As suburban office parks struggle to lure tenants not decamping for more urban environments, some are investing princely sums to renovate their buildings in the hope of capturing a slice of the shrinking pie.
"Owners of suburban office space in [New Jersey] face a difficult environment," writes Ronda Kaysen. "Eighty percent of the office buildings were built in the 1980s and 1990s during the reign of the suburban, self-contained corporate campus, according to a report by Rutgers University [PDF]. But over the last decade, businesses and workers fled the isolation of the suburbs in favor of accessible city centers. Added to that, businesses have been reluctant to sign leases or expand operations in a lackluster economy."
While some office parks are embarking on mixed-use redevelopment in the face of high vacancy rates and low rents, others are taking a different tack and investing in costly renovations to create corporate campuses "updated for a modern work force." One example is Novo Nordisk's new North American headquarters in Plainsboro, where a $225 million gut renovation "took a drab, bunkerlike edifice and made it a shiny example of how New Jersey’s aging suburban office stock could be reimagined for a new era."
FULL STORY: Drab Office in New Jersey Gets the Cinderella Treatment
Pennsylvania Mall Conversion Bill Passes House
If passed, the bill would promote the adaptive reuse of defunct commercial buildings.
Planning for Accessibility: Proximity is More Important than Mobility
Accessibility-based planning minimizes the distance that people must travel to reach desired services and activities. Measured this way, increased density can provide more total benefits than increased speeds.
World's Largest Wildlife Overpass In the Works in Los Angeles County
Caltrans will soon close half of the 101 Freeway in order to continue construction of the Wallis Annenberg Wildlife Crossing near Agoura Hills in Los Angeles County.
Eviction Looms for Low-Income Tenants as Rent Debt Rises
Nonprofit housing operators across the country face almost $10 billion in rent debt.
Brightline West Breaks Ground
The high-speed rail line will link Las Vegas and the Los Angeles area.
Colorado Bans No-Fault Evictions
In most cases, landlords must provide a just cause for evicting tenants.
City of Costa Mesa
Licking County
Barrett Planning Group LLC
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
Mpact Transit + Community
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
Tufts University, Department of Urban and Environmental Policy & Planning
City of Universal City TX
ULI Northwest Arkansas
Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.