Adapting to COVID crisis inspires ‘pandemic friendly’ office building
Shift in attitudes in shutdown changed entrepreneur’s plans for Yaletown site
Local entrepreneur Arkun Durmaz was rebuilding an old, low-rise office building in Yaletown when the COVID -19 shutdown prompted him to tweak his plans.
He has added designated staircases, doubled the number of larger, sliding windows for natural air flow, and installed touchless switches throughout the six-storey brick building at 1290 Homer St., once the location of a wholesale tire shop.
“Our plans kind of evolved as we thought, ‘How do we make the building as pandemic-friendly as possible?’” said Durmaz, explaining the need to have more space and fresh air. “We had the option of going with one elevator, but we chose to go with two.”
Durmaz started to consider distinguishing his project after a realtor remarked on seeing interest in downtown, walk-up office buildings.
Instead of being tucked away at the back for use mostly in emergencies, staircases — each designated for up or down traffic — will be decorated with artwork to encourage regular use.
It is potentially a small, middle niche.
Some tech and corporate executives have been forecasting the end of the office era, or at least wondering if they can save costs on prime floor space. In some cases, companies are giving some of it up as more employees work remotely.
But they are also seeing that centrally located office space is still coveted because it fosters productivity and company culture.
The COVID-19 pandemic has brought more attention to weighing these trade-offs, said Chuck We, senior vice-president for Hudson Pacific Properties, which owns downtown Vancouver’s Bentall Centre property.
“Over the last decade, we’ve seen that more and more people are able to work from anywhere, and so the focus for us has been creating work environments and office spaces and amenities that will attract workers to it as, not just tech companies, but all companies, are trying to attract and retain talent and build culture.
“Things like onboarding people and mentoring them and succession planning are hard to do remotely,” We said.
“We kind of realized that there is still a desire for people to get together. They are much more productive, and ideas come out. Yes, you can do it on Zoom, but it’s not the same,” said Durmaz, who is president of Mavi Jeans, sits on the board for the Yaletown BIA, and is developing the older building for his family investment company, Sylvia House Inc.
A recent Insights West poll showed that respondents are still cautious about returning to office environments.
There may be more appeal for office workers in returning if they are “spending time with a small group of people that are working in your local area, versus having to spend time with a whole bunch of people where you have no idea,” Durmaz said.
Commercial broker Colliers International recently looked at what impact these “early days of re-entry” will have on long-term desire to lease office space.
There is a moment right now of asking how office-building managers and owners can respond to pandemic-driven concerns and interests.
But overall, with office vacancy rates still very low in Vancouver compared to the number of tech and other companies expected to pursue long-term plans, only a small number of them will be able to choose the more limited space found in low-rise buildings, said John Duda, president real estate management services at Colliers.
We ... realized that there is still a desire for people to get together. … Yes, you can do it on Zoom, but it’s not the same.