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Billings Are Down, But Architects Are Planning Ahead Of The Pandemic
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Omgivning founder and principal Karin Liljegren is keeping a positive mindset.
Liljegren founded her company during the last recession to help companies redesign their space. Ten years later, the coronavirus has sparked the start of another downturn, and much commercial real estate space has turned upside down.
She said she is aiming to help again.
"A recession is the perfect time to rethink about what you can do with your building. You may not take a big leap forward but you may need that early analysis," she said.
Last week, the American Institute of Architects released its Architecture Billings Index report, which surveys more than 750 architecture firms nationwide. It awards scores based on business being done, with anything below 50 indicating a decrease. March billings scored a 33.3. New project inquiries and design contracts scores dropped dramatically, posting…
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Travis Kalanick's Ghost Kitchen Concept Hits Some Speed Bumps
By most accounts, ghost kitchens are and should be faring well during the coronavirus pandemic.
With state and local officials enacting stay-at-home orders in order to prevent the coronavirus from spreading, more people are ordering food for takeout or delivery.
But former Uber CEO Travis Kalanick's ghost kitchen concept, CloudKitchens, has hit a few snags.Ghost kitchens, also known as virtual kitchens or virtual food halls, are facilities that house several restaurant operators who want to prepare food for takeout or delivery only.Because the cost of running a traditional brick-and-mortar dine-in restaurant is high,…
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Experts Say Affordable Housing Should Be Seen As A Healthy Solution
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My New Normal: Mary Cook Associates President Mary Cook
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This series aims to capture a moment in time, talking to men and women in commercial real estate about how their lives and businesses are being transformed by the coronavirus pandemic.
When the pandemic runs its course, commercial interior space will need to be reinvented to apply some of the lessons of the crisis. Mary Cook says she wants to be on the cutting edge of that reinvention.
Cook is the founder and president of Chicago-based Mary Cook Associates, a national commercial interior design firm employing two dozen designers. The firm has produced designs for multifamily properties, senior housing, restaurants and clubhouses, offices buildings and single-family houses.
She is no stranger to reinventing space. After realizing that MCA had been hired frequently to "fix" unsuccessful interior spaces done by other design professionals, Cook wrote The Art of Space, a textbook now used in design schools nationwide.
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Institutional Investors Eye CRE Valuations As Market Whipsaws Continue
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As public equities-laden pension funds reel from massive hits leveled by stock market volatility this year, commercial real estate will likely continue growing in importance for institutional investors in the long term, experts say.
In the short term, however, new equity deals from institutional investors have slowed, and many deals underway prior to the coronavirus pandemic have fallen by the wayside.
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Despite Some States Reopening, Office Tenants Return Slowly, Not So Surely
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As Gov. Mike DeWine lifts stay-at-home restrictions for general offices and a number of other business types in Ohio, some corporate office tenants will be reunited with the desks, proper office chairs and full-sized monitors they haven’t seen for weeks.
Employees of one 200-employee law firm in Cleveland will return as soon as Monday — but at one-third capacity. With the staff broken into three groups working from the office in shifts, individuals will work on-site a maximum of two days per week, indefinitely.
KeyBank is not in a hurry to bring its workforce of 11,000 out of remote work mode, and neither are many similar companies.
"While we have started to plan for our teammates who have been working remotely to return to their respective worksites, we are doing so cautiously and thoughtfully," a KeyBank spokesperson told Cleveland.com, in what is becoming a common refrain.
The same pattern is being repeated in major cities around the world. Public officials and the real estate industry are united in their desire to get people back into offices as quickly as possible. But companies and employees are plotting out their next moves with great consideration. When will these cautiously, thoughtfully laid plans go into effect? When will all these Six-Feet Offices be inhabited again?
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Pandemic Not Slowing Proptech M&A Activity As Buyers Seek Distressed Deals
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When John Ensign flew from Cleveland to London in mid-February to meet with executives from two companies his real estate tech firm was looking to acquire, he said the coach section of his plane was only 10% full, and Heathrow Airport was half as crowded as usual.
The negotiations have since been limited to videoconferences, but Ensign’s company, MRI Software, has still managed to close one of the acquisitions and sign an agreement with the other company. Ensign doesn’t plan on any handshakes anytime soon, but that doesn’t mean MRI is slowing its buying spree.
“We talked about, ‘Hey, where are we? Do we want to be moving forward with deals or not?’” Ensign said. “Where we landed is that acquisitions are going to happen through this, but I think it’s going to be more selective.”
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