By Howard Ecker There is a lot of talk these days about how important it is to take care of your employees when deciding on new office space, especially in regard to factors like the proximity to public transportation and lunch options, as well as the general comfort level of the office. While these are [...]
By Howard Ecker A “black swan” in the business world is an unlikely occurrence that can either screw up your company or make things even better. An unforeseen event that has a major effect on your business, basically altering everything, positively or negatively. A black swan can change your business so dramatically that the real [...]
By Howard Ecker I’m sure you read or heard a few weeks back that the John Hancock Center’s naming rights will soon be up for sale. The namesake insurance company, which built the 100-story, 1,128-foot skyscraper nearly 50 years ago, asked to have its name and logos removed, much like they did from the 62-story [...]
By Howard Ecker According to a recent study I read about, leasing out flexible or co-working office space can be as much as 50 percent more profitable than leasing it out the more traditional way to a single tenant on a longer lease. But the same analysts that arrived at this statistic were quick to [...]
By Howard Ecker Yes, it’s true. Tenants from the tech, creative and media industries leased more than 8.5 million square feet in “trophy buildings” across the country in 2017. That’s an increase of seven percent over the year prior. Examples: Spotify snagged a 378,000 square-foot lease in 4 World Trade Center in New York, and [...]
By Howard Ecker Since our most recent election, fake news is, well, all over the news. It seems that everyone has their own perception about what constitutes “fake news.” Sometimes, I think fake news is anything that we really don’t want to know about or goes against our core beliefs. No matter your definition, [...]
By Howard Ecker Every time you look up, there’s a new startup launching a business, a service or a product and setting up shop in a modern space or a co-working environment. And a lot of them are talented, smart and bold. They have the world by the tail. But for every success story, [...]
By Howard Ecker I’d like to change the game. Change how tenants and how brokers think about the real estate leasing business. Actually, how the world thinks about the real estate leasing business. My plan? I’d like to propose a bidding process for potential clients, and then let the best person, combined with the [...]
By Howard Ecker With all the excitement and speculation surrounding which city Amazon will choose for its second headquarters, I really have to pause to think of all the ramifications, both good and bad, that will result from the decision. The good part is, it will create more jobs than anyone can anticipate. Not only [...]
By Howard Ecker As I read about the death of Hugh Hefner a few weeks ago, what came to mind was the effect that Playboy had on the city of Chicago and the iconic real estate that Playboy created — and what has happened to that real estate since. Recently, I relocated a tenant out [...]
