Breather Passport will allow tenants to reserve office space on demand.
Flexible workspace provider Breather recently announced its new monthly office membership program, Breather Passport. The membership program will provide on-demand access to hundreds of workspaces across the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom. Breather Passport is currently the only on-demand, private office membership for teams on the market and will provide companies with the flexibility to bring their employees together with access to private workspaces across 10 major markets.
Breather spaces vary in design to provide functionality for any type of business need, from team meetings and training to board meetings and quiet spaces to focus, with layouts to enable social distancing. The recent drop in leasing activity and businesses’ hesitancy to sign long-term leases played a key role in Breather Passport’s creation.
“What we’re seeing in the office industry is that leasing activity is down 50% in (New York City) and even up to 75% in other markets,” Breather CEO Bryan Murphy told Connected Real Estate Magazine. “Every day I’m having conversations with companies that are considering significantly reducing or even eliminating their offices. They’re realizing that (work from home) is a viable option with today’s technology and availability of on-demand office solutions like Breather. Consider that in New York City, where companies spend on average nearly $15,000 on office expenses per year per employee, plus the commuting costs and hassle. That’s a huge cost-saving, not to mention a better quality of life for commuters. Companies would be crazy to sign a long-term lease right now.”
Breather also noticed that a lot of companies are letting their leases expire, but still want somewhere to conduct necessary business and meet in person from time to time. After speaking with current Breather customers, the flexible workspace provider recognized the need for a concept like Breather Passport.
“Using space for one-off scenarios can be expensive,” Murphy said. “For example, we’re working with a medical technology company that has about 50 employees, and they let their lease lapse because they realized that they didn’t really need a full-time office. With Breather Passport, we’re able to provide them access to completely private, fully furnished spaces at a nice discount, and give their teams the ability to conveniently book directly through Breather allowing their team to maintain collaboration, culture and business continuity.”
How Breather Passport works
The Passport solution will allow employers to control costs, ensure business continuity and maintain their company culture—all while providing employees with a private space whenever or wherever they need it. The spaces accommodate up to 50 people, are fully furnished and include all the amenities that teams and individuals need to remain productive, from hi-speed Wi-Fi to whiteboards.
Companies can choose the number of day passes they’d like each month and pay one fixed monthly price for the entire team from $225 per day. There are no hidden “per seat” additional fees. Employees can use Breather’s app or website to reserve the workspace that’s best suited for their needs on a given day from the flexible workspace provider’s portfolio of locations across the U.S., U.K. and Canada.
Spaces are professionally cleaned between uses in line with CDC standards in regards to the COVID-19 pandemic. Breather spaces are also designed to accommodate social distancing guidelines while also encouraging collaboration and productivity.
What Breather Passport means for CRE
Commercial real estate owners who’ve noticed a decrease in leasing activity could reverse their fortunes by teaming up with a flexible office space provider. For example, Breather offers a Landlord Partnership Program, where the company provides landlords with a turnkey solution to offer flexible office spaces and Passport within their buildings.
“Landlords simply provide the space and Breather does the rest,” Murphy said. “(Breather) offers landlords the opportunity to increase cash flow three times that of a traditional lease and attract high quality growing tenants to their building.”
Breather spaces including secure high-speed Wi-Fi also ensures that CRE owners can meet their tenants demand for reliable connectivity when they’re working onsite.
“A reliable wireless network is incredibly important to ensure users can be productive as possible,” Murphy said. “Breather includes secure, high-speed Wi-Fi in every single one of our spaces so customers can perform their day-to-day tasks without interruptions (emailing, video conferencing, file sharing, etc.). If Wi-Fi is currently unavailable, our team can help.”
Joe Dyton can be reached at joed@fifthgenmedia.com.
