Will the Office Be Relevant in 2020?

SEATTLE-Roughly 1,000 attendees gathered here this morning for the keynote session of the BOMA Every Building Conference, and an in-depth look at the sea change taking place in the US office. President and COO Henry Chamberlain laid the groundwork for the panel discussion by pointing out that while the national vacancy rate is still “stubbornly high,” it is down a bit, and office leasing activity is up. He noted that there was an early-part-of-the-year dip in corporate productivity, and he urged companies to start hiring again as the sure for that disease.

His remarks lead to the panel discussion, which I moderated, focusing on the shifts taking place in the office environment in the face of economic, technological and social forces. A younger generation is shaping the look and location of commercial space, and  Andy Friedman of Shorenstein explained that while once focused on CBDs, his firm is looking out more to “up-and-coming markets that are trendier and a likelier draw for younger workers.