JLL Perspectives

A year ago, warehouses were being snapped up by businesses racing to keep up with

the massive surge in online retail triggered by COVID lockdowns. The

expectation was that as the pandemic eased, so would the demand for industrial real

estate. But that never happened.

JLL's Matt Lee, head of industrial occupier services in Australia, and Allan Frydman, head of supply chain in Australia and New Zealand talk to Perspectives podcast host Rebecca Kent about how businesses are navigating the shortage of warehouses while trying to keep up with consistently high levels of ecommerce and persistent supply chain challenges.

Several factors are spurring businesses into taking action on their office space and existing leases, with the aim of getting the best out of their employees while also trimming unnecessary costs.

Increased flexible working, the pressure to rein in costs, and elevated office vacancies, all converging amid the unpredictability of the global economy and future of work, are leading to a wave of renegotiated office contracts in which tenants overwhelmingly have the upper hand.

Landlords are offering fit-outs, reduced make-good obligations, rent-free periods, and the use of flexible or ‘third’ space – in many cases for the entire duration of a lease – as just some incentives to retain their tenants.

Meanwhile, some occupiers are becoming landlords themselves by subleasing their excess office space.

In this episode, JLL tenant representatives Jessica van Raay and Dirk van Velden discuss with Rebecca Kent the pros and cons of every option.

Large organisations are increasingly working with Indigenous suppliers in Australia to woo customers making decisions on social values rather than just the bottom line.

Governments and major companies including ANZ Bank, Medibank and Australia Post are among groups using their buying power to deliver social change. This is a stark shift from a decade ago, when many firms would have dismissed Indigenous businesses as contenders for facilities management and other building services contracts.

The number of Indigenous-owned businesses is growing as a result. Registrations of businesses at least 50-percent owned by Indigenous people grew 180 percent between 2017 and 2020.  

One high-profile benefactor is Mick O’Loughlin, a former footballer for the Sydney Swans, in Australia’s Aussie Rules AFL league. He’s also the founder and managing director of commercial cleaning business ARA Indigenous Services.

 “Growing up we were always waiting for funding to come from somewhere to play sport with other communities, but as a business owner now I can just say ‘we’re sponsoring this and everyone gets a jersey, everyone gets a netball uniform’. We work extremely hard, but nothing makes me more proud to be able to do that,” he says.

Hear from O’Loughlin, Laura Berry, the chief executive of non-profit Supply Nation, and Robin Burton, senior supply chain diversity and sustainability specialist at JLL, as they chat to Perspectives podcast host Rebecca Kent about why working with Indigenous businesses is climbing to the top of the corporate agenda.

The clouds of economic uncertainty brought on by COVID-19 are shifting to reveal better prospects for office leasing in Australia as business confidence improves and appetite for offices rebuilds.

Though the overall net take-up of office space remained negative at 116,000 square metres in the three months to December 2020, it had contracted less than the previous three quarters of the year - a sign that business sentiment is improving, particularly with the vaccine due in March.

Listen to Andrew Ballantyne, JLL's head of research – Australia, and Tim O’Connor, head of leasing, as they share their insights on office leasing, including sublease space, changing office footprints, and the future of city centres in this episode of the Perspectives podcast, hosted by Rebecca Kent.

Office owners are leaning on flexible space to get home workers back into their city buildings, but on this side of the COVID-19 pandemic, flexible space looks different. Having reflected on the role of the office as flexible working arrangements advance, landlords are taking a more open-minded approach to what will attract tenants and importantly, what will keep them there.

Tim O’Connor, Simon Trude and Tashi Dorjee discuss how landlords are starting to own the conversation around flexible space, and how to deliver it in their buildings in a commercially viable way. 

Membership models could be the next evolution of office leasing, in a break from traditional contracts, providing cost-savings and cash-flow benefits to tenants and landlords.

In this bonus episode Gavin Morgan, JLL’s chief operating officer for Greater China and managing director for Hong Kong tells CNBC’s Christine Tan more about this evolution of office space. 

After you've listened to the podcast, check out the JLL report Tenancy Reimagined.

Host: Rebecca Kent, content manager, JLL.

While the global pandemic was dominating headlines, airports, transit lines and roads were getting a super-fast fix-up as people abandoned cities, and a pension fund was taken to task on its climate responsibilities.

In this first cross over podcast between JLL's Perspectives podcast and the Building Places podcast, co-hosts Rebecca Kent and James Cook explore with experts the effects these developments will have on people and businesses.

Guests include:

Lisa Hinde, strategic sustainability director – APAC, JLL.

Scott Armstrong, head of property, Local Government Super

Phil Ryan, senior research manager, JLL

Rising property yields, low interest rates, stacks of unallocated capital and a re-ordering of the office-retail-industrial hierarchy, have got investors thinking carefully about their next move. Are short-term risks worth long-term gains? And where does Australia stack up globally?

In this episode, hear from:

Andrew Ballantyne, JLL’s head of research in Australia

Leonie Wilkinson, senior vice president at Brookfield Asset Management, 

Dave Roberts, head of global real estate strategy at Macquarie Group,

Fergal Harris, JLL’s head of capital markets in Australia 

Host: Rebecca Kent, JLL's content manager in Australia

How has Asia come to have a 17-year head start on the rest of the world in dealing with indoor air quality? How could wearable technology expose companies that don’t track their wellness and sustainability? And is the real estate industry finally ready for a conversation about how buildings can improve peoples’ health?

This episode feature sustainability experts

Raefer Wallis, founder and CEO of GIGA, and developer of the RESET standard; Andrew Cole, general manager of sustainability at Lendlease Funds Management Australia; and Matthew Clifford, JLL’s head of energy and sustainability services across Asia Pacific.

Host: Rebecca Kent, content manager - Australia, JLL

Commercial real estate investors facing untold months of economic uncertainty are hoping to find stability outside central business districts. 

Alongside droves of people looking to decamp from urban centres, investors are looking further afield after widespread lockdowns and work-from-home mandates.

Amid an unknown future for CBD offices, investors in suburban centres are encouraged by modern buildings and quality tenants.

What does the future look like for this segment of the office market?

This episode features guests Grant Nichols, fund manager, Centuria Office REIT; Luke Billiau, head of capital markets - NSW, JLL; Andrew Ballantyne, head of research - Australia, JLL.

Host: Rebecca Kent