Commercial Investment Real Estate Fall 2021 | Page 44

CRE INNOVATIONS
By Nicholas Leider

A TOUCH OF TECH

Proptech may help increase safety and sanitation — and that potential was realized in one Chicago-based retail-office project .
Fulton East in Chicago includes 90,000 sf of office and retail space that leverages various technologies to handle public safety and sanitation related to COVID-19 .

To say that things changed when COVID-19 shut down the global economy — and , not to mention , daily life for a few billion people — is an understatement . But when it comes to design in commercial real estate development , the pandemic merely accelerated adoption of some trends . Air quality , sanitation , and ergonomics as a whole were certainly considerations before anyone knew what social distancing was . But in 2021 , these concepts are all the more essential to design and development .

Work on the Fulton East project in Chicago ’ s bustling West Loop neighborhood was underway before the pandemic . The 90,000-sf retail and office building emphasized design elements like natural light , open communal spaces , and health and wellness . But what was desirable in a pre-COVID environment quickly became necessary in 2020 .
“ When the pandemic hit , we needed a hard pivot ,” says Bob Wislow , chairman and CEO of Parkside Realty , a boutique real estate venture in Chicago responsible for the Fulton East project . “ We were fortunate . We [ were able ] to be really flexible and say , ‘ Hey , we need to figure out what we should be doing to address [ COVID-19 ].’ Then we just went into research mode to determine what we could do .”
As it turned out , there was plenty to do . Proptech has been focusing on these concerns for years , so adoption motivated by a global pandemic meant options were available . Wislow and his team aimed to retrofit Fulton East in the middle of development . From high-tech to low , here are four of many
COVID-19-specific improvements included in the building that began leasing space in the second half of 2020 .
Elevators . A natural bottleneck for foot traffic coming in and out of every multistory building , elevators also present a sanitation challenge with those pesky buttons . But Fulton East was able to remove that common touch point by working with two elevator companies to design a fully hands-free system .
“ In our research , we learned elevator buttons are one of the most contagious points in a building ,” Wislow says . “ Now , if you ’ re in the hallway wanting to call an elevator , there are foot pedals down at the baseboard below where the buttons would normally be — one for up and one for down . When you get in the elevator , all of the floors are indicated by touch pedals at the base of the floor .”
Photo by Sam Fentress for Clayco
42 COMMERCIAL INVESTMENT REAL ESTATE MAGAZINE FALL 2021