Predictions for 2022: Brace yourself (part twenty-six)

Johnathan Crawley

UK managing director, MiddleCap

Last year proved the office and London are far from dead, despite doom-mongering predictions to the contrary. The combined effects of Brexit and the pandemic have not lessened the appetite of investors or occupiers – as we have seen with the market bouncing back strongly, particularly in the last quarter – and I expect it to continue to thrive in 2022.

The industry’s fixation on ESG will rightly continue and those who dismiss it as a passing trend will do so at their peril. Investors and developers are already making changes to their businesses and portfolios and we’ll see progress with occupiers being more demanding about the environmental credentials of their spaces in particular. However, greater collaboration between development, design and construction teams, as well as the wider real estate industry, will be required to meet such targets and optimise building performance (in all aspects of the word) if we are to truly make progress.

Gabriela Hersham

Co-founder and chief executive, Huckletree

In today’s climate, business employees, from entry-level right the way through to C-suite, place significant emphasis on the experience their workplace offers. While data is proving that most employees now want to return to the office at least 50% of the time, developers must still take a 360-degree perspective of what buildings provide for their tenants from the outset.

Whether it is a hotel-inspired front-of-house service or a forward-thinking wellness offering, great amenities are essential to attracting and adding value to companies, especially when it comes to retaining talent.

Developers will be investing increasingly in third-party hospitality operators, recognising that a high-quality, thought-through hospitality strategy is what will drive yields. Buildings positioned to capture a younger, more demanding audience through avant-garde, differentiated offerings will be even more celebrated in 2022.