Retaining Our Tenants Through Community

Retaining Our Tenants Through Community

This year Culver City experienced a boon in residential and commercial expansion.  And, we at Olive Hill Group, a vertically integrated commercial real estate firm, also has recently completed a second renovation to the outside of our 20,000 sq. ft. creative office campus, The Courtyard at 200-300 Corporate Pointe in Culver City. Our goal with these new external tenant amenities was to deliver more of a community feel, by providing the experience of outdoor activities ping pong, putt-putt golf, and a safe space for dog owners and their beloved pets to get a little stretch.

Transforming Flexible ‘Outdoor Workspaces’ to ‘Interactive Amenities’

When Olive Hill Group acquired and repositioned 200-300 Corporate Point in the spring 2016, it was our plan to transform the 30,000 sq. ft. center courtyard into an active, communal space that would serve as a flexible work area for tenants and their employees.

In 2017, we kicked off the $1.3M renovation property repositioning to create an outdoor workspace as an extension of our tenant’s interior creative offices. This first phase included communal seating and electrical outlets, Wi-Fi access, comfy hammocks, improved lighting, a  free book library, bike-friendly paths and dedicated food truck loading zone.

In 2019, we completed phase two of our plan to enhance the Courtyard to feel even more like a creative campus community. We did this by choosing to include more activity-based, interactive amenities.  Games that inspire and motivate, outside areas for meetings on a sunny day, and even a safe place away from traffic for our favorite furry friends.  We believe this kind of community workspace support a thriving creative campus community – both inside and out.

What Goes On Behind the Scenes

In ‘activating’ a reclaimed space, our architectural challenge was to strengthen the courtyard’s relationship between the adjacent buildings by better connecting them to the surrounding outdoor gathering areas. And the avoidance of piecemeal architecture, general wear-and-tear created by increased foot traffic, and lawn drainage were considered in the placement of the ping-pong table, putt-putt course and dog run.

“Bringing our Project Management in-house at the Courtyard, helps us to stay close to our tenants.  We know they want their top talent to be mentally and physically active.” says  Craig Folsom, OHG Project Manager

Being headquartered at The Courtyard – in addition to having Olive Hill Property Management in-house –gives us the invaluable, first-hand knowledge of what our tenants experience on a daily-basis. Each time we witness the central courtyard bustling with activity throughout the day whether it’s co-workers sharing a laugh while waiting in the food truck line, or seeing people working on laptops during a group meetings in the lounge areas – our creative office campus approach is validated.

Property renovations (such as the “phase two” at The Courtyard just completed), help Olive Hill Group stay current with tenant needs and keep us competitive with other buildings in the area, which in turn, help with tenant renewals.  It’s no secret that office amenities are evolving. Driven by a growing Millennial workforce, today’s office tenants live active lifestyles away from work, and want an office environment that feels like a home.