Commercial Investment Real Estate May/June 2017

LEGAL BRIEFS Industrial Rising Millennials drive the enhancement of amenities for industrial workspaces. t’s no secret that the demand for creative work environments is rising. Today’s ofﬁ ce tenants seek creative workspaces that foster collaboration and innovation and are willing to pay a premium. According to a national ofﬁ ce outlook report by JLL, markets with a large supply of highly amenitized creative ofﬁ ce space are demonstrating explosive tenant demand and growth. As ofﬁ ce tenants continue to clamor for creative spaces, many industry experts are looking ahead and asking: What’s next on the creative space horizon? The answer is industrial. With creative ofﬁ ce product proving its worth nationwide, the natural and inevitable next step is a wave of new, state-of-the-art industrial facilities, which incorporate creative ofﬁ ce elements to meet the changing preferences of today’s workforce. I Transformative Working In the past decade, there has been a huge transformation in the way people work. The rise of the millennial workforce is prompt- ing many employers to reconsider their work environments to attract and retain top talent. 18 May | June 2017 The U.S. Bureau of Labor and Statistics reports that millenni- als are the largest age group in the workforce and will comprise approximately 75 percent of the workforce by 2030. The millennial mindset differs from that of their predecessors in several ways. First, today’s millennials place a greater value on a company’s culture and demand creative environments to support them in their personal and professional growth. Second, they are more entrepreneurial in spirit and constantly seek new opportunities for growth. The average employment tenure for a millennial is approximately three years, according to the BLS. These millennial tastes are driving changes across all indus- tries, and industrial commercial real estate is the next frontier. Like ofﬁ ce workers, industrial workers will begin to look for creative, collaborative space to aid in talent recruitment and retention. Speciﬁ cally, industrial employees, especially in the technology, life sciences, and manufacturing industries, recog- nize the importance of providing quality workspaces for today’s employees. As an example of their tremendous growth, life sciences users account for nearly 33 percent of ﬂ ex research and development COMMERCIAL INVESTMENT REAL ESTATE by Adam Robinson

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