Office space post-pandemic

On Wednesday, developers, business leaders, elected officials, and design professionals will virtually gather for the Downtown Developers’ Connection, formerly known as the annual Developers’ Luncheon. It’s not too late to register to participate in this interactive webinar on the post-pandemic office, hosted by Downtown Oklahoma City Partnership. Every year, the event introduces topics of interest such as city planning, place making, historic preservation, affordable housing and incentives to encourage economic development.

This year’s guest speakers will be David C. Smith, vice president, global head of occupier research for Cushman & Wakefield in Atlanta, and Christopher Leinberger, co-founding partner and managing director of Places Platform LLC in Washington, D.C.

Their presentation will explore how the pandemic has affected employers’ and employees’ views on work flexibility and the purpose of the office, and if those changing perspectives will have long-lasting effects on how we build, manage and promote our downtown workspaces.

The research featured in this webinar was conducted by Cushman & Wakefield and the Center for Real Estate and Urban Analysis at The George Washington University School of Business. The study provides an insightful perspective on COVID-19’s impact on the commercial real estate industry and the future of the office.

The past year of pandemic-induced work from home has resulted in altered perspectives about what purpose the office serves now, office layout, footprint sizes, single location versus a variety of locations and experiences, and work-from-home flexibility. The speakers will share data on productivity, effective collaboration, use of technology, human connections, how different generations are responding to the challenges of working from home and workers’ expectations about working from home in the future.

The session will be moderated by Wheeler District’s vice president of development, Ashley Terry. The question-and-answer portion of the webinar will follow the presentation and Downtown OKC staff will be able to unmute participants’ to ask the speakers questions directly.

These conversations will help Oklahoma City business leaders, developers and building owners better prepare for the future and learn from what’s happening in other markets. Our ability to identify and quickly adapt to trends and shifts in how office space will be used in the future ensures a healthy commercial real estate industry and our sustained economic trajectory. To register for the event, visit downtownokc.com.