There has been a fundamental evolution in the real estate economy as space has moved from a commodity, to a valued service, and now to a must-have experience. This is being driven by a confluence of factors, most notably the shift in the way work and life now commingle. As a result, real estate not only needs to be more flexible to meet the needs of end-users, but it also must connect with them through experience. In response, HqO has created a new market category, the Real Estate Experience (REX), putting the customer and their experiences of space at the center of this significant market transformation.
Why is REX important?
Landlords are under intense pressure. Rent growth is slow, and competition for tenants is at an all-time high. According to the National Association of Realtors, office tenants have lowered the average square footage they use per person, and 102 million additional square feet of space became available this spring compared to the spring prior. Additionally, in October, JLL reported that overall office vacancy climbed to 21%, a multi-decade high.
It’s important to note, however, that high-value office space is actually experiencing a bold renaissance. In fact, while office occupancy overall remains low, there’s growing demand for the highest-value office space, the kind that adds value for high–performing tenants through experience. What this shows us is that landlords need to offer tenants more than just an office, but rather an experience – one that will more than justify the cost of their investments, and support their RTO requirements.
How’s your REX?
In order to create the real estate experience that your tenants not only want, but require, you need data and insights – and that is where HqO’s Intelligence comes in.
Intelligence’s suite of products provides leading sentiment and engagement analytics across the activities and features that matter most to end-users of space.
The first step – distribute the REX Assessment, one of the products from the Intelligence suite, to your tenants. Based on the proven methodology of Leesman, an HqO company and the industry’s most trusted workplace experience data source and benchmarking framework, this 10-minute survey quantifies employees’ workstyles, preferences, and overall satisfaction within a physical space. Questions are broken out into three categories:
- Impact: assess the impact the workplace has on various aspects of the organization.
- Activities: assess how important workplace activities are to the employees and how well supported they feel when doing them.
- Features: assess the importance of service and physical features in the workplace and how satisfied employees are with them.
Once a statistically significant number of assessments have been completed, your property will receive a REX Score. HqO REX experts are available to help you understand your REX Score and create a REX strategy for improving the score and related experiences.
Speak to one of our real estate experience experts to learn more about deploying the assessment at your asset today.
Take your REX to the next level!
To create a truly engaging, industry-leading real estate experience, you need a REX strategy. A REX strategy is a comprehensive plan designed to optimize the end-user experience of real estate spaces, programming, and amenities, helping landlords connect their real estate to people. Making it less about the structures, the walls and windows, the floors and halls – a real estate experience strategy focuses on the people within them and provides an actionable roadmap to improve the experience of your property.
The process of developing this plan may look a little different for every landlord, but there are critical steps you will need to consider as you embark on this journey,
To learn more about how HqO can help you build an industry-leading real estate experience, speak to one of our experts today.
