Elevating Asset Value: Why the Agile Workplace Must Look to Hospitality
By Robert Kroon
In the modern commercial real estate landscape, the office is no longer just a place to work; it is a service that must be sold every single day. As organizations shift toward Agile Workplaces, the most successful developers and facility owners are borrowing a page from the hospitality playbook.
By treating tenants as guests and office space as a premium experience, owners can transform their properties into high-performing, high-value assets.
The Shift from Square Footage to Service
“The workplace is increasingly being designed and managed less as a static backdrop to routine solitary work, and more as a ‘flexible’, ‘hotel-style’ facility that provides a high level of service and experience to its demanding ‘guests’”
Traditionally, office design focused on maximizing density. Today, profitability is driven by utilization and retention. When you design an Agile Workplace with a hospitality mindset, you focus on the "user journey."
Just as a luxury hotel anticipates a guest's needs, an agile office must provide seamless transitions between collaborative zones and quiet heads-down spaces. This flexibility makes the building more attractive to high-growth tenants who require a space that evolves with their headcount and operational needs.
Financial Benefits of the "Hospitality-First" Office
Adopting these practices isn't just a design choice—it’s a strategic financial move:
Reduced Tenant Improvement (TI) Costs: By utilizing technologies such as fault-managed power (FMP) and battery-powered Agile Furniture, owners can create "plug-and-play" environments. This eliminates the need for expensive, permanent trenching or rewiring every time a tenant’s needs change.
Premium Lease Rates: Tenants are willing to pay a premium for spaces that enhance employee well-being and productivity. A hospitality-infused environment acts as a recruitment and retention tool for your tenants, justifying higher PSF rates.
Streamlined Operations: Integrating smart building tech to manage the last mile of connectivity ensures that the "guest" experience is never interrupted by technical friction.
Solving the "Last Mile" of the Workplace
The hospitality industry excels at removing friction. In an Agile Workplace, the friction often occurs in the last mile—the final connection between the building’s infrastructure and the user’s device.
By leveraging mobile power solutions and flexible infrastructure, August Berre ensures that the transition from a lounge setting to a conference setup is instantaneous. When the physical environment adapts to the user (rather than forcing the user to adapt to the walls), the perceived value of the asset skyrockets.
The Bottom Line: The future of real estate is service-oriented. By prioritizing the tenant experience through agile design and flexible power delivery, you aren't just building an office—you're creating a destination that protects your long-term ROI.
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About the author
Bob Kroon is a recognized thought leader and innovator with over four decades of experience in the electro-mechanical and furniture industries. As the CEO and founder of August Berres, he envisions overcoming the limitations of traditional building power by enabling the Agile Workplace through a smart power ecosystem.
Bob passionately advocates for technologies such as building microgrids, fault-managed power (FMP), and battery-powered Agile Furniture, which are transforming the design and utilization of commercial spaces. Under his leadership, a suite of innovative solutions has been brought to market, including Respond!, Juce, CampFire, and Wallies. These products empower building owners, architects, and facility managers to retrofit buildings for today’s dynamic work environment.
