouse operation
• When looking at asset strategy and how to incorporate flex it's Important to choose a brand that is aligned with your building's brand, but also important for the partnership to be fully aligned
• We're going to see a shift of attitudes in the capital markets towards Space-as-a-Service
• The right Space-as-a-Service footprint becomes less riskier than a conventional 10 year lease
• Health and wellness amenities will be expected of Class A office buildings in a post Covid world.
• Remote work will create more demand for Space-as-a-Service
• Space-as-a-Service could exceed JLL's prediction of 30% of overall office stock by 2030
• Warning: Real estate owners have a lot to consider before launching their own Space-as-a-Service operation versus going the operating partner route.

Resources

Global Workspace Association Board:https://www.globalworkspace.org/about-gwa/

99% Invisible Podcast https://99percentinvisible.org/

About Annie Rinker

Annie Rinker is Director for the Office of Innovation at Hines and Board Member for the Global Workspace Association

Annie has has over 13 years experience in the Space-as-a-Service, brokerage, property management and asset management fields.

She gained her master's degree in real estate finance and development from Georgetown University in Washington, DC.

Starting at Carr Workplaces as a Client Services Director in 2006, her story is impressive as she climbed the ladder at Carr. If you don't know, Carr operates the seventh largest shared office space company in the US, with 32 locations and more than nearly 800K square feet of office space supporting over 10K clients across their portfolio in major cities such as DC, NYC, Chicago, San Francisco and Boston to name a few. Annie became Vice President of the company before launching Carr's managed office product called WorkReady.

Throughout her career she's managed coworking facilities, been responsible for all financial and operational components, and she's managed a regional sales team of coworking managers.

Now she continues to build on the intersection of coworking and traditional commercial real estate by exploring other ways to drive value in buildings though the Hines coworking platform, The Square.

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If you have any questions or feedback on this episode, email [email protected]

Sponsors Fortune Favours the Bold

Bold helps commercial real estate create & manage flexible spaces to dream, create, share, and succeed in. Now part of NewFlex (www.workbold.co)

Future Proof Your Portfolio with NewFlex

NewFlex delivers and manages a range of branded solutions for every type of building, in every type of location, for every type of occupier. Including the flexibility to develop your own brand. All enabled by flexible management contracts where we are invested in making money for you. (www.newflex.com)

Launch Your Own Podcast

A Podcast Company is the leading podcast production company for brands, organizations, institutions, individuals, and entrepreneurs. Our team sets you up with the right equipment, training, and guidance to ensure you sound amazing. (https://www.apodcastcompany.com and www.podcastsyndicator.com)

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Susan Freeman, 'The woman who knows everyone' according to Bisnow joins Bold Founder, Caleb Parker, to share why she believes "Third spaces" will play a role in bringing back life to the high street and smaller towns.

Susan, who is partner at law firm Mishcon de Reya, shares some of the back stories from her favourite guests on her own PropertyShe podcast, including Founder of Regus, Billionaire and CEO of IWG, Mark Dixon.

Susan and Caleb go on to talk about breaking rules and challenging the norms in commercial real estate, transitioning back to the office safely post-pandemic, including the importance of good air quality, and how we're going to see a movement of building owners bringing in professional operators of Space-as-a-Service.

Connect with Susan on Twitter: https://twitter.com/Propertyshe Connect with Caleb on Twitter: https://twitter.com/Caleb_Parker

Value Bombs and Tweetables

• #CRE needs to give the younger generation working in the industry more influence because they understand what the customer of the future wants
• We can break rules in #CRE, starting with the suit and tie
• We are in the people business, not the property business.
• When it comes to getting back to the office, safety is the priority.
• Good air quality is critical for the safety and productivity of office customers
• Long-term, the sustainability agenda will stay a focus for buildings to align with social values of customers
• Reducing commute time makes commercial real estate more sustainable
• Demand for Third spaces will grow, and have potential to bring life to the high street and smaller towns
• Connectivity is crucial for the work from home movement
• Real estate decisions should be driven by what talent wants
• To enable to enable flexibility we're going to move towards more professional operators of buildings

Resources

PropertyShe Podcast: https://www.mishcon.com/propertyshe

About Susan Freeman

Susan is a partner at law firm Mishcon de Reya. An experienced real estate lawyer, her in depth understanding of the property market and business training as a Sloan Masters MSc (London Business School) graduate, combined with a wide circle of contacts help make the firm's programme of events "must attend" networking opportunities. Susan was listed as ''The woman who knows everyone' by Bisnow in their 51 Most influential Women in UK real estate list 2018. Susan is a member of the Mishcon Technology Group, which has recently launched MDR LAB - an incubator programme for tech start-ups in the legal space. She also mentors for Pi Labs accelerator programme for proptech start-ups since it launched and is a regular speaker on the #proptech circuit. Susan is Vice Chair of the British Property Federation's Technology and Innovation Group.

She is also a member of the Urban land Institute Technology and Real Estate European Product Council. She chaired the FUTURE: Proptech Advisory Group bringing together key influencers in real estate and proptech. She is ranked 40 in the Tyto Tech Top 500 List 2018 Susan is a non-executive director of development company, This Land, on the advisory boards of Seaforth Land and Work.Life and chairs the Property Group of Bee Midtown, the Holborn and surrounding area's Business Improvement District. She is on the advisory board of Property Week and is an active member of a number of property related organisations including The British Property Federation, The Urban Land Institute and REVO.

Susan regularly undertakes speaking and panel engagements on real estate, retail and proptech related issues. She hosts the popular Propertyshe podcast where she interviews some of the top influencers who define and make a difference to the real estate industry and built environment.

If you have any questions or feedback on this episode, email [email protected]

Sponsors Fortune Favours the Bold

Bold helps commercial real estate create & manage flexible spaces to dream, create, share, and succeed in. Now part of NewFlex (www.workbold.co)

Future Proof Your Portfolio with NewFlex

NewFlex delivers and manages a range of branded solutions for every type of building, in every type of location, for every type of occupier. Including the flexibility to develop your own brand. All enabled by flexible management contracts where we are invested in making money for you. (www.newflex.com)

Launch Your Own Podcast

A Podcast Company is the leading podcast production company for brands, organizations, institutions, individuals, and entrepreneurs. Our team sets you up with the right equipment, training, and guidance to ensure you sound amazing. (https://www.apodcastcompany.com and www.podcastsyndicator.com)

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The outspoken #CRE Broker and social media influencer (11k+ followers on Twitter), Duke Long, joins Bold founder, Caleb Parker to share the story behind his Top 100 people in commercial real estate to follow on Twitter list and explain his recent rants about the negative pitching that is happening in CRE during the current pandemic, including on social media and in the press.

In this uncensored episode we find out what Duke thinks the "new normal" will be after lockdown, what the office sector can learn from the events industry to entice people back to the office, if remote work will accelerate Space-as-a-Service, and whether commercial real estate remains a stable investment if the future of commercial real estate is flexible.

And finally once and for all we find out who really invented the hashtag #Space-as-a-Service.

Disclaimer: This episode contains profanity. There are few F-Bombs in this episode after the first 15 minutes.*But as we're all adults in commercial real estate, we decided to NOT censor.

Connect with Duke on Twitter: https://twitter.com/dukelong Connect with Caleb on Twitter: https://twitter.com/Caleb_Parker

Questions in this episode

1. What was the thinking behind putting the Top 100 Commercial Real Estate People You Must Follow On Twitter list together? What's the criteria to be included in that elite list of experts?
2. There has been a lot of headlines lately talking about "6-feet offices", "the office being dead", "the coworking industry failing", and even the big banks "embracing remote work". What do you make of this?
3. What's behind your recent article "Hey, #CRE And #Tech We Are All Fucked, But No One Wants To Admit It. I Will."
4. According to a CoreNet Global survey released last Wednesday, 69% Of Companies Plan To Shrink Office Footprint, Increase Remote Work. What's going to happen to all the space left empty?
5. Historically commercial real estate was a stable and predictable investment - how do you expect this to change?
6. What questions should commercial real estate investors be asking right now to prepare their portfolios for the future?
7. Who in #CRE should people be tuning into for advice or examples of leadership during this crisis?
8. The very first episode of this podcast was with our mutual friend, Antony Slumbers talking about the Trillion Dollar Hashtag: Space-as-a-Service. For a long time there's been a debate on who invented that term. Who should get the credit ?

Value Bombs & Tweetables

• Covid-19 accelerates the flexible working movement
• Stop pitching. No one knows yet what solutions will save commercial real estate
• The office sector can learn from the events industry how to create environments people choose to go to
• Trickle up economics needed during a global crisis
• 20 year leases are gone
• All the stats about people not wanting to come back to the office....we need work environments, but we don't want to go back to the way it used to be
• Flexibility will create dynamic revenue models for #CRE
• Demand for Space-as-a-Service shifts the responsibility of delivering workplaces that support productivity and success from occupiers to the asset
• CRE needs to be asking how to create environments where people feel taken care of
• To future proof portfolios, owners of real estate need to ask where they sit in the value chain
• Assets with Space-as-a-Service will become workplaces of choice

Resources

Top 100 Commercial Real Estate People You Must Follow On Twitter list: https://dukelong.com/duke-longs-updated-2019-top-100-commercial-real-estate-people-you-must-follow-on-twitter/

Duke Long's website: http://dukelong.com/

About Duke Long

Duke is a commercial real estate broker, owner, manager, and investor. He is an entrepreneur in residence for the National Association of Realtors Global REACH programme and social media influencer in #CRE with over 11,000 followers on Twitter and 10,000 connections in his LinkedIn group.

If you have any questions or feedback on this episode, email [email protected]

Sponsors Fortune Favours the Bold

Bold helps commercial real estate create & manage flexible spaces to dream, create, share, and succeed in. Now part of NewFlex (www.workbold.co)

Future Proof Your Portfolio with NewFlex

NewFlex delivers and manages a range of branded solutions for every type of building, in every type of location, for every type of occupier. Including the flexibility to develop your own brand. All enabled by flexible management contracts where we are invested in making money for you. (www.newflex.com)

Launch Your Own Podcast

A Podcast Company is the leading podcast production company for brands, organizations, institutions, individuals, and entrepreneurs. Our team sets you up with the right equipment, training, and guidance to ensure you sound amazing. (https://www.apodcastcompany.com and www.podcastsyndicator.com)

Subscribe to the #WorkBold Podcast

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Jonathan Weinbrenn (JW), Space-as-a-Service veteran and MD Bespoke, a BE Offices company with locations across England and Northern Ireland, joins Bold Founder, Caleb Parker to discuss the impact Covid-19 will have on commercial real estate.

The two chat about the human side of the pandemic, both the negatives and positives, how JW and his team are helping customers transition to working from home as if they're in the office, work strategies and safety measures to get back to working in the office, including a discussion around pre-vaccine vs. post vaccine stages.

The two wrap up the discussion with a powerful topic of whether Coronavirus will act as an accelerant to giving people more choice of how and where they work - and if that happens, how does that affect Space-as-a-Service?

Free giveaway: Make your (virtual) meetings cool, like you - and win a Bold hoodie. Visit https://workbold.co.uk/podcast/ for details.

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Value Bombs & Tweetables

• We're in the middle of the greatest global experiment #CRE has ever seen.
• We're here to help customers work seamlessly whether they're in the office or remote.
• Short-to-mid-term #CRE requires careful consideration
• #CRE will be business as usual in a post-vaccine world, except the movement towards Space-as-a-Service will take off as companies shift to a more distributed workforce
• More people will work from Third Spaces.
• Work doesn't have to happen in one fixed location.
• The idea of retaining rigid long-term leases will become less favourable.
• Covid exposes the need for agility.

Connect with Jonathan on Twitter: https://twitter.com/WeinbrennJonny

Connect with Caleb on Twitter: https://twitter.com/Caleb_Parker

Resources

Book referenced in the quick fire round: No Mercy/No Malice by Professor Scott Galloway https://www.profgalloway.com/

If you have any questions or feedback on this episode, email [email protected]

Sponsors Bold helps commercial real estate create & manage flexible spaces to dream, create, share, and succeed in. Now part of NewFlex (www.workbold.co) NewFlex delivers and manages a range of branded solutions for every type of building, in every type of location, for every type of occupier. Including the flexibility to develop your own brand. All enabled by flexible management contracts where we are invested in making money for you. (www.newflex.com) A Podcast Company is the leading podcast production company for brands, organizations, institutions, individuals, and entrepreneurs. Our team sets you up with the right equipment, training, and guidance to ensure you sound amazing. - (https://www.apodcastcompany.com and www.podcastsyndicator.com) Subscribe to the #WorkBold podcast Apple | Spotify | Google | Stitcher | Podbean

In this first episode of Season 2, Samantha McClary, editor of real estate media company, EG, (virtually) joins Bold founder Caleb Parker to share some of the chatter she's hearing in commercial real estate.

The two discuss whether people are really productive working remotely, what the "new normal" looks like when we come out Covid-19 lockdown, how companies are rethinking their office strategy, the role of Space-as-a-Service and of course how this affects commercial landlords.

Connect with Sam on Twitter: https://twitter.com/samanthamcclary

Connect with Caleb on Twitter: https://twitter.com/Caleb_Parker

Questions in this episode:

1. How has your productivity been affected during lockdown?
2. Does everyone in your team feel the same as you, or does it vary based on each person's work from home circumstances?
3. CBRE projects offices could be half empty for up to a year after lockdown. Do you think people will want to rush back to the office and stop working from home?
4. Referring to the recent EG podcast with Neil Usher, he talks about a reset as companies consider a strategy for a return to work. Can you elaborate on that, and what this will mean for landlords?
5. What PropTech companies / solutions can help #CRE serve their customers better / keep customers safe when we come out of lockdown?
6. Before the pandemic the movement toward Space-as-a-Service, which includes coworking, flex and serviced offices, was approaching 10% of the overall office stock. Considering we're all undergoing this global remote work experiment, and the latest headline of Barclays CEO saying "putting 7,000 people in a building may be a thing of the past" + RXR nixing the big Airbnb deal at 75 Rockefeller in NYC - what talk are you hearing from asset owners/managers on this topic now?
7. Once we do get back to normal (or a new normal), do you expect to see the money in CRE bypassing traditional asset managers and doing deals directly with Space-as-a-Service operators? (Referencing #WorkBold podcast Season 1, Episode 10 with Dror Poleg)

Value Bombs

• There are too many PR-seeking headlines and knee jerk reactions from commercial real estate to this pandemic.
• But companies are rethinking their office strategy.
• Tech and media companies are productive working remotely.
• Remote work productivity is linked to how people are doing emotionally.
• Creative work requires coming together in a face to face environment.
• Working remotely doesn't work for everyone.
• It's not the office OR remote work. The future includes both.
• The future = smaller head offices, remote work and access to workspace close to home.
• Real estate investors will partner with the best Space-as-a-Service operators to improve the customer experience.

About Samantha McClary

Samantha McClary is EG editor, Co-founder of REWIRE and Co-host of TechTalk Radio.

Connect with her on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/samantha-mcclary-b4635a4a/

Subscribe Apple | Spotify | Google | Stitcher | Podbean Sponsors Bold helps commercial real estate create & manage flexible spaces to dream, create, share, and succeed in. Now part of NewFlex (www.workbold.co) NewFlex delivers and manages a range of branded solutions for every type of building, in every type of location, for every type of occupier. Including the flexibility to develop your own brand. All enabled by flexible management contracts where we are invested in making money for you. (www.newflex.com) A Podcast Company is the leading podcast production company for brands, organizations, institutions, individuals, and entrepreneurs. Our team sets you up with the right equipment, training, and guidance to ensure you sound amazing. - (https://www.apodcastcompany.com and www.podcastsyndicator.com)

Welcome to Season 2 of the #WorkBold podcast.

Following a successful Season 1 (now downloaded in 36 countries), Caleb Parker, Founder of Bold, returns to chat with the leaders in #CRE to share insights into how the office sector can prepare for work life after Covid-19, better known as Coronavirus.

1. Will everyone get back to business as usual, or will there be significant changes to the buildings we return to?
2. Will the movement to Space-as-a-Service gain rocket boosters when this pandemic is over?

The old school approach to commercial real estate won't work anymore. Many traditionalists will fail.

But those who are bold and open to evolving will not only survive, but thrive when we get back to business.

Space-as-a-Service will we go from lockdown to lift off.

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Who Should Listen?

This podcast is for anyone involved in commercial real estate in any way. If you're an investor, fund manager, developer, property manager, agent or broker, be sure to subscribe so you don't miss an episode.

FORTUNE FAVOURS THE BOLD

Sponsors Bold helps commercial real estate create & manage flexible spaces to dream, create, share, and succeed in. Now part of NewFlex (www.workbold.co) NewFlex delivers and manages a range of branded solutions for every type of building, in every type of location, for every type of occupier. Including the flexibility to develop your own brand. All enabled by flexible management contracts where we are invested in making money for you. (www.newflex.com) A Podcast Company is the leading podcast production company for brands, organizations, institutions, individuals, and entrepreneurs. Our team sets you up with the right equipment, training, and guidance to ensure you sound amazing. - (https://www.apodcastcompany.com and www.podcastsyndicator.com)

Dror Poleg, world renowned author of Rethinking Real Estate, chats with Bold Founder, Caleb Parker in London during his UK book tour. Dror explains why the old way of leasing space is becoming obsolete and how to finance the next phase of growth for Space-as-a-Service.

Follow Dror on Twitter: https://twitter.com/drorpoleg *(More about Dror below)

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Questions answered in this episode

1. In your LinkedIn article you refer to the hotel industry offering a few hints into the future of Wework, with lessons we can all take away for how to finance the next phase of growth for Space-as-a-Service. Can you elaborate?
2. You state that WeWork should not use venture capital to finance long leases or building acquisitions. Would you give this advice to the other operators in this sector?
3. You say demand for space-as-a-service is growing and owners are coming to terms with the fact that the old way of leasing space is obsolete. Is that why are you keen on management and franchise deals with traditional landlords?
4. The way buildings are valued (particularly here in the UK) is a barrier for the proliferation of management agreements. Do you expect this to change anytime soon?
5. What is the future of finance, or "capital stack" as you like to call it, for CRE?
6. Will a PropCo/OpCo brand emerge?

Value Bombs and tweetables

• There's a growing gap between what customers want and what landlords and their investors are willing to deliver. There's a missing service layer.
• There is insatiable demand for flexibility and service that is not going away.
• Wework got the investor profile wrong.
• Commercial real estate investor profiles need to evolve to align with the different layers of risk to deliver space-as-a-service.
• Landlords have been sheltered from the new risk created by the demand for space-as-as-service.
• Building valuations will have to change to account for this new risk of not having space-as-a-service.
• Brand will become an important factor in building valuations.
• New sources of funding will make up the future capital stack of CRE finance.
• CRE Investors will bypass managers and partner directly with space-as-as-service brands.

Resources

Dror's LinkedIn article referenced: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/hotel-masayoshi-how-fund-future-real-estate-dror-poleg/

Book: Rethinking Real Estate https://www.rethinking.re/

About Dror Dror Poleg is the author of Rethinking Real Estate and the Co-Chair of the Urban Land Institute's Technology and Innovation Council in New York. His insights on the future of cities and buildings have been featured in publications including the Wall Street Journal, Forbes, The Globe and Mail, and Business Insider.

Dror briefs and advises senior executives from multibillion dollar companies such as AvalonBay Communities, British Land, Liberty Mutual, Dubai Holding, and Cushman & Wakefield.

Dror's work draws on his experiences as a real estate and technology executive in the US, China, UK, and Australia, as well as on his formal training at the London School of Economics, INSEAD, and Swinburne University of Technology.

Previously, Dror served as Vice President of Kardan Land, where he oversaw the expansion of a $3b property portfolio in partnership with investors such as Blackrock MGPA and Frasers Properties; as CEO of Otherz.com, an app development company; and as Head of Digital at Standards Group, a creative agency that served clients such as IKEA, Scandinavian Airlines, and Shangri La Hotels.

Sponsors Bold helps commercial real estate create & manage flexible spaces to dream, create, share, and succeed in. Now part of NewFlex (www.workbold.co) NewFlex delivers and manages a range of branded solutions for every type of building, in every type of location, for every type of occupier. Including the flexibility to develop your own brand. All enabled by flexible management contracts where we are invested in making money for you. (www.newflex.com) A Podcast Company is the leading podcast production company for brands, organizations, institutions, individuals, and entrepreneurs. Our team sets you up with the right equipment, training, and guidance to ensure you sound amazing. - (https://www.apodcastcompany.com and www.podcastsyndicator.com)

Chris Richmond, Senior Head of Real Estate for PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) joins Bold Founder, Caleb Parker, and dives deep into what drives his real estate decisions. He's responsible for for ensuring 24,500 team members have a happy and productive office environment across the portfolio and shares how flexible working and the war for talent require buildings to level up their service game.

About Chris Richmond

A Chartered Surveyor since 1991 with an MBA from Kingston University (1999) and over 30 years commercial real estate experience primarily working client side within large corporations such as Royal Mail, Orange/EE and PwC.

Achievements include the renewal of the office portfolio to right-size workplaces into modern, flexible, sustainable and vibrate spaces in line with evolving business needs.

Chris is on the management board for the British Council for Offices (BCO).

Connect with Chris on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/christopher-richmond-mba-mrics-9b99b514/

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Questions answered in this episode

1. How big is your UK portfolio
2. How many people do you support?
3. Are your assets on long-term conventional leases?
4. Do you see a correlation between your office environment and talent acquisition?
5. What does talent want? What does talent expect?
6. Do you agree that companies don't want an office, but rather a productive workforce?
7. How does PwC ensure people have what they need from the office to be productive?
8. How do you use data to optimise your offices?
9. How is flexible working part of your strategy?
10. How often are you actually in the office?
11. How do you balance flexible working and office working occupancy to determine the ROI of a space.
12. What is your decision making process when acquiring new space or renewing leases?
13. Why do you think CRE is slow to move from product to service?
14. What's the incentive for a landlord to provide an extra level of service if a customer is stuck in a 10-15 year lease?
15. Would you take space in a building that is managed by a Space-as-a-Service operator?

Value Bombs and tweetables

• PwC UK recruits 1,500 graduates each year
• The office stands for place where people come together to collaborate and share ideas
• We want to create an atmosphere where people are happy and want to come
• A happy workforce feeds into productivity
• 17,000 sensors help measure data to determine what's working in the office.
• Data is a symptom of what's not working, and enables further feedback checks.
• Our team are instructed to only come into the office when they need to.
• People are epowered to make this decision themselves.
• Location is still important to attracting talent, but service is just as important.
• Buildings are not currently offering the level of service needed.
• The human experience is lacking.
• Asset managers are not taking a proper interest in customer service, and that's a missed opportunity.
• Customers are more interested in quality versus price of services. A better balance is needed.
• Customer service creates value. Happy customers will stay longer and generate increased returns.
• PwC would look at taking self-contained space in buildings that are fully managed by a Space-as-a-Service operator.

Resources Excerpt from the BCO report referenced in this episode: "The demand for excellent customer experience in the workplace is here to stay. Efficiency, flexibility, adaptability, sustainability and wellbeing continue to be of top concern to occupiers. Office building owners and managers are increasingly being asked, and now expected, to offer a service that supports these business objectives. If the office industry cannot deliver the service customers want, they will either self-deliver or take their business elsewhere. The increase in the percentage of space being taken by corporates from companies like WeWork, IWG and The Office Group, rather than traditional landlords, is testimony to this."

Click here to read the entire BCO report

Sponsors Bold helps commercial real estate create & manage flexible spaces to dream, create, share, and succeed in. Now part of NewFlex (www.workbold.co) NewFlex delivers and manages a range of branded solutions for every type of building, in every type of location, for every type of occupier. Including the flexibility to develop your own brand. All enabled by flexible management contracts where we are invested in making money for you. (www.newflex.com) A Podcast Company is the leading podcast production company for brands, organizations, institutions, individuals, and entrepreneurs. Our team sets you up with the right equipment, training, and guidance to ensure you sound amazing. - (https://www.apodcastcompany.com and www.podcastsyndicator.com)

Mark Tyson, Head of Service Delivery at Legal & General Investment Management (LGIM) sat down with Bold Founder, Caleb Parker, to share how space moving from product to service can create successful businesses, driving demand, premium rents and ultimately high building valuations.

About Mark Tyson Mark is Head of Service Delivery at Legal & General Investment Management (LGIM). He is responsible for all Property & Facilities Management operations across over 400 properties in the UK following an 18 month transformation programme to implement a new occupier focussed operating model. Previously he has held leadership roles in Mitie and Capita Real Estate with a focus on Property Management, Facilities Management and Sustainability services. During this period he has also developed a number of Smart Building propositions which incorporate well-being, asset and energy data to support better decision making in the built environment

Connect with Mark on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mark-tyson-23b7a1a/

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Questions answered in this episode

1. With the demand for Space-as-a-Service and flexibility growing year on year, what are you seeing from your customers?
2. What do you consider flex space?
3. You've launched your own Space-as-a-Service brand - are you now competing with the "Weworks" of the world?
4. What percentage of your buildings will be dedicated to SpaaS or flex?
5. Will your valuation model change?

Value Bombs and tweetables

• We need to stop talking about sqft and cost per sqft and talk about outcome - how the space works for a business.
• We're using net promoter scores to see how people like working in a building
• We want to understand what the occupier is using a space for, the right conditions to make that catagory of business work and measure metrics to understand if the space is successful for a business
• Stop thinking about productivity gain, and start thinking about providing a space that gives people a chance to be successful.
• Positive outcomes enable premium rents. Service will be the differentiator when offices are a commodity
• People will stay in buildings longer that provide a great service thereby reducing void periods and directly affecting building valuations.
• Many assets won't be able to keep up with the changes in market demands, and we'll see some stranded assets which are difficult to exit.
• It's about what can be done to protect investments from decreasing in value.

Sponsors Bold helps commercial real estate create & manage flexible spaces to dream, create, share, and succeed in. Now part of NewFlex (www.workbold.co) NewFlex delivers and manages a range of branded solutions for every type of building, in every type of location, for every type of occupier. Including the flexibility to develop your own brand. All enabled by flexible management contracts where we are invested in making money for you. (www.newflex.com) A Podcast Company is the leading podcast production company for brands, organizations, institutions, individuals, and entrepreneurs. Our team sets you up with the right equipment, training, and guidance to ensure you sound amazing. - (https://www.apodcastcompany.com and www.podcastsyndicator.com)