The best photo of a Chickadee I have ever taken!

In 2010 I wrote a post entitled “Time Lapse” that extolled the virtues of being able to track and quantify how people use their office space.  Herman Miller has figured out how to do just that.

Last week Herman Miller came to my office to introduce me to a service they have developed that tracks how a company uses its office space. Unlike my ridiculously data heavy and personally intrusive idea of tracking every person as they move through the premises, Herman Miller measures a single data source – the chairs.

Current practice includes interviews, observation, general formulas applied to how people work but it lacks cold, hard data. Even using the data and applying it against the reservation calendar for meeting rooms revealed a 50% discrepancy in reserved versus occupied space.

There is little question that quantifying how office space is used will become an important and commonly used tool in the near future.

Jack's Mars Rover Curiosity

Last week brokers from around Waterloo Region were invited to visit the HIVE at the Communitech HUB in Kitchener.  There is no question in my mind that we witnessed one of the biggest technological advances in real estate since the advent of the desktop computer.

HIVE stands for Hub Interactive Visual Environment and it is reminiscent of the Holodeck from Star Trek.  This room creates a virtual 3D environment which allows a participant to walk through Google Earth, a video game or a 3D rendering created on Auto CAD.  I have seen hundreds of 3D renderings and fly- through videos and nothing comes close to the environment created by the HIVE.

It is very difficult to describe the experience but if you believe perspective generates ideas, creativity and solutions, then this type of perspective cannot be duplicated by any technology I have ever experienced.   Immersion into this 3D environment allows people from all levels of experience to view a future project, critique it and then improve the design. In our market we are beginning to see Requests for Proposals on projects that require the designed project to be compatible with this technology so that Tenants can “view” the end product before it is anything but a drawing.

While participating in the presentation, a number of brokers pointed out the marketing potential of this technology.  I believe, however, the real value will be in the design and planning phase of projects.  The by-product will be a wonderful marketing tool after the design is finished.

There are only two other facilities like this in North America.  One is at Carnegie Mellon University and the other is at the Pentagon.  I’m not sure what CMU and the Pentagon are doing with theirs, but the one in Kitchener is open for business.  Commercial users can buy a membership and pay an hourly rate to use the facility.

Reblogged from Colliers Ink:

This past Wednesday, we held our annual Market Outlook Breakfast at the newly renovated Cambridge Mill restaurant and event space.  Quite possibly our best year yet, the event was a great success with many in attendance from a wide variety of backgrounds ranging from; developers, investors, tenants, lawyers, appraisers and City/Regional staff.

The Mill was the perfect venue for the event. 

Read more… 269 more words

You only need to donate five dollars to get involved.  The money goes directly to the charity of your choice. You will also discover the degrees of separation between you, the weather man, your grade nine gym teacher and the lead singer of your favourite band. How fun is that?

I look forward to seeing you on Everyone Gives.

What makes the iPad such a powerful tool for my business breaks down into the hardware and software attributes. The hardware attributes are as follows:

• It is always on. With no hard drive and no off switch I never have to wait while it boots up or spins up the hard drive to do something. If I five minutes in a board room before a meeting or a break between sessions I can do something quickly.
• It is always connected. I’m not a slave to the nearest Wi-Fi connection or bringing my phone with me as my access to the internet. This is akin to always being on because it works everywhere. I didn’t realize how important this feature is until I used it for a couple of weeks. For those of you considering forgoing the 3G because you are going to tether to your mobile phone I hope you reconsider. At the very least you have an effective back up when your phone is off-line.
• The last hardware attribute is not part of the iPad but a separate purchase. I use a stylus with my iPad and for the next two apps it is invaluable.

The software attributes boil down to a few apps. I like and use a number of apps but three have made the iPad indispensable.

The first app is GoodReader. This app performs two very important functions. Firstly, it gives me a place to store all types of files, organize them in folders and email the files directly from the app. Secondly, and more importantly, it allow me to annotate .pdf files. Whether it is floor plans, photos, offers, marketing material or draft proposals I can make comments and changes right on the document and send it back out immediately right from the application. All this done with a stylus in my hand so it is fast.

Notes Plus was the game changer for me. Before I had an iPad I carried a notebook everywhere. I only had the iPad one day and I knew I didn’t want to carry both a notebook and the iPad. I use Notes Plus to take all my notes and in many ways it is better than my old notebook. I create different notebooks within the app for different projects, every thing is time and date stamped and it backs up to my computer every night.

The last app is my secret weapon. Prezi is a presentation app but Andrea Dubeckyj of our solutions team turned it into a very dynamic document handling and reference application. It is like a boardroom table with all your pictures, maps, marketing documents and plans neatly laid out and all you need to do to look at them is tap on it and it zooms into focus. And the best part is that boardroom table is with me all the time.

Fewer options

One of the most significant developments   in the Kitchener market involves vacancy rates. Although it may only appear as a couple of percentage points in the annual reports from five years ago, the makeup of that vacancy has evolved dramatically.  A tenant out looking at lease options in 2007 had a number of good alternatives in the downtown towers:  The Tannery was taking shape and pre-leasing had begun, Deeridge had a new tower completed and Sportsworld was under construction.

Fast forward to 2011 and we see a very different landscape. The downtown towers have options but fewer than in 2007, the fully serviced (air-conditioned, elevator) buildings of The Tannery have leased, Deeridge has one sublet and Sportsworld is fully leased.  The only new possibility is The Breithaupt Block which will offer both a concrete construction “A” class building and “Brick and Beam” space.

A move to quality

I don’t have a single example over the past three years of a tenant that moved into a lesser quality building to benefit from lower rates.  Most of the significant transactions saw companies investing in better buildings.  This means the type of options available today is very different from five years ago.  Five years ago there was much more high quality space available than today.   Fewer choices means more competition for good real estate.

Ownership change

In 2007, most of the downtown Kitchener office towers were locally owned.  That is no longer the case.  Most of the office towers are now owned by Dundee Properties which is a very good, sophisticated national landlord.  If you are a downtown Kitchener company which is not already in a Dundee building, you will no doubt be looking at one of their buildings as an option.

Large blocks of space

I know you are likely tired of hearing this from me, but it continues to be a challenge for major companies in Kitchener to find a selection large blocks of available office space.  There are a number of solutions to this dilemma, but the single most important step a company can take to help itself is to start the process early.  Start the process two years from your expiry date to take advantage of all your options.

We take great pride in our market information and no question it provides value to our clients but the biggest advantage it provides is how it allows us to forecast trends.  A good example is the vacancy projections we made for the fourth quarter.  As of today, it looks to be coming to fruition.