Christina Chiu Tells Commercial Observer What Drives Today’s Leasing Market | ESRT

Empire State Realty Trust President Christina Chiu joined commercial real estate peers for a panel discussion at Commercial Observer’s Fall State of Office Forum on Nov. 13.

The panel – that included Ashlea Aaron, senior managing director of commercial leasing at the Durst Organization; Callie Haines, executive vice president and Northeast head of Brookfield Properties; Craig Deitelzweig, president and CEO of Marx Realty; and moderator Nina Roket, co-managing partner at Olshan Frome Wolosky – spoke on how the flight to quality shifts the tide in NYC office.

See highlights from Christina below!

On the Benefits of a Forward-Leaning Approach

“ESRT has a unique journey in sustainability, in that we started in 2007 before ‘ESG’ became a widely used acronym. We’ve always held the belief that [modernization] in the right fashion is good business. It was a forward leaning perspective on how to be future-ready and cater to tenants. There is an actual return on investment proposition from operational savings, reduced emissions, avoidance of fines, to avoid obsolescence, and for the tenants, it very much aligns with their objectives.”

On What Drives Today’s Leasing Market

“When you think about the office market today, there is a story of ‘haves’ and ‘have nots.’ First is the right location – people want to be near mass transit. The second is tenants want the best quality that they can get at any price point, and that includes physicality, floor plans, ceiling heights, amenities, programming. They [also] expect buildings to be energy efficient and on top of their game. We’ve seen, over time, more and more people want the full [office] buildout already done. The ability to provide sustainability data so tenants can slot it into their own sustainability reports is becoming table stakes. They’re in your building, paying you rent, and they expect to get the data. The last point, that is newer in the last couple of years, is landlord financial stability. That combination is what’s driving a lot of leasing today.”