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Page 18 — Retail Properties Quarterly — August 2017
Banking Highlight
BIG OPPORTUNITIES ARE AVAILABLE
IN DOWNTOWN SUPERIOR.
Just outside Boulder and a short commute from Denver,
a vibrant, new Downtown Superior is taking shape. This
urban hub offers land for office and mixed-use residential/
retail, plus new office and retail space built to suit. The
area offers competitive economics, easy access to Denver
International Airport, an educated employment pool and
a sought-after location. It will be an energetic, eclectic
mix of retail, shopping, dining, entertainment and living—
walkable, sustainable and surrounded by acres of gorgeous
Colorado open space.
Fully entitled for up to 817,600 square feet of office,
retail and restaurant space; 1,400 residential units;
and 500 hotel rooms.
Visit
FRESH OPPORTUNITIES FOR BUSINESS,
RESTAURANTS, RETAIL AND MORE.
That’s a Superior idea.
I n the 10 years since the first
smartphone was released,
essentially enabling everyone
to be connected to the inter-
net all the time, the way we
live, work, shop and manage our
money has shifted drastically. As
technology drives more of what
we do on a daily basis, how we
approach the design of commercial
real estate spaces for traditional
institutions like bank branches has
reached a critical crossroads.
According to a 2016 Accenture
survey on digital banking, 60 per-
cent of consumers use online
banking at least weekly. Some may
interpret this as a declining need
for physical bank locations as a
whole, but it’s important to note
that among those who said they
use online banking at least weekly,
87 percent said they still crave a
place to go with human interaction
to complement their online experi-
ence. This trend is not exclusive to
banking, either – even as consumers
increasingly shop online for every-
thing from food to apparel, they still
value an in-store experience where
they can browse products and have
their questions answered in real
time.
It’s clear that what this new
technology-savvy generation craves
is a retail and service experience
that lives at the intersection of the
digital and physical worlds and is
intentionally designed for how peo-
ple live, shop and bank today.
So what does this mean for the
physical banks of our parents’ gen-
eration as they now look to reinvent
themselves for a new generation
of technology-
obsessed custom-
ers? Simply put,
they need to hit
refresh, both on
design and con-
cept. According to
Viacom’s Millen-
nial Disruption
Index, 71 percent
of millennials said
they would rather
go to the dentist
than go to their
bank. Imagine if
banks were places
that customers
wanted to go,
rather than a place
they had to go? Imagine a beautiful,
state-of-the art café and commu-
nity space where instead of talking
to a banker behind a desk, you’re
sitting on a sofa with an iPad and a
cup of coffee, while an ambassador
coaches you through setting up an
account, paying your bills online,
applying for a credit card and more.
My team was tasked with creating
a physical concept that brought to
life Capital One’s goal of taking the
stress out of people’s relationships
with money and helping them solve
their money problems and meet
their financial goals. We imagined a
place with meeting rooms that any-
one can use, comfortable nooks and
lounge seating where people can
relax, and a welcoming community
space with a strong education com-
ponent, where people can meet, get
work done, learn about new prod-
ucts, and enjoy a great cup of coffee
and a local pastry.
We partnered with architecture
firm Rockwell Group to bring to life
a relaxing and inviting space with
lots of open areas that can double as
workshop and event space, creative
nooks and casual seating areas for
visitors to have money conversa-
tions in a more relaxed setting than
a traditional bank office, and digital
screens that allow visitors to browse
interactive content focused on finan-
cial education. In each café, we also
incorporate local design elements,
such as murals and photography
from local artists. In our Denver and
Boulder café locations, for example,
we worked with Kelsey Montague.
Today, when a customer enters one
of our Capital One Cafés, they are
greeted by one of our café ambas-
sadors, sporting apparel curated by
former Project Runway contestant
Shirin Askari and an Apple iWatch
that allows them to order coffee for
guests without having to pause the
conversation. Café ambassadors are
there to answer questions – not sell
– and can talk to customers about
Matt Rowan
Physical design
manager, market
destination team,
consumer bank
marketing,
Capital One,
Washington, D.C.
Capital One
Capital One Cafés are designed to take the stress out of people’s relationships with
money and feature meeting rooms anyone can use, comfortable nooks and lounge seat-
ing where people can relax, and a welcoming community space with a strong educa-
tion component, where people can meet, get work done, learn about new products, and
enjoy a cup of coffee and a local pastry.