Yes, Location Still Matters           
 
An important consideration for any business is where to locate. Sometimes location is a result of where the company is founded. At other times, companies decide to move for a variety of reasons: inability to hire employees, costs of operations, difficulties with the supply chain, taxes and many other difficulties that sets the company on the path to find a new home.

Location is still one of the chief factors for companies when establishing or moving operations. Location might be based on suppliers or essential services, ability to recruit employees, cost of living or quality of life. Access to major markets is another consideration.

The last several months, Tucson has benefitted from the pandemic as a location of choice. Several times Tucson has risen to the top of the list because of its culture, food, livability, access to employees and business environment. This is not luck, but the result of hard work by government, economic development, and private industry and it has been several years in the making.

One of the largest pipelines for employees in the region is the University of Arizona. The University ranked as one of the Top 100 in the world offers world-class programs and graduates thousands of students every year with a bachelors, masters, or professional degree.

Tucson offers multiple ideal locations, but one of the fastest growing is the downtown area and adjacent 4th Avenue Business District. The focused attention on economic development in this area has created significant investment and redevelopment of properties in the area. Student housing projects were the first to emerge with new retail and housing following. The Trinity anchors the north end of this business district which also offers numerous restaurants within walking distance.

The Trinity is an infill project located on the grounds of the historic Trinity Church. This modern office building blends the history of the church and surrounding neighborhoods with modern sustainable features. With up to 18,000 SF available, this location is ready for your office design. It is located along the Modern Streetcar line making it a quick trip to the University or downtown. A 5-minute drive to I-10 gives easy access two of the fastest growing and affordable communities in the region – Vail and Marana.

It your thinking its time to relocate your business, make sure to add Tucson, AZ to your list.

More information about Tucson and the programs available for business locating to the region:

Arizona Commerce Authority
Sun Corridor, Inc.
City of Tucson
Pima County
Visit Tucson
PICOR Commercial Real Estate Services

Much has been written about the return to the office after the “Great Pandemic of 2020.” In March 2020 when millions of workers were sent home, speculation began about the “new workplace.”  Many said working from home was the wave of the future and would spell the death of the office. Initial surveys showed that as many as 75% of workers wanted to work from home.  With the elimination of drive-time, and being home with family, who wouldn’t?  Even productivity seemed higher. Then, over time, started the little murmurs, that perhaps the office was not completely extinct. There was perhaps, still a need for the office and that workers wanted to return to the workplace. Recent workforce surveys demonstrate that the 75% want to return to the office, many of them younger, newer to the working world.

If we rewind a bit, you might recall the last several years in the wake of the new millennial workforce, employers  made changes in the physical workplace. Most notably was the move to open space enabling collaboration and team building opportunities. The often-heard mantra was if you want to attract millennials, you need to open your space. We saw the equation of ‘250 SF per worker’ ten years ago shrink to 200 SF, or less, currently.  WeWork and office ‘hoteling’ became the rage.  While there was some occasional push-back against the open-office trend, this direction seemed to be pervasive and compelling.
Then came 2020 and COVID-19. Open office environments with employees elbow-to-elbow is not conducive to social distancing. Take also the urban high-rise building. These multi-story buildings became a reality with the advent of the elevator. A machine capable of moving many tightly packed people up several floors in a 7 x 6-foot box. Social distancing measures require a limit on capacity, and let’s face it, who wants to arrive to work 30 minutes earlier so they can ride the elevator up to their floor? Many other virus-related factors contributed to predictions of the death of the office:  Face covering requirements, the ability of employers to safely sanitize space, and the need to control employee census and density. Thus, began predictions of the beginning of the end.
But is the office truly dead?  Our homes used to be our refuge away from the office.  Now for many of us, it is our office… and we want our refuge back!

The truth of the matter is none of us has a magic crystal ball, but there a few realities which will influence the future of office, particularly in suburban cities such as Tucson, Arizona. There are segments of the workforce who miss the social interaction and desire to be back in an environment with their colleagues: The millennial, the single person, and the extrovert. Some office workers need to be in the workplace: The worker who needs a focused environment, the parent who experiences interruptions from their children, and those who need to be interface with particular people or equipment. Then there is the office where work is so secure or highly protected that it can only be done onsite, because of technology and security concerns – such as a defense company.

“We conclude that the structural impacts of work-from-home trends will be offset by factors such as economic growth, population growth, and office-using penetration, which means demand for office will continue to grow over the 10-year forecast horizon.” (Cushman & Wakefield Global Office Impact Study & Recovery Timing, September 2020) This quote sums up the need for a workplace… a community… a relationship… a mentorship… a culture.  These things create strong organizations and long-term success.

Ultimately, what happens when we can resume life without social distancing and masks remains to be seen. What was once the trend with open space will change. Where once everyone worked in the office (and not from home) will change with a hybrid most likely. And the retrofitting performed now to make those who still must go into the office safe will change as employees and companies look and maybe even demand a different physical environment. The use of “open space” will look and feel different. We’re already seeing plexiglass barriers, thermal scanners and one-way hallways, and we’ll continue to see more innovation and implementation of touchless technology in the workplace such as toilets, water faucets and even doors.  Higher ceilings and better ventilation will all be part of the new post-COVID workspace.

Some office properties will be further ahead in implementing these features than others. One such property is The Trinity located at 434 E  University Boulevard. This recently completed shell space is a model of a COVID-ready workplace with many of the above features already incorporated into its core. The floorplan incorporates the best of both open and private office space as well as movement of people through the space. So, are you curious as to what that new physical environment will look like? Take a peek here.
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Another is 5151 E. Broadway, where they’ve implemented the permanent use of MERV 13 level filters, which offer medical-lab-level filtration in the HVAC system, as well as the increased fresh air intake.  Touchless foot-operated door pedals have been installed on restroom doors.  A new Destination Dispatch elevator system provides for shortened travel times along with limited occupancy.  

As stated above, the office is not dead; actually far from it.  Most people really don’t want their home to be their place of work.  Businesses thrive in a culture that can only be created by personal interaction and place.  People need relationships and comradery.  Employees need the ability to work with and learn from their peers.  In some cases, the office of the future won’t be any different from what it’s always been… just cleaner and healthier.  It very well may take on a new configuration and offer new and different features.  We think that Business will always need the office workplace. Our team is available anytime to help you address solutions together as we embrace the future.
 
Rick Kleiner,  Tom Neiman, Ryan McGregor and Molly Gilbert

August 10, 2020
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(Tucson, Arizona) The Trinity, a mixed-use office, residential and retail development on the site of the historic Trinity Presbyterian Church in Tucson Arizona, is taking a proactive approach amidst the pandemic to realign its new commercial office building as the location of choice for a Covid-Free workplace in Tucson.
 
The Trinity is a recently completed 25,035 square foot modern Class "A” office building, located at 434 E. University Boulevard. The three-story building marries sustainable, modern, design with the features that will enable employees to stay healthy and productive. The Trinity is built to LEED standards with abundant natural light, north and south floor-to-ceiling windows, electric car charging and the ability to walk to housing and restaurants. The main stairway incorporates a large skylight to brighten what is often a stark space in a building.  In addition, there are hands- free features such as lighting, faucets, and hand dryers, plus HVAC filtering systems and high ceilings for increased air flow.  Located between downtown Tucson and the University of Arizona, on the modern streetcar line, this building is close to everything, and has incredible unobstructed views of both downtown and the University as well as the surrounding mountain ranges.
Rob Paulus , The Trinity’s architect and co-founder of R+R Develop, comments about the adaptability of the building’s design, “We designed The Trinity to be groundbreaking from both a design standpoint as well as an adaptability standpoint.  The sustainable features keep our planet healthy and the business that moves into The Trinity has the opportunity to create space that will keep employees both healthy and productive during this Covid-centric time and beyond.  The modern design and proximity to downtown and the University make this the perfect way to attract the Millennial and Gen Y employees growing businesses desire.”
The Trinity has 18,000 SF of ‘shell’ space available for occupancy – two floors of 9,000 SF each. Instead of retrofitting sub-par existing space, a business moving to The Trinity can embed mitigation measures into the design of its layout from the start. With this in mind, the Trinity team recognized the opportunity amidst the pandemic to create conceptual floor plans for a Covid-free office environment. One-way corridors and sanitizing stations are part of the design as well as a temperature check station and hands-free amenities. Since a tenant is incorporating mitigation strategies into the design from the start, these ideas become part of the environment and not an awkward add-on later.
“There has been great speculation about employees not returning to the workplace and I think this is a misconception,” comments Rick Kleiner, of Cushman|PICOR Commercial Real Estate. “For many companies, working from home is an untenable business model. In addition, employees want to return to the workplace. They miss interaction with colleagues, find it difficult to work from home or just need to get out of the house. We believe that creatively designed office space such as The Trinity is a necessity as companies locally and regionally consider how best to move their business forward in today’s environment.”

Download the Brochure
Virtual Tour – 1st Floor
Virtual Tour – 2nd & 3rd Floor

 
 
CONTACT INFORMATION regarding THE TRINITY OFFICE BUILDING

Rick Kleiner
Cushman & Wakefield ǀ PICOR
5151 E. Broadway, Suite 115
Tucson, AZ 85711
520-440-2745
rkleiner@picor.com

Molly Mary Gilbert
Cushman & Wakefield ǀ PICOR
5151 E. Broadway, Suite 115
Tucson, AZ 85711
520.275.6467
mgilbert@picor.com