SAN JOSE—With the unemployment rate at a 50-year low, firms including those in the commercial real estate sector are in a race for talent. In the process, employers are implementing a variety of tactics to rise from the talent deficit but oftentimes office space is overlooked.

Ultimately, employees want to work for companies with strong cultures that align with their needs, support their grown and promote creativity. In many ways, a well-designed office can help achieve that, making it one of the greatest recruiting assets.

While CRE firms are competing with tech companies and start-ups to recruit and retain top talent, this dilemma is amplified in the competitive Silicon Valley, where there are specific design challenges.

Colliers International faced this head-on when the firm decided to transfer its former Silicon Valley office at 450 W. Santa Clara St. into a 25,000-square-foot hub in the heart of downtown San Jose's business core at 225 W. Santa Clara St.

Colliers set out to connect the physical workspace, workplace culture and an engaged management team, and in the process, create a winning combination for employee retention. With office space being a key to achieving this trifecta, the CRE firm turned to HGA, a design firm rooted in architecture and engineering, for guidance.

"Colliers has a strong presence in Silicon Valley, but the firm was occupying some pretty outdated office space," Winfield Roney, HGA principal and national corporate market sector leader, tells GlobeSt.com. "The space they had been in for more than 15 years was tired and worn. It was heavy on private offices and had little space for team collaboration outside of the break room and a few formal conference rooms, and they were renewing their focus on attracting and retaining younger talent in the region."

Notably, the office had just gone through a leadership change, with Reed Payne coming in as executive managing director of Colliers Silicon Valley. Plus, the firm's office lease renewal was looming, perhaps sooner rather than later.

"We had a unique opportunity come to us to get out of our lease a year before our lease expiration, and the lightbulb went on for our new leadership team that now was the time to make a huge shift toward a more open, modern and collaborative work environment," Payne tells GlobeSt.com. "Other national CRE brokerage firms had already moved in this direction, so it was important that we not just follow suit, but create something unique to Colliers. We wanted to make a statement to our clients and to the marketplace at large that we are forward-thinking and truly moving into the next phase of Colliers. We started looking at a number of different buildings in Silicon Valley, which is when we got HGA involved to help to evaluate and determine our best long-term option."

During the design process, the HGA team gathered information through staff surveys and research studies to better understand Colliers' work culture and business model.

"The first decision we supported Colliers in making was their commitment to stay in downtown San Jose. When you're competing for talent in the same industry and market, location can be just as important as the space itself," Roney tells GlobeSt.com. "Beyond the address, our design team partnered with the Colliers management team and their internal workplace strategists to create a space that would both meet the needs of the brokers who were already well-established in their careers and appeal to the next generation of CRE professionals. It took quite a bit of back-and-forth, but we ended up deciding to dedicate a significant amount of the space to amenities, including an upgraded kitchen, a break area with expansive views and a very large meeting room for bigger gatherings that can be opened up for all-hands meetings and other events. In addition, we added several small- and medium-sized meeting spaces, both formal and informal, throughout the office to encourage as much collaboration as possible. Rather than take the same approach as other CRE firms, which is to have 100% of their staff in a hoteling arrangement, Colliers decided to make sure everyone had their own dedicated workspace through a mixture of open workstations and small private offices."

Colliers' new 25,000-square-foot office was ultimately master-planned as a full floor, but the firm is currently occupying three-quarters of that. In the end, the space was configured so Colliers can grow easily with minimum disruption.

"I've been back to the space a number of times since we completed the project, and the vibe in the office is so much different now," Roney tells GlobeSt.com. "There is more energy and communication happening. It's truly an active and vibrant workplace."

HGA worked with Colliers to create a new office to embrace the firm's collaborative culture while maintaining an elevated Silicon Valley tech vibe. The new space offers the commercial brokerage firm a competitive edge in recruiting talent and serving its local client base.

"With HGA's help, we have positioned Colliers for the future in Silicon Valley," Payne tells GlobeSt.com.

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Colliers Designs Its Brokerage Office For Collaboration and Young Talent

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