As we begin a new week, let’s direct our multitude of talents toward the future. In times of crisis, we will continue to find solutions; we’re good at it, and it is what I love about the human spirit.

Take Care,
Cindy McSherry | Executive Director | ULI Chicago

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Tales From the Front Line | April 20, 2020

MARY LUDGIN
Senior Managing Director & Director Global Investment Research | Heitman LLC

I have been banished to the basement (I’m too loud while talking on conference calls) so no more commentary on what I see outside my window. It’s week four of work from home. This – working from home — has become normal for me. Enough so I’m already thinking how much I will miss those afternoons when I declare that I’ve done enough work for the day and I can clean out a closet or file some household papers. I am reveling in seeing my house and my kids by daylight; then I catch myself and think sternly that a pandemic is no time for reveling.

We’re all trying to figure out what lies on the other side of this economic and social crisis. Here are a few thoughts. Some people will keep working from home for a long time, either by their choice or because their firm has decided that certain functions can be done remotely. Getting back to the office safely will be a complex matter, to say the least. But most of us will go back and most firms will figure out how to reconfigure space/stagger work schedules to give us the distance we need. We will go out to eat again—for me, the idea of carry out is much better than the reality. We will shop in stores again so support those you love now. I am trying to focus my on-line purchases on retailers that have a physical presence.

I’ll close with some things I hope this crisis will bring to pass. First, our immigration policy must change. Grant citizenship to Dreamers and to undocumented individuals who have helped keep critical parts of our economy going during this crisis. Recognize that the US is a nation of immigrants and the better for it. Japan’s pre-COVID economic challenges present stark evidence of how difficult it is to achieve economic growth without population growth. Second, working from home has brought our kids and other loved ones into the background of conference calls and Zoom meetings. Let’s not forget them when we go back to the office. If the enormous loss of life caused by the Coronavirus has taught us anything, it’s the value of human life. We’ve proven that working from home can be productive; our HR policies should reflect that.

TERRI HAYMAKER
Senior Vice President of Real Estate Solutions | IFF

The nonprofit sector, like the rest of the real estate world, will experience three cycles in reaction to the health and economic crisis.

• first, immediate response (the reality we have been living in now);
• second, the path to recovery (planning for this phase is starting); and
• finally, the new reality (or “new normal”) that nonprofits will exist in to best serve their communities in new ways. We all see that we won’t be going back to the way life was before – there will be new ways of working in our economy and our communities going forward.

If nonprofits follow the path to recovery with an eye toward finding their optimal new reality, they can position themselves to adapt to better serve their communities in the long run and develop greater resiliency. A resiliency-based approach is crucial to implement in nonprofit programs, business operations model and real estate strategy. Moving beyond the immediate response phase to focus on their recovery involves evaluating several options.

Opportunities:

• Strategic partnerships with other nonprofits. Organizations can combine program delivery and shared services with other nonprofits to leverage the strengths of both to serve the community needs. Some nonprofits will find themselves with underutilized facilities in the short- or long-term due to shifting programs and financial situations. They can evaluate partnerships via co-sharing space scenarios and also consider strategic mergers with other organizations. These partnerships will be more successful and beneficial if they are based on compatible and complementary missions, programs, and strategic alignment.
• Community Hubs as the heart of a neighborhood. Beyond their role as a shared space facility, community hubs serve as a multi-generational and mixed-use neighborhood anchors with wraparound services and complementary nonprofits. Community hubs can be developed with a variety of uses, such as gym and fitness center, outdoor fields and playground, early learning center, health clinic, financial resource center, youth development programming, family support services, healthy food distributor, and cultural facilities space. Determining the best combination of uses are derived from a community-led and community-centered visioning and development process.
• Shovel ready projects to strengthen the economy. The 2008 recession is not the same scale of economic impact as this Covid-19 crisis; however, one similarity may be a future stimulus-style funding package focusing on capital projects. Development projects can help to reactivate the economy and add investment into communities. If a funding package is developed, those nonprofits who have shovel-ready projects will be better positioned to take advantage of the opportunity. This can mean lining up partial and matching funding sources, and completing the design, due diligence, and possibly land acquisition phases while waiting for a stimulus package to be announced.

Critical to pursuing opportunities during any of the three cycles (respond, recover, and embrace a new reality) is being prepared for those cycles to be circular, not linear. There will be progress and setbacks and then progress again as our economy and our communities rebound and adjust. While there is a sense of urgency to move along the road to recovery. It is a marathon, not a sprint. Targeting the strategic opportunities that are aligned with a nonprofit’s core mission will lead to a more sustainable and resilient outcome, even if those opportunities are not the first ones to present themselves.

Molly McShane
Chief Operating Officer | The McShane Companies

The shift in tone that I’ve witnessed over the last week has turned from triaging the current crisis to thoughtful planning for the future. Curves are flattening, guidelines for when people can go back to work are being discussed, protective measures for “the new normal” office life are being prepared, and some folks have started to receive funds from the government relief programs. In construction, our active jobs continue to progress, but we are also very busy supporting our clients in pre-development and pre-construction activities. With the increased stresses and uncertainties in deal underwriting, renewed emphasis is being put on feasibility analyses, systems analyses, and constructability reviews. We are busy pricing and repricing a variety of projects right now, and are seeing a mixture of both cost and schedule implications, depending on the jobs. We are focused on finding smart, strategic solutions to the challenges facing us.

The development world continues to see rent reduction requests, slower leasing activity, and a pause in new investment sales. New deals that were on the back burner are under discussion again. We expect that capital providers will re-focus on new investments once the flurry of activity surrounding the PPP loan program quiets down. We have spoken with groups who are developing post-COVID-19 investment strategies based on macro demographic shifts. Others are not planning to overhaul their approach in the wake of the crisis. On every new deal under consideration, the underwriting is being re-visited, with sensitivity analyses and downside scenarios taking a more central focus. Overall, planning for the future seems to be on the top of people’s minds, if not yet demonstrated by their activities.

JON TALTY
Chairman & CEO | OKW Architects, LLC

Week five brings both guarded optimism and a flurry of questions regarding the lingering pandemic. The curve is flattening as we continue to shelter in place, but with each passing day, new thoughts emerge as to what Post-Covid life will bring with it. There has been much debate about how the office experience will change in this new paradigm, but we need to also focus on another crucial space in daily life: what will Main Street look like in the weeks, months and years ahead?

When we are officially permitted to leave our homes and re-engage with our communities, I anticipate that people will return to the real world with one of two dispositions: those who will immediately seek connections (I fall into that category) and those who will choose to continue to distance themselves from one another for fear of continued contagion. If those of us who are eager to see each other again have our say, perhaps we can return to life as we knew it.

But if the habits we’ve developed over the last five weeks become more deeply ingrained in our lives, then we will have to re-think the basic expectations of how businesses operate. How will this change towns in which we live? How will goods and services be provided in our new world order? What happens to our retail spaces, financial institutions, our beloved coffee shops and restaurants?

If one of the primary concerns of this post-COVID future is containment of contagion, there are many challenges that retail will face everywhere, but especially in smaller towns and neighborhoods. I live in a community that for years has struggled with how to activate its downtown. For a long time, that desire for retail and restaurant options harkened back to yesteryear when people’s options were limited and the desire to “shop local” was not just a hashtag or a seasonal challenge. Having an active downtown also meant a boon to local infrastructure in the form of supportive tax revenue.

What drives healthy retail? Ease of access, unique and relevant buying options, adequate and convenient parking, attractive streetscapes and local branding that support a pride of place and a willingness for people to gather and explore. It goes far beyond nostalgia and into the desire to be a part of a community that helps each other out, especially in times of crisis. But how does this landscape change in a future where social distancing isn’t a response to a crisis but instead a staple of daily life?

Will the desire for parking in front of a business be supplanted by curbside pickups and drop-offs? Will wide sidewalks once envisioned for landscape/hardscape, summer sidewalk sales, and “al fresco” dining now be designed with lanes for traffic flow and separation of passersby? Will alleyways previously used for utility service access and the disposal of trash be repurposed as drive-thrus for retailers and restaurants alike? Will certain streets be closed to allow for generous pedestrian movement versus use by automobiles? Will healthcare providers become mainstay tenants of Main Street?

While some of these changes might be feasible in suburban environments, how would this impact 26^th Street in Little Village, North Michigan Avenue, Devon Avenue, and Lincoln Square? We are a city defined by the very unique and vibrant character of our neighborhoods. What will they become and how will they be used by those who live there?

Many questions remain, but one thing is certain. The lens through which we view and activate the town or neighborhood where we live will be forever altered.

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