Office owner Brookfield Properties has formed a new partnership with New York-based Convene, a work services platform, to enhance its hospitality offerings. The services will be offered for office tenants in the firm's Downtown Los Angeles portfolio. Unlike other co-working and service-based office providers, Convene partners directly with landlords to provide hospitality services to existing portfolios. This is the company's debut in the L.A. market.

“We believe that all tenants, whether a non-traditional tenant or a law firm, are interested in the same thing, which is an ever-changing environment that allows them to make the 9 to 5 more interesting,” Bert Dezzutti, Western Division EVP at Brookfield Property Partners, tells GlobeSt.com. “It is also about interesting events and activities. In the way that the hospitality industry has had to be on the cutting edge of what the experiences are that people want to enjoy, we've learned from that industry and we have taken the customer service aspect to it. We also have learned how hospitality connects to its customers.”

Convene will offer both concierge services, such as food and beverage, as well as highly curated meeting spaces that will be available to the company's existing clients as well as Brookfield's tenants. “The concepts really serve as mini community builders where camaraderie and networking take place and they promote collaboration. It is all done with the Convene hospitality focus,” says Dezzutti. “So, it isn't a self-serve lounge, but rather a curated customer-service platform.”

Convene's strategy to partner with existing landlords made it a great fit for Brookfield. The firm is looking to adapt its portfolio to the changing office market and Convene is able to provide the amenities that today's office tenants are demanding, according to Dezzutti. “Convene really understands the hospitality aspect, and that is really unique,” he says. “We have long understood the value of meeting facilities, and when you attach the customer service component and food and beverage services, it is a very unique value proposition. There is no one in L.A. doing it this way.”

The office market is obviously rapidly changing, and not only for creative tenants. All tenants want an office that provides a better work-life balance. This partnership is indicative of this evolution. “Our tenants are looking to blur the line,” says Dezzutti. “They are not differentiating their spaces in the way that they used to. Today, they are socializing in the same space and all of the time. For us, that means that the amenities that we provide are being replaced by experiences. The infrastructure to deliver those experiences needs to be designed, and that is what we are creating. We are looking at the workplace as a service platform. This is all part of the evolution of the office building industry. This is Brookfield's way of looking at the workplace as a service platform.”

Instant Insights /

Brookfield Stresses Hospitality With New Partnership

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