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n e w h a v e n b i z . c o m | D e c e m b e r 2 0 2 2 | n e w h a v e n B I Z 13 Left to right: PETER R. PHILLIPS, CFA®, CAIA, Senior Vice President and Chief Investment Officer; THOMAS BEIRNE III, CFP®, Vice President, Senior Wealth Officer and Business Development Manager; KATHLEEN A. RYAN, Esq., Executive Vice President and Chief Wealth Management Officer; HOLLY M. KNOTT, CFP®, Vice President and Senior Wealth Planning Officer; KIMBERLY I. MCCARTHY, Esq., Senior Vice President and Chief Wealth Client Services Officer; KENT W. GLADDING, CPA, Chief Investment Strategist and Principal Portfolio Manager; BARRY S. PARKS, CTFA, Assistant Vice President and Wealth Planning Officer; PETER J. SECRIST, Senior Vice President, Managing Director and Principal Portfolio Manager Washington Trust Wealth Management® is a registered trademark of The Washington Trust Company, which has licensed its use to its parent, affiliates, and subsidiaries, including Washington Trust Advisors, Inc. Investment products are offered through Washington Trust Wealth Management. Non-deposit investment products are: not deposits; not FDIC insured; not insured by any federal government agency; not guaranteed by the Bank; may go down in value. Write your complete wealth story Living your life well, planning your family's future, and establishing your legacy are goals you set. Our complete approach to wealth combines financial planning, investment management, fiduciary services, banking, and lending to help you get there. Let us work with you to craft a strategy that is actionable and dynamic, continually evolving to address the changes in your life. We provide exceptional proactive and personal service, marshaling the expert resources you require — all with a local, personalized touch. Visit washtrustwealth.com to learn more. New Haven County office market snapshot 2Q 2022 2Q 2021 Market size 10.5M sq. ft. 10.5M sq. ft. Vacancy 18.80% 15.90% Absorption YTD -81,733 -383,428 Leasing activity YTD 170,97 264,126 Class A asking rent $22.52 $22.50 Class B asking rent $22.86 $20.16 Source: Cushman & Wakefield New Haven central business district office market snapshot 2Q 2022 2Q 2021 Market size 3.1M sq. ft. 3.1M sq. ft. Vacancy 17% 12% Absorption YTD -63,289 -84,240 Leasing activity YTD 91,553 8,803 Class A asking rent $28.41 $29.60 Class B asking rent $25.91 $19.77 Source: Cushman & Wakefield Abigail M. Carlen, Newman's director of marketing and communications. "I think that has a lot to do with the space that we're coming back to." Newman's priorities when looking for a new location echo the evolution happening in the office-space market as a whole, said Robert H. Motley, senior director at Cushman & Wakefield. Motley has watched New Haven-area companies shi from "cubicle farms" to open-plan workspaces over the decades. As this decade started, companies were already shiing away from large, open-plan offices with short-term "benching" systems, Motley said. "We were seeing corporations saying this whole idea of open benching space is really not such a good idea, because what's happening is you're having conversations with clients … and other people were catching wind of what's going on," he said. Now, in the pandemic's wake, employ- ers are looking to lure employees back to the office with more amenities and flexible spaces that allow for both public and private areas within the workplace. "With COVID it was a wake-up call to companies around the globe that maybe having everybody sort of out in the open isn't necessarily a good idea, maybe we want to move people back into some private offices," Motley said. Some companies are also taking an active role in "creating a warm, com- forting environment using lighting and colors on the wall that are more sort of almost like being in your home again," Motley said. "Taking some of the nice things that you have at home and bring- ing them into your office." But employers may want to wait out the current trend toward homelike office spaces, Motley said, as the cultural climate may soon shi. "at requires a commitment on the part of management and ownership to do that. It's not necessarily inexpensive," Motley said of adding homelike ameni- ties. "ere's this constant evolution oc- curring, this sort of churning effect that takes place within the inner confines of office space." Wellness focus Looking forward, West Coast trends like bringing more plants and natural items into office spaces could catch on here, Motley said, especially for firms that want to attract young talent. Mak- ing your workplace more sustainable through reusing and repurposing furni- ture is another movement catching on with employers big and small, he said. "You have warehouses all over the globe that are full of furniture that's barely been used. ese warehouses continue to fill up and the question is, what happens to that furniture?" Motley said. At Newman Architects, one recent effort has been working toward getting the new Church Street office WELL Cer- tification – a designation that recognizes workplaces for prioritizing employee health and safety. Air quality and light- ing are among the criteria, in addition to cleaning, sanitization, health programs and emergency preparedness. Like LEED environmental ratings, WELL certification is becoming an important credential in the architecture industry, Fischer said. "If we were trying to do it in our old space, we would really have to kind of start over," Fischer said of the WELL process. "It's supposed to bring you to a level of environmental quality. … We are very close to that now." n

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