The New York office of Avison Young is partnering with Manhattan office landlord APF Properties to launch a new flex office platform.
Called APFlex, the service is described as “a move-in ready office solution designed for businesses adapting their office requirements amidst the uncertainty of a post-COVID economic recovery.”
“As people come back to an unpredictable office market, our team is being proactive in the creation and marketing of our new offering called APFlex,” said Brooks Hauf, a senior director based in AY’s New York City office
“Working in tandem with ownership, our team has developed a plug-and-play solution to cater to tenants who are cautious about their return to office space and need a product that reduces risk and burden without sacrificing quality.”
APFlex is available across 50,000 rentable square feet of plug-and-play office space in three APF buildings located in Grand Central in Midtown Manhattan comprised of The Club Row Building at 28 West 44th Street, 25 West 45th Street and 1156 Avenue of the Americas (pictured top).
Hauf, along with New York-based director Peter Johnson and Leah Zafra, a client services coordinator, are leading the leasing efforts for all three properties
The partnership comes as the nation’s top commercial real estate service firms work to align themselves with their former nemesis after COVID shifted the landscape of the traditional office.
With more companies seeking the type of hybrid solutions flex and co-working has provided for years, companies including CBRE, Newmark, Cushman & Wakefield, JLL and Colliers have begun moving into the space whether with their own concepts or through alliances and acquisitions.
CBRE acquired a $200 million stake in Industrious and folded its own HANA flex brand into a single service that provides private office space.
Colliers is partnering with online co-working provider Upsuite, one of its own incubator partners that now has office space in nearly 2,000 locations throughout North America.
Over the summer, Cushman & Wakefield struck a $150 million deal with WeWork, one of the leading global flexible space providers, to market both landlords and businesses on WeWork’s management experience platform to help build on demand for flexible workspaces. Cushman had already launched is own flex office service called INDEGO in the UK with plans to expand that throughout Europe.
And JLL has begun working with established landlords to operate flexible office and coworking space, including Orchard Workspace at Brookfield Properties’ MetroTech Center in downtown Brooklyn.
It’s a format similar to AY’s new partnership with APF – a flex office solution that NYC brokers and Flexible Office Solution team cultivated for several APF Properties in Manhattan. Said Mike Gross, a consultant on Avison Young’s Flexible Office Solutions Group, “APF is joining a select group of progressive owners working directly with their clients to offer nimble office solutions.”
They believe APFlex offers a time-saving and reliable solution that sets it apart from existing traditional offerings in Manhattan’s office market to advise and secure the best vendors for all the needed pieces that make up the offering, including furniture and IT.
APFlex incorporates all costs, explained Michael Kloppenburg, senior consultant on Avison Young’s Flexible Solutions Group. “APFlex offers companies a presence in New York City to foster growth in an uncertain market while at the same time eliminating the need for capital expenditures on office build-outs.
“APF recognized the increased demand for direct, move-in ready office space and implemented an adaptive leasing strategy in response to this growing trend.”
The APFlex spaces are located in three Midtown Manhattan buildings, in between Bryant Park and Rockefeller Center. The three properties are steps away from each other and near multiple transit options including Grand Central Terminal, providing access to Metro North and the 4, 5, 6 and 7 subway lines as well as Bryant Park, providing access to the B, D, and F subway lines. Ownership has amenitized its assets with features such as on-site bicycle storage rooms and conference rooms.