REAL ESTATE NEWS

Amenities are a crucial part of the commercial real estate space. They've played not only a pivotal role in luring employees back into offices, but in attracting multifamily renters as well.

The Amenity Collective is involved with designing, managing, and providing amenity centers to landlords and developers. Also, it helps its clients with consulting and through the planning process. The main goal is to promote health and wellness through its offerings, according to Amenity Collective CEO Brian Sheehan, who will be a speaker at GlobeSt.'s multifamily panel on April 1 in New York City.

REMOTE WORK INFLUENCING CRE OPERATORS

"Our purpose is to inspire and create happier and healthier moments," he told GlobeSt.

"That could be for residential, [or] it could be a corporate setting as well. When we think about multifamily communities, we're talking about integrating amenities that include everything from meditation rooms to air purification systems to recovery areas. [Also,] communal spaces that foster mental, physical, and social well-being.

Although many major companies like Amazon have implemented return-to-office mandates, remote work remains a big part of Americans' lifestyle today. In fact, a recent survey from Gallup finds that 81 percent of employees today with remote capable jobs either work fully from home or via a hybrid. That's making multifamily developers and landlords consider how they design their properties.

"Having amenities that support the remote hybrid lifestyle is in super high demand," Sheehan said.

"We could be talking about the integration of work pods, or a co-working lounge. Those are a theme right now; that's really important, and we're seeing [them] built into the design phase."

DEMAND DOMINATED IN NORTHEAST AND SUNBELT

Amenity Services, which operates 11 amenity brands in the nation and Canada, currently is seeing "strong demand" for its services in the Sunbelt and Northeast regions.

And, fortunately for the company, it hasn't noticed a slowdown in any markets despite volatility around interest rates and inflation, affecting many landlords and developers across CRE.

AMENITY NEEDS HAVE NOT CHANGED AMID CRE UNCERTAINTIES

The uncertainties that lie ahead aren't changing the firm's focus, which is how it thinks about creating and managing different amenities, from fitness to wellness programs. Plus, so far not much has changed from an amenity needs perspective, whether that's for the tenant or landlord.

"Those things are still in demand because people need those services, and desire those services, regardless of interest rates or geopolitical issues, etc," Sheehan explained.

"We see demand is still strong to provide those types of services. A lot of our business is built on a reoccurring revenue model, and it's something that has served us as well."

For the CRE market as a whole, Sheehan admitted it will be tough to predict what the next 6-12 months will look like. According to Sheehan, all the firm can do is evaluate the "ebbs and flows" in each market.

"We try to stay balanced and stay diversified," he emphasized.

Source: GlobeSt/ALM