More than 200 guests attended RE Journal’s Suburban Office Panel to dig into trends and issues in the market Wednesday morning at Continental Towers in Rolling Meadows, Illinois.
The keynote speaker, Mike Whisler of CBRE, opened the conference with an analysis on the national trends of suburban and downtown office space. Whisler is a senior vice president with CBRE specializing in office buildings throughout the north and northwest suburban markets. During his presentation Whisler discussed the rising construction activity, strong suburban rent growth and other positives for the suburban market.
The first panel discussed trends in downtown and suburban leasing and how its misleading to think that all companies are flocking to downtown space. Instead, the panel agreed, that tenants in the suburbs are attracting a millennial workforce as well with amenities you can’t get in the city. Only the suburbs have extensive open space, plenty of parking spaces and clear outdoor atriums. Many suburban office buildings also have in-building dining options and exercise facilities so tenants don’t have to go far.
The first panel included Adam Johnson of NAI Hiffman, Roger Heerema of Wright-Heerema Architects, Mark Kolar of JLL, David Trumpy of GlenStar, David Stein of Steinco and was moderated by Dan Ulbricht of Skender Construction.
The second panel examined the new technologies used in office buildings and how it might change the market. The panelists discussed how tech has streamlined the property management role, what affect driverless vehicles might have and how users experience has shifted over the years due to technology.
The panelists included Steve Herron of Zeller Realty Group, Alissa Adler of Podolsky Circle Corfac International, Mike Whisler of CBRE, Eric Hartmann of Tovar Snow Professionals/BOMA Suburban Director, Roger Clark of Bradford Allen, Sam Delisi of Newmark Knight Frank and the moderator was Dan Dueter of CBRE.
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