2021 has started with more uncertainty than many had hoped for despite the development of multiple COVID-19 vaccines. The spread of new, more transmissible variants of the coronavirus has left many who were looking forward to a return to the office now facing further doubts and fresh restrictions aimed at controlling the pandemic while the new vaccines are rolled out. Indeed, it will still be months before we see a return to something even resembling the “old normal.” For a facilities manager in charge of building maintenance and ensuring staff and tenant safety, that means making ongoing adjustments for both sites that must remain open and those that plan to reopen as circumstances improve.

As the situation continues to evolve, commercial property operators need to re-evaluate the way they carry out day-to-day operations to ensure everyone is safe and healthy – and technology can play a crucial role in meeting new challenges. Given the ongoing necessity of social distancing, facilities managers need to continue to provide updates on health and safety procedures and communicate what steps are being taken to protect everyone working or visiting a workspace. These include deep cleaning processes, building security measures and efforts to minimize physical proximity.

It has become clear that, as restrictions change and the COVID situation continues to shift, effective facilities management in the commercial sector will be vitally important. It becomes critical not just in providing safe working environments for those who must venture back to offices and other workspaces, but in instilling confidence that everyone onsite is safe. Indeed, the task of managing facilities maintenance (FM) will become more complex and increasingly important to efforts aimed at a safe return to normality in the long run.

Managing the workplace as restrictions ease

When more people begin returning to offices, facilities managers will shoulder an important responsibility. They need to ensure any and all new requirements are being met during any transition period in the coming months when people may feel safer returning to buildings, but there are still concerns about the spread of the virus. The need to work with occupiers to make certain the workplace offers an environment that meets all safety standards and guidelines – such as one-way systems or desk placements.

Indeed, we will likely see numerous examples of how organizations will need to rethink and repurpose their use of space, both to meet interim requirements and in fact, on a permanent basis in many cases. This could include areas that are isolated or “out of bounds” for specific individuals or groups – or may even stretch to areas for testing facilities. What’s more, many FM departments and workplace managers will be tasked with completely reimagining their organization’s use and utilization of real estate given shifts in working patterns and increased numbers of remote employees.

Technology will play a critical role in handling the changing nature of work. Paper-based, manual methods are not robust or reliable enough to manage this evolving situation. They cannot be relied on to guide well-informed, strategic decision-making which is required.

Digitalizing the facilities management process

The need to plan spaces more effectively means facilities managers have to rely on complete and accurate information – and have the right solutions in place to visualize and manage their space and related workplace data – so they can take all necessary steps. To properly address these challenges, space management solutions that offer visibility of room layouts, seating configurations and calendar bookings in one place will help ensure that locations are utilized in the best and safest way. Through software, actions or assets can be assigned to users, and can all be tracked on the system, while requests, assignments and approvals can be applied and automated. In what has the potential to be a confusing and sensitive time for stakeholders, this clear communication will be vital.

Furthermore, building security and safety will continue to be a significant issue as conditions change in the coming months. There is a growing need for facilities managers to look at how to streamline visitor management and lobby traffic. Knowing the who, when and where of everyone in a commercial property – whether visitors, contractors, tenants, or FM staff themselves – will be more important than ever in ensuring the safe operation of facilities and complying with any government track and trace requirements.

Facilities managers can utilize technology that allows the capture and analysis of real-time data on new working patterns and visitor activity to ensure commercial properties’ smooth running. For instance, visitor management solutions that offer an intuitive interface to quickly check in staff and register visitors will be critical to ensuring the overall safety for everyone, while efficiently managing the process.

Employing technology that ensures effective measures are in place and enables organizations to communicate that to all staff will be important in inspiring confidence and assuring those returning to work that their health and safety are being protected.

Opening clear lines of communication

The COVID-19 pandemic emphasized the importance of communication across estates and property teams today. Corporate occupiers and building staff alike need information on everything from social distancing and cleaning, to procedures for maintenance and contractors, to visitor management and where to enter/exit. Tenants, employees and customers, as well as FM teams and contractors, need to be made aware of all new rules, restrictions and actions taken in every physical working space, and digital solutions are a quick way to communicate up-to-date information to ensure safety.

Utilizing online portals, for instance, not only enables facilities management teams to maintain clear and consistent lines of communications, but they also provide a straightforward, agile way to handle day-to-day queries, as well as urgent issues – particularly those raised by COVID-19. Issues that might have previously been considered non-urgent could suddenly become critical in the context of maintaining a COVID-secure environment. FM teams will want to rely on their software’s flexibility to track and monitor new and ongoing issues.

Workplace communications have already taken on a new level of importance, and this will continue as new requirements develop. For example, FM managers will need to have digital tools for ensuring that engineers and contractors have all the information they need. They will also need to run an effective multi-discipline helpdesk to deal with reactive jobs and manage COVID related issues. Facilities managers will likely need to have procedures in place, for instance, if a COVID case is reported at their location. With an appropriate FM system, they could have built-in workflows of the steps needed to manage and respond to such an incident.

The pandemic and its fallout also continue to impact how teams communicate and execute planned work. For example, suppose there are simultaneous jobs at a building. In that case, measures might need to be taken to prevent separate teams or engineers from being in a building together and to allow for cleaning to occur between their visits.

Boosting efficiency and agility through FM technology

The impact of the coronavirus crisis on facilities management will reverberate for some time, even once the rollout of vaccines signals that it is safer to return to workspaces. Facilities managers were already facing mounting pressure to provide better customer service than ever while also cutting costs, and that will continue as people filter back into workplaces.

Everyone coming into offices and other workspaces today has high expectations on the use of digital technology to live, work and play. Investing in the right digital solutions not only improves the working and customer experience but boosts efficiency by optimizing the use of staff and time needed to deal with tenant issues – leading to savings.

COVID-19 has drastically accelerated technology adoption and, as the remit of facilities managers continues to broaden, going digital will be an essential component for commercial properties looking to optimize facilities management and ensure the safety of all involved.

When the Coronavirus pandemic first led businesses around the globe to close offices at the beginning of 2020, few would have expected that so many people would still be working remotely at the end of the year. But despite ongoing uncertainties and restrictions, the future is certainly looking brighter each day, especially as the rollout of the COVID-19 vaccine is already underway in the UK and North America, and the prospect of reopening offices after COVID-19 is sooner than ever. The pandemic has accelerated trends many expected to take off a few years down the road – namely, the reimagining of how office spaces will function and the rise of flexible workspaces.

In a panel moderated by Beth Schwartz, MRI’s Senior Director of Product Management, at our recent ‘Ascend Anywhere‘ virtual users conference, leading experts from across the real estate industry joined a panel to discuss “The Future of the Office” and how the pandemic is affecting trends in the sector. There were a few areas that the panel picked out as ones to watch, which will be of keen interest to both commercial landlords and corporate occupiers in the New Year.

Meeting the need for greater flexibility

While the return to the “old normal” appears to be on the horizon, it is unlikely to be the same workplace “normal” that existed before the pandemic. Having many people in the office only part of the time and teams spread across geographies is no longer the huge challenge it may have seemed in the past, and organizations have had the opportunity to test remote working scenarios while considering how to better utilize their physical spaces. As we move into a post-pandemic world, traditional work methods will likely make way for flexible working. Many people within businesses are far more likely to mix working at home with hot-desking rather than having their own full-time, fixed workspaces in the office.

The attitudes of many people – and employers – towards working remotely and being in the office have undergone a fundamental change now that they have seen how efficient working from home can be. Many office workers live a substantial distance from their workplace and faced a substantial commute before the pandemic. They have now seen how working at home – at least part of the time – has positively altered their work-life balance and in many cases improved their productivity, which is an encouragement for employers. During the pandemic, many people have only been venturing into the office one or two days a week even when lockdown restrictions have been lifted, a pattern that promises to become much more of the norm post-COVID.

We may also see more shared spaces where people can come together to collaborate on tasks and meeting goals. Another Ascend panelist, Robert Pavese, Partner at Atlanta Property Group, expects to see a post-COVID uptick in demand not just for flexible workspaces but spaces for “common area gatherings”, which he noted was already a trend before the crisis. “We have a lot of designs which we put on the shelf. We haven’t thrown anything away because I do think that it will come back – but everything is on hold right now.”

Modern-day amenities – plus safeguards

The Future of the Office panel kicked off by looking at a rise in a variety of amenities, designed into commercial properties and offered to tenants – a trend the panel saw continuing. Beth Schwartz noted that “things like onsite dining, specialty shops, gyms, activities like yoga and so forth” were emerging as key requirements for corporate occupiers and that employees were often looking at those amenities when deciding on a potential employer. Tim Curran, CEO of Building Engines, adds that those sorts of amenities – which have been pushed further into the mainstream of the modern workplace by coworking spaces such as WeWork – are no fad and are now seen as “fundamentally valuable to tenants.”

Panelist Scott Morey, Executive Director at One11 Advisors commented that many companies were looking beyond these sorts of amenities as a result of COVID. “We’ve seen a shift from amenity to necessity as tenants see more value in safety, security and transparency.” Indeed, while pre-coronavirus trends indicated a steep rise in amenities being designed into properties, employees now also want to make sure the facilities address factors such as how clean the air is, how safe building procedures are, how safely space management is handled, and other factors to help tenants feel comfortable in an office building.

The vital role of PropTech

In rethinking properties as we move out of the pandemic, PropTech will play an essential role in helping both building owners and occupiers understand how their employees are using workspace, what their working patterns are, how the building can be adapted to those – and using all this information to reconfigure existing commercial spaces or guide new developments. Another outcome of coronavirus is that it has accelerated the need for technology at almost all levels of work and space management. As Tim Curran noted, it is critical for businesses to now have “flexible software and processes in place” so that everyone can adapt to new ways of working and move forward together.

Forward-thinking leaders in the real estate industry will embrace PropTech solutions as they continue to deal with the fallout of the pandemic and its aftermath. By leveraging purpose-built digital tools, those landlords and tenants that move towards putting technology at the heart of their business will be able to unlock a new depth of understanding that enhances property use and efficiency. The reality is that operating a building safely, efficiently and effectively is no easy task, and there has never been a time more important than now to create a foundation of agility and adaptability.

Watch the on-demand webinar to learn how space management software can help you in reopening offices after COVID-19.

During 2020, many commercial office buildings faced an unexpected challenge: empty offices. The pandemic created a sudden shift to remote working, which will likely continue even after vaccines become more widely available. Businesses of all types are reevaluating their use of office space, and as a result, the relationships between commercial landlords and tenants are more important than ever.

While the pandemic will eventually abate, its impact on tenants’ comfort levels could last years. So, what can commercial property managers and building operators do to create trust and make tenants feel comfortable in an office again?

Build tenant relationships with space planning, communications and visitor management

Commercial landlords and tenants have negotiated many uncommon things over the past year, including lease concessions related to COVID-19 and multiple options for rent deferment or abatement. The relationships built over the course of those conversations will hopefully open the door for more collaboration on an effective return-to-work strategy.

1. Space management practices

Even before the pandemic, space planning and occupant comfort were becoming an important part of portfolio management. The increasing need for flexibility is top of mind for landlords, since tenants are rethinking their use of space. In some cases, employees may become spread across a distributed hub-and-spoke model in which a company has a central office in the city but offers employees the option to work from a satellite office in the suburbs.

Here are a few space planning questions to ask your tenants to find out how much flexibility they require:

• Will employees be working part-time or flexible hours?
• Will you be rethinking your space to accommodate social distancing?
• What percentage of your workforce will continue to work remotely? How are you assigning and tracking assets?
• Will portions of your office space be temporary or hotelling space?

Effective space management software can help optimize your use of space and leverage it as part of your lease management strategy.

2. Tenant communications

Landlords can proactively communicate with tenants to increase their comfort level in the office space. Sending messages about HVAC updates, cleaning protocols and other activities lets your tenants know that you are concerned for their wellbeing and are taking steps to protect the property. MRI Tenant Communications software can help you proactively communicate with tenants and keep them engaged to measure the effectiveness of your actions.

3. Visitor management

It’s essential to understand the capacity of your space and to manage the number of people on your property at a given time. Visitor management software for commercial office buildings can help you manage tenants and guests across multiple control points to get an accurate picture of activity in your space.

Flexibility is key

As the past year has demonstrated, commercial property managers need to be prepared for anything. Using technology to better understand space planning, communicate with tenants, and manage visitors can improve tenant satisfaction and help building operations run more smoothly. As the office space will also need to welcome back vendors and visitors down the line, learn how to mitigate risk as more people come back into the office.

COVID-19 has dramatically accelerated trends in office space planning. Work from home practices were already impacting the modern workspace before the pandemic, but now, organizations eager to bring employees back into stable and sustainable work patterns are rethinking office space.

As a post-COVID office environment draws near, a key consideration for business leaders will be managing the workflow between those who are coming back into the office and those who are still going to be working from home for a period of time. Let’s take a look at some of the ways that space management can help you bring employees back to the office safely.

Creating a flexible work environment

While previous wisdom called for a desk setup that fostered collaboration, future office space planning will need to take into account that any given space may not be filled with the same people at the same times. With a possible rise in employees who alternate their work schedule between home and the office, consider desks that don’t have permanent assignments. “Hotdesking” can help employees who only come into the office occasionally to find a seat anywhere and access the office’s features and amenities just as easily. This would also mean enabling each desk with access to the company network and arranging common spaces so that collaboration with coworkers can take place in a more spread-out environment.

Balancing work/life integration

The post-COVID office environment is going to include plenty of employees trying to balance work both in the office and at home. How can this balance be facilitated so they can properly collaborate with their counterparts and be as productive at home as they could be in the office? You’ll have to equip your employees who work from home with the tools and technology necessary to establish their home office, but you’ll also need to keep track of those assets from a financial and accounting standpoint.

Increasing square footage requirements

With all this discussion regarding employees no longer working in the office full time, one might think that this would add up to a decrease in square footage. But in rethinking the office to accommodate for that flexible nature of work going forward, it’s possible that larger work areas may be needed. This goes beyond the need for a collaborative workspace or hotdesking, but to facilitate social distancing as people now have illnesses like COVID-19 and the flu on their minds. Establishing more amenity space might be needed, whether it’s for a common space or for additional office space.

No matter which of these issues has the biggest impact on the modern workplace, it’s guaranteed that 2021 office space planning will look a lot different than what many initially planned. Properly managing the space in your office can be the key to success when it comes to bringing employees back safely. Using space planning software is one way to accomplish all this in a visual way, driven by the needs of your organization and availability of the space. Learn more about how space management software can help you smooth the transition back into the office.

Predicting real estate technology trends for 2021 may seem like an impossible task, but in many ways, the economic uncertainty of 2020 was the catalyst that accelerated trends already in place. The shift to remote working and the need to keep one’s distance from others sped up technology adoption in unprecedented ways across the commercial and multifamily sectors.

It doesn’t take a crystal ball to see that there’s no going back. In 2021, we will continue to see reliance on digital tools to help real estate businesses increase agility, leverage operational efficiencies and embrace flexibility like never before.

Here are a few Proptech trends that we expect to see in 2021.

Landlord/tenant relationships remain vital

At the start of 2020, the commercial real estate industry was already cognizant of the value of relationships and the connections between people and property. The events of 2020 tested those relationships as commercial and retail tenants struggled to pay their rent and negotiated with landlords for lease concessions, rent deferments and abatements. Looking ahead to 2021, these relationships will be essential to weather the storm and ensure success for all parties.

Rethinking use of office space

Even pre-pandemic, real estate occupiers were increasingly focused on space planning as part of a portfolio strategy, and the events of 2020 only accelerated this trend. If fewer people will physically work in an office, then less space will be required. But if a business thrives on in-person collaboration, then they may need more space per employee. Will these requirements balance out? As building owners and operators adapt their processes to meet new tenant requirements, space management software will be an important tool to create a clearer picture of how to optimize your space and leverage it as part of a lease management strategy.

Proactive communications

Improved tenant and resident communications practices will be essential to maintain the strong relationships forged with landlords in 2020. Reliable communication plays a big part in making them feel comfortable in their living and workspaces, and it helps property managers and building operators gauge the effectiveness of their new processes and activities. Keeping tenants and residents engaged and aware of regular cleaning protocols, visitor management practices, and other maintenance updates can help them feel safe in your properties.

Multifamily goes digital

We’ve been tracking the impact of COVID-19 on the multifamily, affordable and public housing sectors in our Market Insights reports since March 2020. While digital services and amenities were already considered table stakes pre-pandemic, we’ve seen a surge in electronic payments, online maintenance requests and online applications during 2020. Initially, these may have been short-term solutions to meet social distancing requirements, but they’re here to stay. In 2021, multifamily properties have an opportunity to reevaluate the role of the leasing office and shift from centralized operations to a distributed model – in fact, many new properties have been developed without a physical leasing office, relying completely on online services.

Fraud is on the rise

The flipside of an increase in online transactions associated with digital services is that fraud triggers have increased significantly since the onset of the pandemic. Savvy property managers would be wise to invest in fraud prevention technology to ward off this significant business threat. Multiple layers of fraud protection and screening, combined with up-to-date knowledge of local and federal regulations, will be essential to identify potential fraud before it impacts your community.

Bottom line: Flexibility is key

The best thing that your real estate business can do to prepare for 2021 is get agile. Recovery is coming but it will be uneven throughout 2021, by both geography and sector. Commercial firms should understand the degree of flexibility they have with commercial tenants, gauging their health and offering terms that are mutually beneficial. Residential businesses need to stay focused on converting leads with flexibility in price and term in order to maintain occupancy through the first half of 2021.

In times of uncertainty, flexibility is key and technology offers a path forward. 2020 was a wild card. Here’s hoping that 2021 will be somewhat more predictable.

In our previous blog, we discussed the role of technology in the “Great Disassociation” and how the COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated existing trends in remote activity and created new challenges for industries where a consumer’s presence is traditionally required. We covered the many ways in which activities like work, banking, retail, dining, entertainment, fitness and education have become more and more disassociated from the locations in which they normally take place.

Commercial real estate owners, operators and investors have some analysis to do as they seek to determine a path forward amid these shifts. This analysis should take place across two dimensions: change drivers and population trends.

Drivers of change

The disassociations listed above should be put into context by assessing if they are a result of the acceleration of pre-existing trends or if they are created by an acute impact of the pandemic – expected vs. unexpected, natural vs. unnatural. The acceleration of an existing trend, like a continued rise in ecommerce, is wholly different than the sudden and drastic impact on restaurant businesses.

The dissociations largely fall into the categories of impact as follows:

The fundamental difference between the two columns is one of transaction vs. experience. While the rationalization of retail stores and bank branches is being driven by retailers and financial institutions, the underlying motivations should be used as a guide for future planning.

If shopping or banking experiences only offer a commoditized transaction, today’s consumers will prefer automation. A more personal experience can, and will, win shoppers, much like Nordstrom, where the guest experience is part of the culture.

Acute disassociations are more challenging to forecast as there is not a point of reference from which to plot a trend in order to determine what the future may look like. The most prevalent driver for these disassociations was the need to be socially distant. The path forward will mostly be defined by changing guidelines and societal norms for what is deemed safe. Eventually, however, the experiences provided at these locations will most likely be desired over what can be done from a distance.

Much like retail and banking, less personal and more commoditized experiences will continue remotely. Collaborative needs for professionals will move back to physical spaces where interactions happen differently and where teams work toward common outcomes. Culture is also created more fully when teams are physically together. More personal experiences in dining, entertainment and fitness will also return as specific capabilities and facilities simply cannot be fully replicated at home.

Impacts of population changes

The other dimension of analysis that needs to be explored is how the population’s post-pandemic habits could alter the locations in which they spend their time, and how changes in the locations themselves could conversely alter the population’s habits.

The number of people commuting into a city for work is sure to decrease. New-found comfort with work from home combined with an aversion to public transportation and the need for social distancing will reduce the daily population in offices without requiring a commensurate reduction of office space as employers reduce office density and create more collaborative space.

The population of city dwellers, especially in dense, major metropolitan areas, is showing some signs of erosion as well. Empowered by the ability to work from home as well as low interest rates, some are seeking more private space in suburban areas and smaller cities. Populations of fans and patrons of sports and the arts remain unable to enjoy these experiences live. Populations of business travelers and tourists remain grounded.

Location, location, location is the mantra of real estate, and typically a great location is a combination of population proximity, access to transportation, convenience of amenities and access to a vibrant cultural scene of dining and entertainment. Unfortunately, each of these elements is under pressure as the pandemic continues to impact the economy.

Most importantly, owners, operators and investors will need to assess if the foot traffic in a building, block, or city will decrease as fewer people transit the area daily, especially when considering the future of service and dining-related establishments.

Moving forward

With a bead on the future, plans for redevelopment, renewal and reinvention will come. Recent strategies will continue, like the combination of retail and entertainment, and new strategies will emerge. Creative thinkers and entrepreneurs will define new uses for current spaces much like they have been doing for years. Factories and warehouses become lofts. Industrial sites get reclaimed for waterfront green space or redeveloped into apartments. Big box retail sites get transformed into a wide array of uses for boutique retail or community programming. The options are virtually endless. With interest rates continuing at historical lows, access to capital should not be a barrier for renewal. The largest challenge will be finding the appropriate use and optimal timing given ongoing uncertainty in the economy due to the pandemic.

The first quarter of the 21st century may be remembered as the time when technology finally allowed people to stop doing specific activities in specific places and enabled us to do most anything from basically anywhere. The COVID-19 pandemic will be seen as the accelerator of a “Great Disassociation”: a time when the relationship between an activity and where it took place was changed forever.

Separating activity from place

The earliest forms of technology started us on the path of separating activity from place. The telegraph and its successor, the telephone, allowed communication between two people regardless of their vicinity. The radio and then the television brought news, sports and entertainment directly into our homes.

The launch of the Internet and the persistent progress into the digital superhighway of today has allowed the disassociation of activity from place to grow and accelerate.

The disassociations impacting Commercial Real Estate

As we leverage technology to separate activity from place, we continually reshape commercial real estate with rapidly changing conditions and short-term uncertainty.

Work vs. the office

In a study from June 2020, Stanford economist Nicholas Bloom found that 42% of the US workforce was working from home full time, accounting for more than two thirds of all US economic activity.

The last time the US workforce worked from home in such high volumes was in 1900, when work was literally at home because home was a farm. Around 40% of the US population lived on a farm, and 11.7 million people of the 29 million in the workforce worked in agriculture.

It took more than a century for the work and home paradigm to blur again. Corporate leaders are learning from their current experiences, and they are starting to question what the post-pandemic office needs to look like. Should density be relaxed? Should collaborative spaces be added, and should individual work-from-home practices increase?

Banking vs. the bank

The automated teller machine became mainstream in the late ’80s, creating a convenient way to withdraw and deposit funds at any hour of the day. This would later be seen as the first step in a digitally powered movement toward self-service banking. With direct deposit, online bill payment, mobile check deposits, and the use of electronic signatures, we are making fewer visits to our local bank branch to do the same banking we used to do in person. A recent report by Keefe Bruyette & Woods, a New York investment bank, found that teller transactions are down 30-40% this year, and they conservatively estimate up to 30% further branch consolidation.

Shopping vs. the store

For the past 25 years, ecommerce has grown by creating frictionless buying experiences, next day deliveries and hassle-free returns. This continued growth forced retail center and mall landlords to rethink their strategies and offer more comprehensive experiences. More dining and entertainment venues have been added to the shopping experience, as well as more special events and attractions.

COVID-19 caused many malls, shopping centers and non-essential retailers to close, driving even more business online and accelerating an industry-wide correction. Further, the experience-driven components of shopping centers, including restaurants, have been greatly impacted by social distancing needs, thwarting the most common strategies used to combat ecommerce.

Announcements of permanent store closures continue to pile up and have well surpassed any historical peaks…and the year isn’t over yet.

Essential shopping still takes place in the store (grocery, pharmacy, home goods, home improvement, etc.), and technology is being introduced to allow for the use of a mobile device to scan products and check out in an independent manner. Additionally, the activity of grocery shopping can be outsourced through apps like Instacart and other grocery pick-up and delivery services.

Dining vs. the restaurant

A 2019 study commissioned by the National Restaurant Association found that off-premise dining (drive thru, takeout and delivery) had claimed a majority and was growing. Then the pandemic struck, increasing the importance of off-premise dining for restaurateurs seeking ways to recover revenues in the face of social distancing measures. Expanded services also allowed customers to continue to support their favorite establishments throughout the pandemic. The off-premise model, however, does not facilitate alcohol sales like the in-store model does, placing an upside damper on off-premise revenue streams.

Growing services like Grubhub and DoorDash have contributed to this trend, allowing delivery from more than the traditional delivery sources like the local pizza shop or Chinese restaurant.

While the maintenance of food quality from kitchen to table remains a challenge, more and more people are trying to enjoy restaurant-prepared meals at home. As the colder months approach and the demand for outdoor dining decreases, more reliance will be placed on off-premise dining.

Recent reports estimate that up to one third of America’s 660,000 restaurants face permanent closure this year as a result of the COVID-19 fallout. Embracing a mixed model (on and off-premise) is likely the best go-forward path for survival as revenue is not solely a factor of dining room size and table turns.

Entertainment vs. the venue

Once the pandemic hit, the lights went down on Broadway and on every other theater across the country. Movie premiers have been rescheduled and stage productions halted. Some content, however, found its way onto streaming services instead of waiting for a return to traditional theaters. A recording of the hit musical Hamilton, as well as movies like Frozen II, The Invisible Man and Bill and Ted Face the Music all landed on streaming services and Video-On-Demand (VOD) formats well before their original home release dates.

Traditionally, it would take 90 days for a hit movie to reach VOD platforms, a window that is surely shrinking on the heels of Universal’s optional 17-day release agreement with AMC, the largest theater chain in the country.

While you might expect sports to be in this category, most professional leagues have already been reaching audiences in their homes with live broadcasts for years via radio and television. Bundesliga, Premier League, NBA, WNBA, NHL, and MLB have all proven that they can separate the game from the fans, playing in “bubbles” and empty stadiums. Other professional sports such as cricket and rugby have already resumed play in Australia, while the UK is taking a measured approach and South Africa rugby is currently restarting in September. The NFL season in the US has begun with vastly limited attendance in most cases. The NCAA is currently fragmented on its approach. Unlike movie production companies who can postpone the release of a movie for better times, sports leagues have heavy fiscal incentives to play on, even without the fans in the stands.

Outlying disassociations

Among all of the disassociations we’ve seen over the past few months, there are a few scenarios that are in a unique position. For example, home fitness has been around since Jack LaLanne in the 50s, but companies such as Peloton, and competitors like Mirror, FightCamp, NordicTrack, and Tonal have become more popular as they create live and on-demand classes that participants join from home, avoiding the gym altogether.

In an entirely different situation, however, are teachers and students, who have been forced to resume education separately from a classroom. With the onset of the pandemic, all students were sent home to finish the 2019-2020 academic year. As the 2020-2021 school year launched, a variety of in-person and remote options were made available to students and parents. In many cases, the teachers are in their classrooms doing their job for a decentralized class. The higher education situation is more fluid with a variety of colleges and universities all trying their hand at continuing to deliver content across an array of in-person, on campus and fully remote options. Given the individual costs associated with higher education, the entire system could be destabilized by prolonged distance learning.

Renew, rethink, redevelop

Work, banking, retail, dining, entertainment, fitness and education cover a broad array of commercial real estate assets, many utilizing large or purpose-built locations. Unfortunately, the pandemic has greatly impacted the current use and state of many real estate assets. As the disassociation between “activity” and “the room where it happens” accelerates in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, owners, operators and investors need to undertake analysis to figure out what a technology-driven path forward will look like.