Increase Profits Even During the Recession!

With the current recession, we really need an edge with our commercial real estate investments. I found some really cool ways to increase profits within our offices and wrote the book about it. Check it out at http://www.MyDesignedOffice.com.

If you can't wait to get your hands on your copy of this book, just click on the book icon at the top of the right column of this blog.

By the way, there are a dozen fee bonus items that you really need to see at that web site. Go now!

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How the Recession Affects the Affluent

Check out my blogtalkradio feed on the right column to hear what I said to the 2008 Main Street Forum about attracting the affluent, like Trump's clientele, to the downtowns.


Do you agree with my comments? Let me know by emailing to me at info@LaneArchitecture.net.

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A tip for a Better Office

Anyone can say that they need to hunker down in their dark cave and wait out the recession before doing anything to improve their office environment. I bet your competition is doing just that. Take a step to excel beyond your competition and prepare for the better times to come by taking a good look at the state of your office.

Do you have empty desks scattered about? Having people scattered about the office is very common when lay-offs occur. This leaves the remaining people feeling self conscience about their own job security. While looking at the desk that once was filled by their co-worker, they are bound to think, "Am I next?"

Minimize this dis-empowering atmosphere by relocating departments into a tighter group. This will improve their productivity, create a better feeling of belonging, save money on energy costs if you are able to block off the unused area, and create a concentrated area of empty spaces that can be sublet until this economic storm blows over.

Before you do all of this. Find out where all of your desks, furniture, and personnel, exists today. You need to light up the cave and create a road map of where you are before you can figure out where you need to go.

We can help you with that. Call us at 212-594-2007. Don't go through this recession in the dark.

P.S. I have no idea who is in the above photo. But, don't be without a light and plan of how you will survive the recession.

The February Newsletter Available

Our office has sent our February LAD Sketch Pad Newsletter out to print but you can get a preview by downloading your free copy from the link to the right of this post.

In our February issue you will find out how to be a STARchitect, receive priceless resources, learn how to make your office space more productive, and how to get access to more and more answers to questions that can rescue you from this recession.

How People are Enjoying the Recession

What is your most favorite part of vacations? Usually, it has to do with the “where” you are going as much as the “what” you are doing.

During these financially challenging times, many people are choosing to stay closer to home instead of spending money on trips to Florida or beyond. We all need to be careful to continue our savings. We also need to make sure that we are giving ourselves a lifestyle that reflects our needs and dreams. That’s sometimes easier said than done.

Here is something that some smart home owners are doing during these recession times. Instead of going on a Vacation, they are going on a “Staycation.” They are already planning their summers around their own home by redesigning the family area, bedrooms, bathrooms, kitchens, and yards. Start planning what you will be doing in and around your home this summer. Then, look around.

Is your kitchen or bathroom outdated? Has your family out grown the kitchen? Would it be nice to have the living area opened up to your kitchen? After all, the kitchen is where the guest seems to congregate. Right?

Some people are renovating their back yards so they will have their own oasis to retreat to after a long day at the office. Who needs to go to Florida when you can invite your friends to a game night in your open family room and a Bar-B-Q in your back yard with Tiki torches for light while listening to the cricket’s summer songs?

Before you begin planning the best summer ever, contact our office for your free copy of “Experience Architecture.” It is a journal that will steer you through seven simple steps to obtain an extraordinary home. Supplies limited so call now at 212-594-2007 or email your request at LaneArchitecture@aol.com.

Seven Ways for Offices to Thrive

With businesses struggling during this recession, we are now finding a staggering increase in vacancies in office spaces. In Manhattan, space that tenants have put on the market for sublease more than doubled last year to 8.2 million square feet. According to Reis Inc., a New York-based real estate research firm, there was an increase of 14.4 percent of office vacancies throughout the U.S. during the fourth quarter of 2008. This is the highest in three years.

Two Bloomberg reporters, Peter S. Green and David M. Levitt wrote this quote in one of their most recent articles:
“This quarter was like no other quarter we’ve ever seen before,” said Joseph Harbert, chief operating officer of Cushman’s New York metro region, in an interview. “It’s as if someone let the helium out of the balloon. The downfall of Lehman really changed the real estate consumer’s psychology, and put everyone in a cautious, wait-and-see, don’t-make-a-decision attitude.”

Unemployment continues to rise. It is expected that 175,000 jobs will be lost in Manhattan. Many are from the financial industry.

People are finding that many of their co-workers are now gone. And they are wondering if they are next in line during the next wave of layoffs.

Fear sets in and productivity begins to decrease.

Now is the best time for companies to assess their strengths and challenges in order to come out on top from this recession.

Here are 7 tips for companies to use that will boost their productivity and save them money:

1. Save on the energy costs by subdividing unused areas from active work stations. The heating bills can be reduced by locating open plan work stations near perimeter radiant heating units during the cold seasons.

2. Individual offices are great for privacy. But, they often require their own variable air volume control for the air conditioning. They also require more light fixtures per square foot than open plan office spaces because there is a more efficient distribution of lumens in the open areas. You can save a bit on your energy bill by reducing the number of individual offices.

3. Having vacant desks scattered between occupied desks sends a strong and negative message to the office workers. “That is where my office mate used to sit, will I be next to go?” Get rid of empty office spaces by relocating office workers so they are located closer together.

4. Share common areas such as libraries and file rooms. Sublet the excess and redundant areas.

5. Reduce the number of coffee break rooms by combining their use with other departments. Get rid of excess kitchenettes by subletting them out with the unused office spaces.

6. Digitize old paper documents. Dispose of obsolete documents by storing them off-site or by shredding them.

7. Hire an architect to record where all of your desks, files, chairs, etc. exists. They can draw this on a floor plan that allows you to just click on a space and read who is in that space, the condition of each piece of furniture, and the function of that space. This is the best time to get a clear picture of what should be kept and what needs to be removed or replaced.

It is wise to be cautious during these challenging times. Your competitors will probably remain in the “wait-and-see, don’t-make-a-decision” mode. This is the perfect time to do just the opposite by getting your office to work more efficient than ever before.

Call us at 212-594-2007 to learn more about how your company can thrive in these times.