Future-focused, flexible workspace at new Orlando HQ

Lani Kane-Hanan said she gets the question often.

As Marriott Vacations Worldwide’s executive vice president and chief development and product officer, she said people ask why leadership at the third-largest public company in Orlando thinks now is a good time to build a new headquarters.

Marriott Vacations Worldwide’s (NYSE: VAC) new nine-story, 300,000-square-foot space is the anchor tenant for the City Center at O-Town West project, part of Orlando-based developer Unicorp’s $1 billion-plus, mixed-use O-Town West project located near Palm Parkway and Daryl Carter Boulevard.

On Friday, March 11, the company celebrated the topping off of its new headquarters and Kane-Hanan said the company also planted an evergreen tree on the grounds as a symbol of good fortune and prosperity.

But as for the matter of whether investing in office and meeting space at a time when there is uncertainty about the future of office work is wise, Kane-Hanan counters that it is a great time to do so.

“We think it’s actually the perfect time to be building a new HQ, because we can respond to these flexible needs of our associates and we can think about the collaboration spaces we’re going to need, the flexible spaces we’re going to need and the training spaces we’re going to need,” Kane-Hanan said.

“One thing we’ve learned from the pandemic is that it’s important to be flexible, to understand the needs of our associates at the time, which will continue to evolve and change — and we’re going to need to continue and evolve and change with them.”

When planning began on the new headquarters pre-pandemic — the deal originally was signed in January 2020 — leadership at Marriott Vacations Worldwide already was evaluating how the new space would fit in a landscape where how work gets done was changing, Kane-Hanan said.

The dramatic shifts created by the pandemic only heightened that introspection.

“We had the opportunity to pause and really decide what we wanted to focus on, and that allowed us to say there are two main areas we want to lead the design principles for us and for our new building,” Kane-Hanan said. “That’s a LEED [Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design] design principle and a Fitwel design principle.”

The commitment to a building that not only is sustainable and environmentally friendly, but also conducive to health activity and well-being for employees — which is what the Fitwel certification reflects — should help create employee buy-in for a more pronounced return to work, even if leadership at the company isn’t ready to commit to what that will look like just yet.

Nevertheless, at the groundbreaking ceremony for the building in August 2021, CEO Steve Weiz told OBJ a physical office space is critical for the firm’s future.

Kane-Hanan echoed those sentiments. “As a hospitality company, in our roots we have socialization. We know our associates value those collaboration opportunities … and so we will make sure we create a shared space that will allow them to do that on the days it’s appropriate.”

Meanwhile, Unicorp President Chuck Whittall said he’s confident in his anchor tenant’s role in the development’s larger success. He also notes that Unicorp will move its headquarters to O-Town West and suggests that many of the upgrades the office space at O-Town West will have — whether it’s state-of-the-art filtration systems or the ability to call an elevator with your smartphone — just make sense in a competitive landscape.

“Even with our office for Unicorp, we’re expanding our office size, because as a company we continue to grow,” Whittall said. “We need that collaboration.”

Whittall said the space at O-Town West is 99% leased and construction for much of the project is nearing completion, with the exception of the phased multifamily portions. Apopka-based Finfrock is the project’s general contractor and Whittall said spaces are beginning to be turned over to tenants for their own buildout.

Marriott Vacations Worldwide’s space should be delivered in July and the company anticipates opening the new headquarters in 2023, he added.

More details of the design innovation for the new space will be shared as work progresses, said Kane-Hanan, who noted an emphasis on things oriented toward wellness such as a fitness center on par with those of the company’s resort properties, as well as ergonomically-designed furniture and a space that is very walkable.

“All the design principles we’re putting in there are to retain that talent of today — and leave the flexibility to attract talent for tomorrow.”

Amid the uncertainty regarding the outlook for office space, Rick Solik executive managing director of office services for Colliers in Orlando who is not involved with the project, previously told OBJ that new, state-of-the-art buildings will have an advantage in a disrupted landscape.

“I believe you are going to see flight to quality,” Solik said. “You are going to see people recognizing that the office has to have a purpose, and has to be a desirable place people want to come. The newer buildings provide potentially greater comfort levels, and the higher tech and touchless requirements of today’s post-pandemic expectations.”

Additionally, the wellness features Kane-Hanan said Marriott Vacations Worldwide is eyeing for its space are very in line with what firms are seeking in office space right now, said office expert Damien Madsen, senior vice president and managing director of Birmingham, Alabama-based Harbert Realty Services Inc., who is not involved with the project.

“Health and wellness is such a key component to the companies I’m showing space to right now,” Madsen said. “There are a lot of ideas out there about using outdoor spaces, spreading out.”

Meanwhile, the Tourist Corridor office submarket — which includes the new office space for Marriott Vacations Worldwide and Unicorp — features a 12.4% average vacancy rate, compared with 11.7% for metro Orlando, according to NAI Realvest’s fourth-quarter 2021 report. The office submarket has an average asking rate of $26.87 per square foot, slightly higher than the region’s $25.65 average.