The Unstoppable Office Trend
The creative office trend not only lives on, it's gaining momentum and branching out. That's why we're excited to host Bisnow's second Creative Office Summit this Thursday at JW Marriott LA Live, which will bring everyone up to speed on the latest (sign up here). We caught up with a few of our panelists for a sneak peek.
Kilroy Realty development director Jamas Gwilliam (with wife Erin and kids Elin, Auden, and Marek) sees abundant activity from companies looking to either locate or expand in Hollywood. Kilroy is on track to deliver 360k SF of new office space at Columbia Square, the first new spec office in Hollywood in 30 years, by year-end 2015, in addition to the renovation of historic buildings that formerly housed CBS's West Coast operations. He says it's been difficult to find a tenant willing to curate the space; some companies saw walls that couldn't be removed or other things that couldn't be changed. The efforts recently paid off with a major lease that will be a “phenomenal use for Hollywood as well as the project, celebrating the historic character of those buildings.” Outside of work, Jamas is a surfer and volunteer with church and Boy Scouts.
Howard Building Corp CEO Paul McGunnigle (snapped after a successful elk hunt in Utah) first built office space that would be considered creative 30 years ago. However, back then it didn't have a name and was driven by economics. Compared to the past, creative tenants aren't taking space as is. While the palette is an exposed, minimalist look, they're moving around many structural elements for aesthetics, like making ductwork more parallel to the walls. "It has a minimalist feel, but the efforts are anything but minimalist." This not only drives up the costs, but also is more challenging from a budgeting standpoint. Right now, Howard is under construction on the Riot Games campus in West LA and Beats by Dr. Dre in Culver City. Paul's an outdoorsman who likes to hunt, fish, and ride horses in his spare time.
CBRE SVP John Zanetos (snapped at our Bisnow event in May) has been an early believer in innovative workspaces—he was part of the CBRE team that went to Amsterdam to study new ways of working. He's busy doing deals in the emerging creative office markets of the Arts District and South Park in Downtown LA, having recently completed transactions for GoJane at Alameda Square (12k SF) and Avery Dennison at 953 E Third (16k SF). He's also working with Shorenstein on transforming the old Ford factory in the Arts District into a creative office campus. Thanks to the influence of Millennials, companies are changing the culture of their workplace and their space needs to reflect this, he notes—traditional sectors such as accounting and financial services are taking on characteristics that you would see in tech or entertainment space. John's looking forward to Oct. 2 when he and wife Rachael, a leasing manager at Brookfield Office Properties, expect their first child. Don't miss our event: Sign up here!
