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— Office Properties Quarterly — January 2015
Amenitiesversion of these features. A build-
ing must either go all out, or it’s
not worth doing, said Johnson. For
example, the workout areas must be
really tremendous, with showers and
locker rooms. The bike storage must
be indoors and fully secure.
Some buildings are now touting
proximity to B-cycle or light-rail
stations and other forms of public
transportation as an amenity in and
of itself.
“You must be providing an Ecopass
and a locked, secure area for bikes,”
said Phillip Infelise, Cresa Denver
national director of project and facil-
ity management. “If you don’t have
that, you’re really not recruiting.”
Another feature that is gaining
popularity quickly is outdoor space.
Since the 1980s, architects in Colo-
rado have tried to incorporate bal-
conies and other outdoor spaces
into building designs, said Bridges.
However, these balconies were often
built off corner offices, which limited,
and often times restricted, who used
them.
“Now a lot of clients are looking
at rooftops as possible ways to offer
outdoor space,” Bridges said.
Several new buildings are incor-
porating patios into their design and
there are about five or six smaller
LoDo buildings that feature useable
rooftops, said Johnson.
Newmark Grubb Knight Frank is
working with Canadian developer
First Gulf, out of Toronto, on the 1401
Lawrence St. project. “Our experience
in our recent urban developments is
that people are really attracted to this
concept of indoor-outdoor space as
an amenity,” said John MacNeil, First
Gulf president. “Our goal was to bring
that feature to our Denver project at
1401 Lawrence Street.”
The building at 1401 Lawrence St.
will have two indoor-outdoor areas.
One is already leased and will be on
the 22nd floor. A second patio will be
on the ninth floor, with the plans still
evolving. The ninth-floor patio will
offer unobstructed views of most of
the city skyline, said Jeff Castleton,
the project’s listing agent with NGKF.
A fitness facility with showers and
lockers also will be on the ninth floor.
Patios present a prime opportunity
for hosting and socializing, both of
which help create the community
feel that many companies want. The
Starbucks concept of a “third place”
is also presenting itself in a variety
of ways to create this social envi-
ronment. These communal places
recognize the power of a change of
scenery, said Johnson.
“It’s not the office and not the
home, but a third space; even though
it’s within the building, it’s not in the
office proper,” said Bridges.
Updated lobbies are also begin-
ning to reflect a more relaxed, social
vibe. Everyone in the building can
use these conversational areas. Some
buildings offer Wi-Fi to guests, while
others feature fully wired worksta-
tions.
“One other thing we’re seeing in
the nondowntown markets is a lot of
office properties with really large lob-
bies – often with courtyards, water
features, planting beds, etc.,” said
Bridges. “We’re seeing those things
come out, and the space changing
into areas for tenants by providing
amenities like breakout spaces and
loungy spaces where employees can
go to get out of the specific office, but
still be in the general building.”
The increase of mixed-use tenants
on the first floor of office buildings
is often included for tenant conve-
nience. Coffee shops and cafes are a
definite must have; and other mixed-
use anchor businesses, such as res-
taurants, dry cleaners and banks, are
gaining popularity.
“We had a huge law firm client, and
they had a Starbucks in their lobby,”
Johnson said. “They said, ‘Wherever
we move, that building better have
one in the lobby.’ So obviously a coffee
shop is important. People love to get
that jolt, and love having a convenient
place to meet.”
Rendering by Design Workshop
Bike stations and secure storage are becoming must haves in the central business district
Rendering by Kieding
Workstations and conversational areas are increasingly important in lobby areas
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