Latest news with #TishmanSpeyer
Yahoo
10 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
High-tech amenities can draw people to the office but management complexity increases, experts say
This story was originally published on Facilities Dive. To receive daily news and insights, subscribe to our free daily Facilities Dive newsletter. SAVANNAH, Ga. – Real estate owners and operators are implementing technology that can better serve occupiers by giving them more control over building access, amenities and other levers that can help boost workers' return to the office, real estate technology executives said during a presentation at Realcomm IBCon last week. But with all these changes come increased complexity that has to be managed. 'Every square inch of the property is being utilized between fitness centers, restaurants, frictionless lobbies and outdoor venues,' Tom Karounos, global head of building and hospitality at Tishman Speyer, said. His company develops and operates top-tier real estate across the country, with about $68 billion in assets under management. Rockefeller Center in New York City is one of their clients. 'A lot of our customers are back five days a week …. So we're trying to keep them comfortable in our properties and make it more welcoming for them to come back to the office.' Attempts to make space attractive include adding AV conference rooms, golf simulators and high-tech gym equipment, according to Brandon Van Orden, senior vice president and chief information officer at Cousins Properties. Karounos said he's seeing more customers looking for conference room services. 'A lot of folks don't have high-end conference rooms within their space within our building,' he said. 'They can't afford it, and they just don't have the expertise.' Providing these spaces and services helps keep employees in the building, bring other resources or employees to the region and into the building while driving revenue for Tishman Speyer, he said. Karounos said his company works with VTS and Swift Connect to provide a tenant experience app that enables occupants to manage their bookings. The goal is to give employees multi-building access and reduce the amount of time they spend at turnstiles entering buildings. 'They may be in Building A today, and they may be somewhere in a different state the following day,' he said. 'Now they can traverse that building frictionlessly in a different state.' But effectively implementing and managing technology creates its own challenges for facility managers and real estate teams due to the increasing complexity of the systems, the executives said. Previously, Tishman Speyer and other companies would roll out technology from the top down, Karounos said. 'Now we actually do research and meet with our customers, not just our property management staff,' he said. 'There's a risk and reward,' he said. 'There's a risk when you're installing a lot of new technology in your properties [of] who's going to manage it?' For example, he said, you can put in a world-class audio-visual system that, when unmanaged, can fail to work when it is needed most. 'When your Peloton or your yoga mirror doesn't work, your [high-tech] gym is useless,' Van Orden said. 'It used to be that if you could lift iron weights, it works. Now you've got a golf simulator. Talk about a maintenance nightmare. There are six different things that can go wrong on those things, and when one doesn't work, the whole system's useless.' The amount of support these systems require is one of the biggest challenges moving forward, Van Orden said. Many real estate companies don't have the engineering skill sets needed to handle the design and continuous support for these systems. 'We have one property that started out with Tesla chargers,' Van Orden said. 'We didn't charge. It was free to customers.' When the company decided it wanted to start charging for the service, it ran into technical problems it didn't anticipate, he said. 'There are some things you don't think about, like designing the network for parking decks under buildings,' he said. 'They don't see the sky, so good luck getting cellular in there. So now we want to put in charging stations that accept credit cards with a point-of-sale system that has no cellular access. Good luck, right?' Another issue is the cybersecurity risk as the technology ages. 'You start adding these things, you add complexity from other vendors coming in and plugging things into your network and you always run the risk of cyber,' Karounos said. 'We put all of our vendors, including ones that we approved, through a whole … cybersecurity questionnaire process. We take the vetting process very seriously and we partner with our procurement team to keep us honest, so there's no kind of ambiguity.' 'We recommend vetting partners out and making sure that we have a good support model and good relationship with them,' Van Orden said. Recommended Reading Non-prime office buildings look to concessions, rent drops as top-tier space shrinks Error while retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error while retrieving data Error while retrieving data Error while retrieving data Error while retrieving data
New York Post
14 hours ago
- Business
- New York Post
Meet the mayor of Rockefeller Center — yes, that's a real job title
Amid the metro mayhem of New York City's Rockefeller Center, CJ — Correll Jones — has become as sturdy a presence as the iconic plaza he's welcomed guests to for the last 23 years. That's why his business card reads: 'Mayor of Rockefeller Center.' 8 CJ's business card reads 'Mayor of Rockefeller Center.' Brian Zak/NY Post And just like his title requires, CJ spends his days making sure things are running smoothly and people are happy running around the complex of 19 commercial buildings covering 22 acres between 48th Street and 51st Street in Midtown Manhattan. He spends his days roaming around Rockefeller Center with his hundred-watt smile in his gray suit and doorman's top hat, greeting those who work in the area, helping tourists get where they're going and making sure that everyone in the crowd is safe and satisfied. A New York icon Jones, who was born and bred in Brooklyn, where he still resides, began his career as a greeter at the University Club in 1983. That's where Rob Speyer, the chief executive of the Tishman Speyer real estate firm, which owns Rockefeller Center, met Jones and offered him the job down the street in 2002. 8 Jones has been at his post since 2002. Brian Zak/NY Post 'He saw something in me that I didn't even see in myself. And he stole me away from the club. And then he brought me here to Rockefeller Center,' Jones told The Post. 'I want you to know I think it was one of the best moves I could ever make in my entire life.' Ever since, he has spent his days roaming the center, making sure everyone is getting where they need to go with a smile on their face. Monday through Friday, he arrives on the subway at 8:30 a.m. and heads home to the missus at 5:45 p.m. — during the holiday season, he also works some weekends. 'This is the center of the world,' Jones claims. 'It's a one-of-a-kind place.' 8 For Jones, seeing the sparkle in tourists' eyes is his favorite part of the job. Brian Zak/NY Post I <3 NY Of course, Rockefeller Center is home to shows like 'Saturday Night Live,' 'The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon' and the 'Today Show.' But when asked about the celebrities he clearly must see daily, he casually confirms Kenan Thompson, Jimmy Fallon, Hoda Kotb and Al Roker as good friends — but leaves it at that. He even deemed Roker the deputy mayor of Rockefeller Center in 2021 when the journalist shadowed him for a segment. 8 Jones, seen here with Rockefeller Center's head gardener Erik Pauze, knows everyone who passes through regularly. James Keivom 'I think he got a kick out of that,' Jones said. He's been featured on the 'Today Show,' 'The Tonight Show' and 'The Kelly Clarkson Show' — the latter of which provided him and about 200 other NYC doormen five days and four nights in St. Lucia. 'Oh, you know I went,' he confirmed. 'That was one of the nicest things I've gotten working here.' He admitted that he's received countless invites from his high-profile profession, but they don't usually strike a sparkly chord. 'I ain't sticking my neck nowhere unless there is a free ticket,' he quipped. 8 Jones is humble about his celebrity pals. Brian Zak/NY Post Jones doesn't really get starstruck and breezes past most questions about A-listers. He's just as happy to chat with a tourist and help them find the subway as he is to step onto a sound stage. 'The best thing about this job is when you help somebody and you give them good directions, or you take their picture and then they come back a year or two years or three years later, and they say, 'You know, I remember you.' Stuff like that, it's a treat,' Jones said. However, he was proud to show off a photo of former President Bill Clinton clapping him on the back. Jones recalled that he'd met the former commander in chief several times but was taken aback when he asked for him by name. 'He came out of the building and asked, 'Where is CJ?' and stopped and took a picture with me and put his hand on my shoulder,' he shared. He was honored that the 'charismatic' public figure stopped to chat with him for about 15 minutes and waved off his guards who tried to keep him moving. 'And then he walked down Fifth Avenue, and I had to be like, 'C'mon that's the president walking down Fifth Avenue.' Unbelievable. That was special,' Jones said, smiling and shaking his head. 8 CJ has been featured on the 'Today Show,' 'Jimmy Fallon' and 'The Kelly Clarkson Show.' Brian Zak/NY Post Toast of the town Most New Yorkers huff and puff about avoiding the popular tourist attraction — especially during the holidays — but recent years have seen it transform and the mayor loves to see it. Above all, Jones appreciates seeing the awe it brings to those seeing it for the first time up close. 'There's so much excitement here that I don't think there's another place like it. I tell people here that sometimes we take it for granted, but to see the faces of people who have never been to New York and never been in Rock Center when they look up and say, 'Wow,' that's the thrill for me,' he explained. 8 While most NYC residents moan about the holiday season, Jones says it's the most magical. DANIEL WILLIAM MCKNIGHT 'What's unique about this job is that you see a new tourist every day, and then you see the glitter in their eyes because of how unique this building is or how neat this city is.' And to the disapproval of most New Yorkers — and many of his co-workers — he thinks it only gets more magical once the Christmas tree goes up. He's the face everyone knows — just stand by him for five minutes and be wowed at the number of people who stop to say hi. Everyone seems to light up brighter than the Christmas tree when they see Jones. To honor his legacy, he's just had a drink named after him at the newly opened Pebble Bar at The Rink, the outdoor bar that's opened next to the Prometheus statue — Jones's favorite piece of art in the area. The delicious drink — an $80 shareable pitcher of margarita for four — will be served at the seasonal bar all summer long. 8 At the nearby Pebble Bar, Jones now has a drink named after him: an $80 shareable pitcher of margarita for four. Brian Zak/NY Post 'It's really crazy,' Jones said. 'To sit there and have a drink and take a picture with Prometheus, you can't go wrong.' 'I am going to bring the missus to come in and try the drink. I'm also telling all of my tenants and my tourists and everybody that I know at Rock Center about it.'
Bloomberg
11-04-2025
- Business
- Bloomberg
Jersey City Luxury Apartments Get $331 Million Loan from CDPQ
Tishman Speyer landed a construction loan to proceed with the second tower in its luxury rental development on the Jersey City waterfront. The $331 million financing, led by Canadian pension fund Caisse de Dépôt et Placement du Québec, will be used to build 50 Hudson St., according to a statement. Construction is set to start soon, with the 40-story project expected to be completed in 2028.
Yahoo
11-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
New York's business boosters push Trump to keep Manhattan tolls
NEW YORK — New York City's business community is trying to make a deal on congestion tolls with the city's most famous businessperson. President Donald Trump pledged during his campaign to kill the new fee to enter Manhattan's business district during his first week in office. But even as he continues to publicly toy with plans to eliminate federal approval of the $9 tolls, he's hesitating — thereby creating an opening for a persuasion campaign to either box him in or bargain. The Partnership for New York City, a leading business consortium that includes CEOs of Pfizer and Tishman Speyer, is trying to salvage the policy known as congestion pricing by using classic Republican arguments about taxes, cutting red tape and states rights. 'In every respect, this is a policy that President Trump and the Republicans should be supporting,' Kathy Wylde, the industry group's leader, said Monday on WNYC. And so on one of the most contentious issues in the tristate area these days, Trump finds himself stuck between the business elites and the anti-toll Republicans who comprise his suburban New York base. Among the latter are Reps. Mike Lawler and Nicole Malliotakis. 'I'm glad some folks in the business community who have a different relationship to Donald Trump than I do are reaching out to say, 'You like a deal, this is a great deal. Don't fuck it up,'' said Brad Lander, the New York City comptroller and left-leaning Democratic candidate for mayor. For a Democratic-dominated city, business leaders can be a powerful counterweight to arguments that the tolls have hurt working-class people. Private-sector boosters are more likely to appeal to Trump's business sense than left-flank politicians and mass transit advocates who support the tolls. 'The concept of congestion pricing — a market-based Republican principle — is that you're not just raising taxes,' Wylde said in an interview. She also noted the idea emerged from conservative think tanks as a preferable alternative to fund transit than raising taxes. As the pro-congestion pricing argument from the business class takes shape, one validator came in the form of a Daily News op-ed from DJ Gribbin, a former special assistant to Trump on infrastructure policy, who urged the president to let congestion pricing play out for a year and make adjustments later if necessary. Gribbin gave his own pointed anecdote about how much better traffic is now. 'My Uber from LaGuardia Airport to Midtown (not far from Trump Tower) took 29 minutes, about two-thirds the usual time,' he wrote. The money from the new tolls, which have been in place since January, are meant to fund billions of dollars in upgrades to the Metropolitan Transportation Authority's aging bus and subway system. A 2023 deal to keep the MTA afloat post-pandemic was paid for using higher business taxes. Wylde is not the only one to sound such notes. While curbing traffic was always the point of the plan, many toll supporters spent years focusing on its air quality benefits. Now, even the head of the MTA — a public transit system in a blue city within a blue state — is talking like a Republican. Since Election Day, MTA CEO Janno Lieber has tossed out a variety of arguments making it seem like congestion pricing is either a no-brainer for a guy who cares about New York City real estate like Trump does or a tricky thing for a true conservative to undo. Lieber said he recently talked with Ed Cox, the chair of the state's Republican Party, about how even red states should be worried about arbitrary federal decision making. The tolling program was approved in the final weeks of the Biden administration using a legal mechanism similar to one relied on by toll road operators in GOP-run Texas and Florida. It's an argument — like so much in the Trump era — that is ultimately directed at an audience of one. The president has called congestion pricing 'really horrible' but has also spoken repeatedly with Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul in her bid to secure a potential deal that would walk back the tolls and provide more funding for New York City infrastructure. Those talks remain ongoing. Lieber recently told reporters in Albany, 'I'm confident she is making the case effectively, however she's doing it, that congestion pricing is a net benefit.' Some business leaders have half-joked about putting Trump's name on major infrastructure projects, like the Gateway Tunnel. More seriously, they have tried to appeal to a perceived desire to be remembered for major accomplishments. 'It clearly would entice him,' said New York Building Congress President Carlo Scissura. 'But I think even more importantly than naming something after him, he can be the president who said we rebuilt the greatest transit system in the world. Now you're talking real results that the president really likes.' Perhaps the most effective argument is that congestion pricing is increasingly popular. Wylde's group waved around polling by Morning Consult that found six in 10 New York voters want Trump to keep congestion pricing, with support for the tolls higher among New Yorkers who actually paid the tolls. That is giving congestion pricing boosters reasons to think Trump may not follow through on his pledge last May on social media to 'TERMINATE Congestion Pricing in my FIRST WEEK back in Office!!' 'This is going to be a popular thing, and Trump does popular things,' said Joe Colangelo, the CEO of private bus company Boxcar. Colangelo is virtually a unicorn in the congestion pricing fight — a Republican-aligned business owner in New Jersey whose company was positively name checked during the recent Republican gubernatorial debate. Opponents of the toll have argued it hurts working-class commuters in an increasingly unaffordable city, and the criticism has cut across political affiliations. New Jersey is not the first place to seek out congestion pricing lovers, as Gov. Phil Murphy has sued to block the program. In doing so he's made himself a thorn in fellow Democrat Hochul's side. Queens Assemblymember David Weprin, a Democrat who signed onto a lawsuit to block the tolls, has argued the party will be hurt by keeping the program in place. 'I don't think it should be a crime to drive a car,' Weprin said. 'You're going to find it's hurting small businesses in Manhattan.' But Colangelo, whose company carries over 1,500 people in and out of New York City each day, is seeing the benefits — travel times so much quicker he said it's 'like running buses in Wichita.' His arguments for the tolls are rooted, like Wylde's, in tax policy and like Lieber's, in predictability. Last summer, after Hochul 'paused' congestion pricing amid congressional elections, Colangelo wrote an op-ed for the Wall Street Journal calling her decision 'mystifying' and said companies can't succeed amid an 'unpredictable, whims-based rule-making process.'
Politico
11-02-2025
- Business
- Politico
New York's business boosters push Trump to keep Manhattan tolls
NEW YORK — New York City's business community is trying to make a deal on congestion tolls with the city's most famous businessperson. President Donald Trump pledged during his campaign to kill the new fee to enter Manhattan's business district during his first week in office. But even as he continues to publicly toy with plans to eliminate federal approval of the $9 tolls, he's hesitating — thereby creating an opening for a persuasion campaign to either box him in or bargain. The Partnership for New York City, a leading business consortium that includes CEOs of Pfizer and Tishman Speyer, is trying to salvage the policy known as congestion pricing by using classic Republican arguments about taxes, cutting red tape and states rights. 'In every respect, this is a policy that President Trump and the Republicans should be supporting,' Kathy Wylde, the industry group's leader, said Monday on WNYC. And so on one of the most contentious issues in the tristate area these days, Trump finds himself stuck between the business elites and the anti-toll Republicans who comprise his suburban New York base. Among the latter are Reps. Mike Lawler and Nicole Malliotakis. 'I'm glad some folks in the business community who have a different relationship to Donald Trump than I do are reaching out to say, 'You like a deal, this is a great deal. Don't fuck it up,'' said Brad Lander, the New York City comptroller and left-leaning Democratic candidate for mayor. For a Democratic-dominated city, business leaders can be a powerful counterweight to arguments that the tolls have hurt working-class people. Private-sector boosters are more likely to appeal to Trump's business sense than left-flank politicians and mass transit advocates who support the tolls. 'The concept of congestion pricing — a market-based Republican principle — is that you're not just raising taxes,' Wylde said in an interview. She also noted the idea emerged from conservative think tanks as a preferable alternative to fund transit than raising taxes. As the pro-congestion pricing argument from the business class takes shape, one validator came in the form of a Daily News op-ed from DJ Gribbin, a former special assistant to Trump on infrastructure policy, who urged the president to let congestion pricing play out for a year and make adjustments later if necessary. Gribbin gave his own pointed anecdote about how much better traffic is now. 'My Uber from LaGuardia Airport to Midtown (not far from Trump Tower) took 29 minutes, about two-thirds the usual time,' he wrote. The money from the new tolls, which have been in place since January, are meant to fund billions of dollars in upgrades to the Metropolitan Transportation Authority's aging bus and subway system. A 2023 deal to keep the MTA afloat post-pandemic was paid for using higher business taxes. Wylde is not the only one to sound such notes. While curbing traffic was always the point of the plan, many toll supporters spent years focusing on its air quality benefits. Now, even the head of the MTA — a public transit system in a blue city within a blue state — is talking like a Republican. Since Election Day, MTA CEO Janno Lieber has tossed out a variety of arguments making it seem like congestion pricing is either a no-brainer for a guy who cares about New York City real estate like Trump does or a tricky thing for a true conservative to undo. Lieber said he recently talked with Ed Cox, the chair of the state's Republican Party, about how even red states should be worried about arbitrary federal decision making. The tolling program was approved in the final weeks of the Biden administration using a legal mechanism similar to one relied on by toll road operators in GOP-run Texas and Florida. It's an argument — like so much in the Trump era — that is ultimately directed at an audience of one. The president has called congestion pricing 'really horrible' but has also spoken repeatedly with Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul in her bid to secure a potential deal that would walk back the tolls and provide more funding for New York City infrastructure. Those talks remain ongoing. Lieber recently told reporters in Albany, 'I'm confident she is making the case effectively, however she's doing it, that congestion pricing is a net benefit.' Some business leaders have half-joked about putting Trump's name on major infrastructure projects, like the Gateway Tunnel. More seriously, they have tried to appeal to a perceived desire to be remembered for major accomplishments. 'It clearly would entice him,' said New York Building Congress President Carlo Scissura. 'But I think even more importantly than naming something after him, he can be the president who said we rebuilt the greatest transit system in the world. Now you're talking real results that the president really likes.' Perhaps the most effective argument is that congestion pricing is increasingly popular. Wylde's group waved around polling by Morning Consult that found six in 10 New York voters want Trump to keep congestion pricing, with support for the tolls higher among New Yorkers who actually paid the tolls. That is giving congestion pricing boosters reasons to think Trump may not follow through on his pledge last May on social media to 'TERMINATE Congestion Pricing in my FIRST WEEK back in Office!!' 'This is going to be a popular thing, and Trump does popular things,' said Joe Colangelo, the CEO of private bus company Boxcar. Colangelo is virtually a unicorn in the congestion pricing fight — a Republican-aligned business owner in New Jersey whose company was positively name checked during the recent Republican gubernatorial debate. Opponents of the toll have argued it hurts working-class commuters in an increasingly unaffordable city, and the criticism has cut across political affiliations. New Jersey is not the first place to seek out congestion pricing lovers, as Gov. Phil Murphy has sued to block the program. In doing so he's made himself a thorn in fellow Democrat Hochul's side. Queens Assemblymember David Weprin, a Democrat who signed onto a lawsuit to block the tolls, has argued the party will be hurt by keeping the program in place. 'I don't think it should be a crime to drive a car,' Weprin said. 'You're going to find it's hurting small businesses in Manhattan.' But Colangelo, whose company carries over 1,500 people in and out of New York City each day, is seeing the benefits — travel times so much quicker he said it's 'like running buses in Wichita.' His arguments for the tolls are rooted, like Wylde's, in tax policy and like Lieber's, in predictability. Last summer, after Hochul 'paused' congestion pricing amid congressional elections, Colangelo wrote an op-ed for the Wall Street Journal calling her decision 'mystifying' and said companies can't succeed amid an 'unpredictable, whims-based rule-making process.'
