Glimmers of Optimism in Pandemic Times

Paige Myers

As speculation continues on what the Post-COVID world will look like, most companies are likely reassessing their real estate situations. When can employees return to the office? Will employees feel safe to do so when that time comes? What would the implications of moving to a completely remote workforce indefinitely be? Will our innate social nature take over after months of isolation? Will the countless days of ‘WFH’ shine a spotlight on the value of having an office atmosphere sans spouses/children/other distractions with coworkers to motivate, challenge and inspire our daily work?

Many of you reading this are probably kept up at night courtesy of the anxiety these questions induce – and so are we. However, our team truly thrives on collaboration. And while Zoom meetings have helped us continue to function amidst the shutdown….we are eager to get back to morning pleasantries, team lunches, Kevin Riley Whiteboard Brainstorming sessions and Celebratory Office Bourbons ASASP [(as soon as safely possible.) Should I claim this? You heard it here first. #ASASP].

Despite the many unknowns of the future making it difficult to commit to a multi-year lease – our optimism never wavered and we couldn’t be more excited to announce plans to move into our new home at 3 Gateway Center later this summer. Hats off, again, to the team at Hertz Investment Group and to Tim McCarthy and Jeremy Kronman from CBRE whose commitment to creating win/win circumstances in fragile economic times truly sealed the deal!

In addition to being thrilled to have a brand new space to reconnect in, we’re also happy that we could double-down on our commitment to Pittsburgh’s Central Business District. The Downtown market has been lackluster for a while now, but we want nothing more than to see that turn around. Perhaps “be the change you want to see in the world” is an overly dramatic quote for this instance…but, shoutout to Ghandi for his wise words.

While we don’t know what is to come of the weeks and months ahead, we believe in the resiliency of Pittsburgh, our clients and our peers in the commercial real estate community. We look forward to seeing more examples of the creativity and grit that surround us as we make our way through this trying time and we, as a team and individually, are here to help however we can to get things back on track.