Bookmarks: 5 Interesting Articles That May Help You This Week

Each week, I select a few articles that rise above the fray and hopefully help you on your journey in the CRE world. They pull from one of four "corners:" corporate real estate, technology, management science and anything positive. I welcome your comments on these articles.

1. How to Spend Way Less Time on Email Every Day

The average professional spends 28% of the work day reading and answering email, according to a McKinsey analysis. For the average full-time worker in America, that amounts to a staggering 2.6 hours spent and 120 messages received per day.

Most professionals have resorted to one of two extreme coping mechanisms as a last-ditch attempt to survive the unending onslaught: at one end, there are the inbox-zero devotees who compulsively keep their inboxes clear, and, at the other, there are those who have essentially given up. Emails enter their inbox and remain.

In the face of these two extremes, some have advocated for a more moderate approach: simply, check email less often.

2. Outdoor Retailer REI Building the Most Outdoorsy HQ Ever

In a Seattle suburb, retailer Recreational Equipment Inc. is building a new headquarters that is blurring the boundaries between office and nature.

Once it opens in the summer, workers will be able to walk from one room to the next through outdoor staircases and bridges. They can hold group meetings on rooftop terraces, or around a fire pit in a courtyard full of native plants. Skylights and oversize sliding doors will bring in sunshine and air.

“You can’t really be in the building anywhere without having a visual connection to the outdoors,” said Mindy Levine-Archer, a partner at architecture firm NBBJ, which designed the project.

REI is one of a growing number of companies building unique headquarters meant to attract employees and market their brand. In 2017, Apple opened a massive, donut-shaped office in Cupertino, Calif., whose futuristic design earned it the nickname spaceship. Consumer-goods company Unilever PLC renovated its U.S. headquarters in Englewood Cliffs, N.J., to re-create the feeling of a New York City loft and appeal to younger workers.

3. Chasing The Unicorn: Why Industrial Developers Seek Out Elusive Urban Infill Sites

Innovo Property Group/Square Mile Capital Management

The vacant lots that dot the dense cores of American cities might seem unloved, but they have a set of secret admirers.

In their race to build ever closer to urban consumers, industrial developers want to snap up these properties and turn them into distribution and logistics hubs so they can provide cheap and speedy delivery to the urban masses. However, finding a viable infill site can be a struggle. Even if an industrial developer identifies a property, it can still face stiff competition from developers from other asset classes, as well as myriad financial and logistical hurdles.

But with industrial land scarcer than it has ever been, the opportunity to build on these underdeveloped lots is attractive enough to inspire developers to face down immense challenges.

4. Why Amazon can’t keep up with AutoZone

It is commonly thought to be a terrible time for many brick-and-mortar retailers, but one segment seems to be bucking the trend – auto parts.

One business, in particular, seems to be doing especially well: AutoZone. Its stock skyrocketed to nearly $1200 a share at the end of 2019.

Investors see AutoZone as a leader in a segment of retail relatively well protected from the e-commerce incursions that have brought down so many other once seemingly invincible stores.

5. Tishman Speyer Expands Zo Amenity Package To Construction Workers

Commercial property giant Tishman Speyer has started offering its suite of health, wellness and safety services, which it calls Zo, to construction workers at the company's new developments.

Previously, Zo was available to Tishman Speyer office tenant workers.

The move comes as developers struggle to find and retain skilled construction workers for their projects. About 61% of construction companies say they are experiencing a high level of difficulty in finding skilled workers, according to the USG Corp.-U.S. Chamber of Commerce Commercial Construction Index for Q3 2019, which surveyed more than 200 contractors.

"The severity of the skilled worker shortage shows no signs of abating," the report said. Tishman Speyer will first offer Zo to construction workers at its 2.8M SF 66 Hudson Blvd. development in Manhattan, called The Spiral, in partnership with Turner Construction. The company estimates that there will be as many as 10,000 trade workers on-site over the life of the project, which will be completed in 2022. The company asserts that it is the first commercial property developer to offer office-tenant amenities to construction workers.

Your success blesses others. I wish you a great a hugely impactful week!

Ken Ashley