CBRE to Open New Workplace360 Office in San Antonio

SAN ANTONIO—CBRE plans to consolidate its three San Antonio offices in the Oxbow building at 1803 Broadway St. The firm will relocate its 81 employees to approximately 17,000 square feet of office space on the top floor of Silver Ventures’ new eight-story building in the second quarter of this year.

The new office is part of CBRE’s Workplace360 initiative, the company’s approach to workplace strategy, designed to promote employee flexibility, mobility and productivity across business lines. This translates to a focus on improving flexibility, technology, productivity, wellness and mobility. The program is currently being rolled out across CBRE’s entire portfolio as leases expire, GlobeSt.com learns.

“We’re eager and excited to bring employees across multiple service lines together under one roof,” said Gardner Peavy, managing director of CBRE’s San Antonio market. “In addition to providing a world-class workplace environment, our new office will be steps away from the Pearl, one of the most vibrant, burgeoning mixed-use areas in the country. From being able to work independently or collaboratively in our space to meeting clients in the shaded outdoor courtyard or at a nearby cafe, our office will support the ever-changing needs of our employees and clients.”

Workplace360 offices feature a number of workplace settings, including both collaborative and private spaces that employees can select to accommodate hour-by-hour needs. The company’s in-house design practice will manage the workplace design.

“Leveraging our architectural and interior design team, we can take lessons learned from our 80-plus Workplaces360 offices around the world as well as experience designing client workplaces to bring our workplace strategy to life in San Antonio,” said Peter Van Emburgh, global lead of CBRE’s corporate real estate.

Oxbow is located north of downtown San Antonio near the Pearl, the area’s mixed-use space featuring restaurants and cafes, retail shops, public green spaces, a year-round farmers market, Hotel Emma, and residential and office space. The building includes ground-floor retail and restaurant space. Oxbow shares a shaded courtyard, community fountain and community park area with the adjacent Credit Human building, which was also developed by Silver Ventures.

“As a commercial real estate advisor, we are always evaluating our own options in the markets we operate in to ensure we are providing our employees with the best possible workplace experience,” Peavy tells GlobeSt.com. “We know that we can provide the best outcomes for our clients when our professionals and service lines are engaged and can effectively collaborate. This was an ideal time to bring our people together.”

CBRE’s Christi Griggs and Steve Thomas, who oversee the leasing and marketing for the Oxbow, represented Silver Ventures in the lease negotiations.

“In terms of designing a healthier workplace post-pandemic, we have incorporated numerous safety and well-being elements including enhanced HVAC standards focused on the indoor air quality of the built environment, maintaining appropriate sanitization supplies, and deploying touchless features to restrooms and pantry areas,” Van Emburgh tells GlobeSt.com. “Other design adaptations include more open area collaboration spaces and heightened interest in selecting high-quality locations like Oxbow that afford access to outdoor environments as a workspace option.”

The conference rooms, enclosed focus rooms and reservable offices will be equipped with video capabilities for virtual meetings but CBRE believes its workforce will return to the office in a post-COVID world.

“Our research has shown that while work from home has been successful, employees miss coming to the office for collaboration, community and culture,” Emily Levinson, Workplace360 program manager, tells GlobeSt.com. “Our future Workplace360 offices will shift some space allocation from individual spaces to collaboration spaces, and we’ll introduce new space types and technologies that support the distributed workforce.”