HOW OFFICE TOWERS ARE PREPARING TO WELCOME BACK WORKERS

New protocols that may include, new technology in an attempt to get tenants back into the office by summer!

Many real estate executives are banking on companies calling back their workforce but into a new office setting. Building owners, health experts, and designers are all weighing in.

 

In New York City, many big office towers are renovating to allow for more square footage per company.  Some companies are already working with building owners to rejig furniture and how they can allow for more space between each person.

 

Thermal scanners and giant air filters in the lobbies have been installed in one mid-town Manhattan tower.

 

On Madison Avenue and at Grand Central, the installation of UV lights in common areas and the bi-polar ionization system AtmosAir to target — and hopefully kill off— most COVID particles.

 

Along with a boatload of hand-sanitizer stations, many owners have used the lockdown to install “sneeze guards,” automatic doors and destination elevators, as well as programming phone apps that can be used instead of key fobs.

 

Apps have even been created for companies to allow employees coming to work to see how many people are in the lobby waiting for an elevator.  Some big office towers have hired elevator button pushers, who wear white gloves.

Employers and building owners are getting very creative to ensure that people feel safe when they return to work in person.

 

Other business models will allow employees to rotate office time, fewer hours a day in the office, and with fewer people.

 

Even the restrooms have been renovated to include touchless auto-flush toilets and sinks as well as porcelain tile floors and walls to avoid minimal germ-collecting grout lines. 

 

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