Offices. Take Precedence

When different functional areas are incorporated in one building, offices as a rule are located above the second floor, with the first two floors usually occupied by retailers. “Everything depends on how many functions are included in the complex, and the number directly affects the project,” says Elena Kravtsova, director for the office real estate department at Capital Group. “If the mixed­use complex has offices, a retail section and residential quarters, then the shopping area is located on the first and second floors and the offices start from the second and third levels, while the apartments are on the upper floors.
Ordinarily, the retail area is restricted to just several floors, as, according to the experts, a multistory shopping zone functions poorly. “An investor counts on each of the functional areas being profitable, from the shopping area to the offices, hotel, etc,” says Maria Kryukova, head of investment project development at Rossiyskiy Kredit Bank. “In turn, a mixed­use complex has a determined area ratio; thus, the retail section – whose size depends on where the complex is located, the surrounding competitors, etc. – is always situated on the first couple of floors. Conference halls and restaurants can be located here, with offices generally being situated on the upper floors. In other words, what does not fall under retail comes under office space.”
In addition, if the developer has included a stylobate (an extended lower section) in the design, the concept of the office area does not change. The office section is built as a tower functioning ideally as a self­contained building constructed within the stylobate.
Furthermore, experts confirm that the best location for hotel rooms is on the upper levels. “Just as it is important for offices to have such features as column rows and a good layout and facilities, it is equally important for hotel rooms to offer excellent panoramic views. That is why we tell our clients to place the hotel rooms on the upper floors,” says Sergei Mirsky, director for design group consulting at Cushman & Wakefield Stiles & Riabokobylko. “A hotel, especially a business hotel, combines well with an office layout.”

Authorized Personnel Only
The basic rule of thumb to follow when designing a mixed­use complex is to demarcate clearly the various functional areas. “The office space should be set apart as much as possible from the other areas, so, for example, shoppers do not accidentally end up wandering from the retail area into a law office,” says Konstantin Baranov, managing partner at Colliers International FM. “The better the functional areas are demarcated from one another, the more efficiently the complex will operate.”
First and foremost proper demarcation allows each of the functional areas in the complex to have its own separate access doors. Indeed, entrances located on different sides of the building will provide for complete autonomy of the various functional areas in a mixed­use complex. “The offices, shopping area and the hotel should be accessible through a single atrium entrance only if the retail area is luxury class,” says Kryukova. “Each functional section, as a rule, should have a separate entrance on a different side of the complex, thus providing isolation.”
This is true even for high rises. “A developer building a high rise should not try to cut corners on entrances,” comments Maxim Temnikov, vice president at Mirax Group. “There are several reasons for this. First, the entrance is the face of the building. Therefore, potential tenants and shoppers will judge the entire complex based on the entrance. Second, properly­designed entrances allow for controlling the movement of visitors. There should be a separate entrance for each user category: the apartment residents, office tenants and hotel guests. This is exactly how the Federation Towers business center is planned.”
The office lobby in the mixed­use Capital City complex is located next to the retail section. “However, even those entering the building for the first time will not have any problems, as the two areas are clearly distinguishable from one another,” says Kryukova. “The entrance to the office section has a different access point and is recognizable architecturally and visually by color. The interior of the shopping center and office section has information, signs and names clearly and conveniently visible for visitors.”
At the same time, in the event that one side of the office space does face the shopping mall, experts recommend installing sound­proof glass to block the noise. An example of this is found in Novinsky Passazh, where the offices are situated around the perimeter above the shopping mall atrium, thereby creating a type of inner court bubbling with life throughout the day. A cafe is located here as well as someone playing a grand piano, among other activities. Also, relative privacy within an office is attained by simply drawing the Venetian blinds.
Another important factor to consider is coordinating the flow of office tenants, so they do not cross paths with shoppers and those in the residential quarters. For example, if the office section opens at 9 a.m., the shopping center should open its doors to the public no earlier than 10 a.m. “Indeed, these steps must be taken in the operation of a mixed­use complex. Most importantly, the patterns of pedestrian and vehicular traffic must be examined, so they can be kept apart both in terms of time and space,” says Kravtsova.

To Each His Own Space
Parking is yet another important factor to consider when providing for the convenience of tenants in a mixed­use complex. “It is certainly better to separate car traffic on different levels of underground parking,” comments Mirsky. “However, practice shows that such a solution does not always work out. Therefore, a more sophisticated parking system is being set up, with access to different zones.”
“If the parking is on one level with a single entrance and exit, it is better to lease to the tenants of the office complex,” believes Baranov. “For those using the other functional areas, it is possible to provide above­ground parking in an adjacent lot.”
Experts believe the organization of above­ground parking on an adjacent lot does not always remedy the situation, as tenants as often as not park their cars in the free parking lots intended for shoppers. Accordingly, it is necessary to charge for all parking, which naturally reflects negatively on the complex.
Additionally, experts recommend setting up several entrances and exits to the parking lot for the different groups – office, shoppers and residents. For example, these factors were taken into consideration in the design of the 6­tier, 2,100­space parking lot in the mixed­use Capital City complex. “It is most important to separate the residents from the non­residents,” says Kravtsova. “The residential section must have separate parking with its own entrance and exit. It should have its own entrance to underground parking as well as a separate entrance to the lobby. Likewise, the underground­parking entrance for the office area should also have its own entrance to the offices, separate from the apartments. Additionally, a different set of elevators should serve each zone. Consequently, the office workers do not come into contact with the residents.”

An Elevator Apiece
In addition to the aforementioned, each office area should be serviced by its own set of elevators. Additionally, each of the areas – retail, office and hotel – should be furnished with an elevator from the parking lot. As noted, hotel rooms or apartments are as often as not located in the office towers, so, to avoid the tenants and guests from running into each other, the developer should equip the residential area with its own set of elevators that stop only on the residential floors.
Naturally each project has its own design specifics and nuances in directing the flow of visitor traffic. For example, the central entrance to Lotte Plaza goes to the 7­story retail area, where three panoramic elevators are located. According to the original plans, the elevators were go to each level in the building, including the office areas. “Shoppers using the panoramic elevators could have ended up in an office area, which, for the tenants, is inconvenient, as they must post security on each floor,” says Baranov. “As a result a decision was made to eliminate the possibility of unauthorized personnel entering the office area. Two elevators will service the retail sector, from the first to the seventh floor, as well as the panoramic restaurant on the twenty­first floor. The retail elevators will go non­stop from the shopping center to the restaurant. A third panoramic elevator will be for use by the VIP guests of the office area, where an express elevator will go non­stop to the seventh floor and then will be able to stop on each successive floor.”

Discounts?
The lease rates today on office premises in mixed­use complexes are comparable with those of in business centers. In other words, the mixed­use design does not affect the lease rates. Should office space in a multifunctional complex generally be less expensive? “Worldwide practice demonstrates that if the concept is reliable and there are not any errors in the design, the amount of the lease rate depends only on factors such as location and market conditions,” says Mirsky. “There is neither an increase nor decrease in the lease rates.”
Baranov agrees: “Most importantly, the class of the building and its exclusivity affect the lease rate. Lotte Plaza’s location a priori renders it one of the most expensive buildings in Moscow in terms of lease rates,” says Baranov. “I would not say there is a trend for office lease rates to decrease in mixed­use complexes.”

Restless Neighbors
Experts note that the layout of a shopping center – with all of its attributes, such as noise, bustle and heavy foot traffic – would be difficult to call an ideal setting for an office. “The presence of a retail sector complicates coming up with a concept for a mixed­use complex,” comments Mirsky. “It is important to lower the risks of mixing various functional areas by taking them into account in the project design.”
According to the experts, office tenants only stand to benefit from the synergy of the layout developed from a good concept. “If the infrastructure is designed well, everyone will be satisfied, from the residents to the tenants. But, should the entrances be ill­designed or the shopping center be placed right next to the office tenants, problems could arise,” cautions Kravtsova. A mixed­use complex has stores, cafes and restaurants, and services, such as dry cleaning and shoe repair, which, according to Temnikov, allows a building’s office workers to save time taking care of daily chores.
“Tenants can put up their guests for the night at the complex’s hotel and use the services of the conference halls and fitness and beauty centers, as well as eat at the restaurants and take advantage of the other services. Also, the office workers can eat at the food courts and take care of their shopping,” says Kryukova.
In addition to the above­said factors to consider in designing a mixed­use complex – such as separate entrances, elevators and parking lots – it is important that retailers correspond to the class level of the building. “It should be remembered that the office premises will form the basis for the mixed­use complex; therefore, in a lot of cases, the retailers should not be mass­market stores and should not generate heavy foot traffic,” remarks Baranov.

Closing Comments
Some compromise is to be expected when combining layouts, but a successful project design can result in the optimum synergy of various functional areas. It is important to remember office space should not be subject to the bustle and noise inherent in other functional areas, and regardless of which components are included in the mixed­use complex, the office section should always be in line with standard business norms.