The amenities race in the office sector is real. Companies are looking for office buildings bursting with amenities, all to recruit and retain top employees. And this has become even more important during the COVID-19 pandemic: Companies need to offer a more rewarding work environment if they want to pry their workers out of their home offices.
The recent Regenerative Workplace Report published by JLL makes this clear. And one of the amenities that employees want? Wellness features such as outdoor space. In fact, the JLL report says that 60% to 70% of employees who have access to wellness amenities use them on a weekly basis.
That’s part of what makes Forsyth Pointe, a new office building now under construction in the St. Louis suburb of Clayton, Missouri, such an important project. This office building will offer tenants a full acre of outdoor green space on its sixth floor, with seating options and fire pits dotting it.
It’s the kind of office space that companies are seeking today as they finalize their back-to-the-office plans.
“This project’s amenities are first-class,” said David Steinbach, senior managing director and office specialist in the St. Louis office of JLL. “It overlooks a park with what we call ‘forever views.’ Nothing will be built that will obstruct those views. And then there’s the terrace garden, which is the building’s best feature. Our research shows that 41% of employees want outdoor space. They also want relaxation spaces and healthy food choices. Forsyth Pointe will provide those amenities.”
That green space — along with an on-site fitness center and juice bar and 13,000 square feet of street-level retail and restaurant space — was always part of the plan for developer U.S. Capital Development. It’s a way to set Forsyth Pointe apart from competing office buildings. It’s also a way to position the development to best take advantage of the flight to quality now taking place in the office market.
Joshua Allen, research manager with JLL, said that the company’s recent Regenerative Workplace Report showed that 73% of employees want a workplace that promotes a healthy lifestyle. At the same time, only 25% have access to landscaped outdoor space at their offices, one of the most important features when it comes to promoting a healthy lifestyle.
“There is a large gap between what workers have access to and what they want access to,” Allen said.
Forsyth Pointe, though, is an exception.
When complete, Forsyth Pointe will offer 550,000 square feet of office and retail space at the corner of Forsyth and North Brentwood boulevards. The project will include two office towers, a 1,200-car parking garage and 7,500-square-foot fitness facility. Tenants so far include Elm Tree Funds, Barry Wehmiller and Commerce Bank.
The project is being designed to meet LEED Silver certification requirements, and will feature energy efficient features such as a green roof and electric vehicle charging stations. The project is scheduled to be completed in the second quarter of this year.
Companies today are seeking a higher class of office space, with many moving to locations that they might not have been able to afford before the pandemic hit. Companies aren’t doing this just because they like outdoor space and high-end fitness centers. They’re doing it because it’s one way to attract top talent and convince their own employees to travel to the office at least on a part-time basis.
Not all companies have determined their back-to-work plans, with many considering hybrid work schedules in which their employees work part of the time from the office and other days from their homes. Providing spaces that offer restaurants with healthy food choices, outdoor landscaping, fitness centers and gathering spaces are one way for employers to make their office spaces more inviting to workers who’ve spent more than two years in their home offices.
The amenities at Forsyth Pointe can be a valuable tool to companies that want to attract, and keep, the best workers in the St. Louis-area market, Steinbach said.
“Employers are finding that they need this kind of space or they will struggle to recruit and retain top talent,” Steinbach said. “As new buildings come online, you will see more of these features included. People are looking for environments that are as comfortable as their homes. Companies are trying to recreate that feeling as a way to bring workers back to their buildings.”
Like most markets across the United States, the St. Louis office market is in flux today. Some companies are bringing workers back to the office. Others have not. Some might not ever need as much space as they occupied before the pandemic hit.
Certain submarkets, though, are performing better than others. Allen said that Clayton is one of those. This has long been a strong office submarket. And though it, too, was hit by the pandemic, it is recovering at a quicker pace than many other submarkets in the St. Louis area.
Allen said that one of the metrics JLL tracks is sublease space. He said that the amount of sublease space is falling in Clayton, getting closer to the pre-pandemic baseline here.
“A lot of large users have re-entered their office space in March and April,” Allen said. “As we progress through the summer, I think we’ll see occupancy rates slowly returning to normal levels.”
