Power Reads: 5 Interesting Articles That Will Help You This Week

Each week, I select a few articles that rise above the fray and hopefully help you on your journey in leadership and the CRE world. They pull from one of four "corners": corporate real estate, technology, management science and anything positive. Each day we can become a better version of ourselves.

1. Blackstone In The Market For A 1.5M SF Manhattan Office

Blackstone is planning an office expansion in New York City, which could result in the private equity firm leasing new space or expanding its current location.

“In total, the firm is looking for about 1.5M SF, Bloomberg reports, citing an unnamed source. A new lease could mean the private equity giant leaving the headquarters it has occupied at 345 Park Ave. for three decades. Taking more space in the Rudin family-owned building is also a possibility, Bloomberg report, and Blackstone is also considering redeveloping an existing building.”

Both Blackstone and Rudin declined to comment. Blackstone has about 1.1M SF of offices in Manhattan right now, per Bloomberg, though its office ownership in the city has been in flux of late. The company now owns a 49% stake in One Manhattan West, after closing on a deal this month that valued the 2.1M SF, 3-year-old building at $2.85B.

2. As People Go Back To Offices, Competition Heats Up For Parking Spots

Fuller office parking lots are a good thing. Really. They’re a sign that workers are gathering again, helping coffee shops and lunch spots recover, and adding to a sense that we’re finally—finally—emerging from the pandemic.

“Just try telling that to the office-return pioneers who feel like their VIP status has been revoked.”

“I’m very self-centered, and I want my parking spot that’s really good,” says Hunter Palmer, an attorney who works in a 55-story skyscraper in downtown Dallas. 

3. Leading an Exhausted Workforce

Have your customers been unusually irritable lately? Are people taking forever to respond to e-mails? Are friends and colleagues making surprising life changes? Have you lost focus during important conversations?

“All of these behaviors, different as they may be, are responses to the overwhelming circumstances people are facing as we move into the third year of the pandemic. Nearly everyone has lost someone or something — a job, a relationship, their peace of mind. Any hopes for a clear, definitive end to the pandemic are dashed. We are post-emergency, but still in crisis.”

Leaders aren’t therapists and shouldn’t try to be. But people are coping with collective grief and trauma on a global scale, which means leaders have to learn and exercise new skills. There are steps you can take to foster healthy coping mechanisms and discourage unhealthy ones; help ward off some of the typical mistakes that people make under pressure; and ensure you don’t cause additional anxiety on top of what people are already dealing with.

4. 50% of companies want workers back in office 5 days a week–why experts say this strategy could fail

After two years of working from home – and seeing return-to-office plans derailed by new Covid-19 variants – a growing number of companies are eager to get employees back to the office. 

“About 50% of leaders say their company already requires or is planning to require employees to return to in-person work full-time in the next year, according to new research from Microsoft, which surveyed 31,102 workers around the world between January and February. ”

This number stands in sharp contrast, however, to what employees really want: flexibility. In the same report, 52% of workers said that they are thinking of switching to a full-time remote or hybrid job in 2022. 

5. S.F.’s Transamerica Pyramid is getting a $250 million redesign, the biggest in its 50-year history

The Transamerica Pyramid is getting the biggest makeover in its 50-year history.

“Owner Michael Shvo and his partners have hired world-renowned architect Norman Foster to redesign the iconic tower’s interiors and plan to invest $250 million to renovate the 1972 building and expand its Redwood Park. The owners also plan to roughly double the size of neighboring 545 Sansome St. and add a new facade to create a modern office building at the cost of around $150 million.”

The plans amount to not only the largest investment in downtown San Francisco since the pandemic began, but one of the largest building redesigns in the city’s history — and to one of the city’s most recognizable landmarks.

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