Popularity of remote work prompts ‘hospitalitization’ of real estate | FIU News
“Real estate is about hospitality,” said William Hardin, interim dean of FIU Business and founding director of the Hollo School. “It’s about making people feel good where they are.”
Observers at hospitality giant Marriott International saw the trend. “When owners were staying in our residences longer, we saw how the behaviors of working at home had changed,” said panelist Sarah Khalifa, vice president of mixed-use development for the hotel giant. “It became work-with-play, taking a business call from the pool, or closing a deal in between spa appointments.”
Before the pandemic, Orlando-based Dart Interests, a property development firm, was a traditional 9-to-5, face-to-face environment. Coming back from a lockdown, the company recognized that the office needs to compete with the home as a desirable environment, said Stewart Brown, another panelist and executive vice president at Dart.
Placing a premium on face-to-face connection, “we changed our office pretty dramatically,” he said. “We realize that our kitchen has to compete with their kitchen.” To move away from isolation and facilitate conversation, many of Dart’s cubicles are being replaced with more private, comfortable spaces and conference rooms, he said: “The built environment is for collaborating and instilling a culture.”
How deeply into real estate will the hospitalization trend reach?
