CRE In the City and Suburbs: A Positive Outlook

February 1, 2022

As we begin 2022, I predict the commercial real estate industry will not only continue to get back to the pre-pandemic ways of life, but there will still be a great deal of balance between the city and suburban markets. Companies typically make part of their real estate decisions predicated on where their employees want to live and work. Based on recent conversations I am having with decision makers, it seems we will get back to a fairly balanced growth in both the cities and suburbs. Certainly, some companies are still in the middle of the decision-making process, but most are starting to make very optimistic real estate plans now that we are almost two years into the COVID world.

News continues to change on a daily basis, but with vaccinations the idea of a return to normal seems a whole lot closer than it did in 2021. Many people who moved out of the cities during the height of the pandemic will likely choose to remain in the suburbs, depending on their family circumstances and comfort level, but for many, remaining in the city is preferable. The COVID speculation of a potentially large shift to suburban workspaces and negative impact on city offices does not seem likely. I believe we’ll continue to see small percentages leaving the city, but not enough to make a big impact.  

Over the next few years, demand should continue to increase in both the city and suburban markets within not just the industrial, life science, and health care markets, but also education and corporate which were hardest hit by the pandemic. Humans crave being social and many people love living in the city, as shown by the continuous growth within the multi-family market, which arguably has not been significantly affected by current events. These factors will drive the demand for office space in the city. The same goes for the suburbs, as we have seen constant growth and demand in various developments, such as town centers which offer a variety of amenities, such as apartment, retail, and restaurant options.  \

In addition, companies have been certainly seeing the importance of providing space for their employees who do not have a private office at home, have young children, or other factors which affect productivity. Mental health also plays a huge role in work/life balance, and most employees have discovered they have missed consistent interaction with their fellow colleagues.

Everyone in the commercial real estate industry should be optimistic about the future of the city and suburban markets!

Testimonials

Corporate Renovation for DPS Group - Conshohocken, PA

Due to the extreme pace our business has been growing, we were in need of new office space sooner than later. However, we didn’t have the bandwidth to manage the process internally. The FGX Group was able to get started immediately with assembling an overall project budget and schedule in order to set proper expectations, particularly important in today’s real estate climate. He was instrumental in design oversight, and assembling the balance of the project team including the general contractor, IT related vendors, the furniture dealer, and all other pertinent firms. We are thrilled to be in our new space and couldn’t be more grateful for having Frank to assist us with the process so we could concentrate on continuing to grow our business.

Ryan McDonough, Senior Vice President – Project Operations, DPS Group

Self Storage Renovation Projects for Home Star Storage - Various Locations

As someone who works in self storage conversions, I work with The FGX Group on all my major projects. Unlike ground-up construction, conversion projects often have unexpected circumstances and last-minute surprises that don't necessarily jump out from the beginning of the project, even with careful planning. Working with The FGX Group, I know our team is ready for the unexpected in each project – whatever that may be. We appreciate working closely with them to bring more well-built storage projects to fruition on-time and on-budget up and down the eastern United States.

Joseph Murphy, Chief Operating Officer, Home Star Storage

Renovations to Children's Dental Management - Philadelphia, PA

Frank Gallagher and The FGX Group were instrumental in assisting me to assemble the project team and formulate a plan to complete our new Orthodontics and Surgery Center suites in Philadelphia. With Frank’s help in managing the contractors, various vendors, and coordination activities with the landlord, it allowed me to concentrate on other responsibilities at CDM. Frank has a knack to bring everyone together to focus on one goal. I would work with him again.

Jim DeFruscio – Children’s Dental Management

Renovation of Medical Office for Pure Dental Brands - Upper Darby, PA

From my perspective, here is what The FGX Group did that helped us achieve a successful build out of our new office location: Their contract spelled out all of the responsibilities that they would own, and they carefully broke down all of the job functions and steps with milestones; they also made it clear what were their vs. our tasks; they outlined the project timeline and costs and lived by them; they were 100% successful as a project manager because they kept us on track and had excellent communication and follow-up skills; they owned a number of key tasks around permitting and working with the local town/city that we could not have known about or handled – and they were done successfully; and they escalated issues when appropriate and prepared us in advance of issues, so that when they came up, we could quickly resolve.

The results were excellent – the office is beautiful, and it has helped us grow our business!

Frank Coliano, Chief Executive Officer, Pure Dental Brands

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Contact

Address

26 Treaty Dr, Wayne, PA 19087

Email

frankgallagher@thefgxgroup.com

Phone

 610.331.6354

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