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Courtesy: Onyx
facilities, such as co-working areas.
“This ritual of ... getting up and going to wherever your home office is needs to be disrupted right now, because
it’s been two-plus years,” Smith said. “So, if we can find meaningful ways
of bringing people together and modifying our offices in order to do so, that’s the inspiration.”
In other words, corporate tenants may be scaling back in many cases, but they’ll still need significant footprints as they invest in new spaces and new ways for their employees to engage with the space. Smith also pointed
to a shift in office planning ratios from before the pandemic, which designated around 75 percent of
the space for individual users, with the balance going to common areas and amenity space. Post-pandemic, that’s now trending toward a 50-50 split and “sometimes even heavier on collaboration and group spaces.”
That likely made 340 Mount Kemble Ave. in Morris Township all the more attractive to Morgan Stanley, which took 116,578 square feet under its lease with Onyx Equities. The deal
followed Onyx’s $50 million gut renovation and modernization of the former AT&T campus near Route 202 and Interstate 287, which included
a new 25,000-square-foot amenity wing with a commercial-grade fitness center, a full-service cafeteria, a conference center and game and social lounges, along with a new glass curtain wall façade, window and roof replacements and a sweeping new site and landscape plan.
Deloitte also had such an opportunity the Gensler-designed M Station, which offered the chance to be in Morristown’s vibrant, housing- and amenity-rich downtown, but also a blank canvas to plan its space.
“Everything is trending toward a reimagining of the way these spaces are utilized, so in a lot of ways, these existing workplaces are playing catch- up and figuring out how to reconfigure to adapt to these new conditions,” SJP’s Erdos said. “And with a situation like Deloitte, it’s really unique because they were able to custom-tailor this opportunity to exactly what they were looking to use it for.” RE
18 SEPTEMBER 2022
Morgan Stanley is leasing 116,578 square feet at 340 Mount Kemble Ave. in Morris Township. The transaction followed Onyx Equities’ $50 million gut renovation and modernization of the former AT&T campus, which included a new 25,000-square-
foot amenity wing with a commercial-grade fitness center, a full-service cafeteria, a conference center and game and social lounges, along with a new glass curtain wall façade, window and roof replacements and a sweeping new site and landscape plan.
workplace, because they do find value in bringing people together.”
Employers to date have been more lenient about mandating time in the office, she added, but many are now projecting that September is “when they’re going to start to enforce a stronger hybrid program that requires employees to be in the office a certain number of days.” That’s prompted
them to go above and beyond
with respect to incentives for their workforce, such as free meals and improved office catering, elevated health and wellness amenities and free or subsidized transportation options. Those are among the findings of a recent JLL survey of 240 senior HR professionals, which also highlighted perks such as quality of the office space and access to flexible work
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