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Page 20 — Office Properties Quarterly — December 2017
D oes this scenario sound
familiar? A business experi-
ences a growth spurt, and
suddenly finds its offices
bursting at the seams. Lead-
ership calls their broker to help
decide whether to expand its current
lease, open a satellite office or search
for new space. As a tenant-focused
commercial real estate brokerage,
we naturally counsel our clients to
consider multiple scenarios, analyze
and engage their workforce, and plan
ahead for big moves, allowing at least
12 to 18 months. Too often growth
can outpace initial planning.
We found ourselves in this exact
predicament earlier this year, when
our Denver team more than tripled
to 21 people within six months. After
16 years in the same space, at 1050
17th St., we put ourselves in the cli-
ent’s seat and relied on our team of
in-house experts in workplace strat-
egy and project management to work
through the process as quickly and
efficiently as possible.
Rick Schuham, our central region
lead, anticipated our growth spurt
and already had assembled a short
list of viable strategies. At the fore-
front was creating an environment
that projected transparency, collabo-
ration and community. Our lease was
coming up for renewal, so renego-
tiating with our landlord to expand
our existing space was certainly an
option. However, given the entire
re-staffing of the office, a change to
solidify the new culture was required.
Taking into account input from our
entire Denver roster, the leadership
team moved for-
ward in securing
new space to facili-
tate our growing
staff and continue
to build a corporate
culture of excep-
tional camaraderie,
client service and
community involve-
ment. Our search
reviewed multiple
locations in our
desired submarket
downtown, but
ended at 1125 17th
St., across from our then-current loca-
tion. The visibility and Front Range
views offered with this floor plan pre-
sented the workplace most reflective
of our corporate culture and goals for
this relocation.
While we assist our clients with
these types of decisions every day,
our team was still reminded of valu-
able lessons and learned renewed
perspective through this process,
including:
1. An office move is a good time for
a culture reboot. We encourage our
clients to review their workspace
needs and goals as leases come
up for renewal or as market condi-
tions change. Sometimes, as in our
case, change is driven by both rapid
expansion and the desire to pro-
mote morale, egalitarianism and
enhanced collaboration among staff.
Office considerations should value
employee productivity, occupancy
costs and market dynamics, as well
as employee preferences and com-
munity presence. For our move, it was
important to be in proximity to the
wide range of technology, advertising,
media and information companies in
Lower Downtown, large white-collar
corporations downtown and many of
the city’s premier cultural institutions
and public-sector attractions. Our
Project Spotlight
Brendan Fisher
Corporate
managing director,
Savills Studley,
Denver
Hines
Savills Studley’s Denver office moved into 1125 17th St. earlier this year.