R&R Realty Group announced a major renovation of buildings seven and eight at its Regency West Office Park in West Des Moines, Iowa. Spurred by the coronavirus pandemic, the West Des Moines-based commercial real estate company set out to rethink what an office building can be.
“The pandemic has altered the world for everyone, and it’s forced commercial developers like us to become especially creative,” said Mark Ruprpecht, President of R&R Realty Group. “In the past, we were talking about a ‘war for talent’ where building amenities played a major role in employee recruitment. The pandemic interrupted that, but now as our customers are returning to their offices, they’re telling us that amenities are still very important in order to entice the workforce back to the office and to retain the workforce working in the office.”
New amenities at Regency West will include the creation of modern collaborative spaces with germ-resistant materials and space for social distancing. A state-of-the-art fitness center will provide the park’s customers with healthy activities ranging from weight and resistance training to heart-pounding cardio on a variety of treadmills, elliptical machines and Peloton exercise bikes.
In a first at any of R&R’s office parks, the all-new Veranda at Regency West will bring the outdoors in with large, operational windows that open with the press of a button. An automated coffee shop, along with a “grab and go” market will provide food and beverage options for people on the move. In addition, the installation of color-changing LED exterior lighting will bring greater visibility to the buildings from Interstate 235 and Westown Parkway.
Additionally, a multi-purpose room with space for social distancing will be available for customers to host training sessions, meetings and social events, while a smaller executive conference room will seat up to 20 people and feature the latest in A/V technology. For visitors, new monument and wayfinding signage will make the 623,000 square foot office park easier to navigate.
These amenities will be available to all Regency West customers, regardless of which building they occupy.
In total, R&R plans to invest more than $1,000,000 in amenities at Regency West over the next 12 months.
