How will 2021 budgets be different for building owners?

How do you start to look ahead and plan for 2021 after all the revisions and adjustments that happened this year? What changes have become permanent solutions? And how will tenants stay safe and comfortable utilizing offices and retail spaces moving forward? Mike Larkin, Real Estate Asset Manager at NAI Elliott, shares how we’re taking what we learned and adapting it for the year ahead.

As we create budgets and plan for the year ahead, we’re thinking about what changed in 2020. Tenancy, utilities and security all look different moving forward, particularly for the beginning of the year. We’re also considering which quick changes have become permanent in the buildings we manage. For example, elevator or door system adjustments we made quickly in the Spring have now become long-lasting.

We are also shifting away from tenant experience upgrades that had been a big focus for the last few years. Our primary concern for 2021 is tenant safety and comfort to keep everyone secure. We’re also keenly aware that being even slightly off in our planning could have a direct impact on tenants livelihood so we’re taking our time and getting our budgets as accurate as possible. Forging ahead with so much unknown is never easy but with cautious and careful consideration to our building owners and tenants, we are helping them plan for the future.