Office complexes adding golf simulators, pickleball and puppies to help tenants get workers back

That fitness center, fireplace area and outdoor deck? And the free lunches?

They’re not enough anymore.

Twin Cities office buildings and their tenants are finding that workers want even more if they have to commute and spend the day at the office — that includes both events and more upscale amenities to inject a bit of luxury into the workday.

Enter concerts and puppy days, pickleball courts, golf simulators and putt-putt.

“I have heard commercial brokers make reference to a nuclear arms race when it comes to office space amenities,” said Minneapolis Downtown Council CEO Adam Duininck.

Two weeks ago, Hempel Real Estate CEO Josh Krsnak and his investors spent $300,000 installing a pickleball court, sauna and cold plunge pool inside LaSalle Plaza. In September, they will add free golf simulators, a free car service to scoot workers around downtown and free parking for every worker in the building.

The price tag: $5 million, Krsnak said.

“We’re saying, ‘Come back to the office.’ You know? ‘Spend time together with your colleagues.’ We think people are more productive when they’re together. So we’re trying to get people to want to come back,” he said.

For landlords, it’s important for more workers to get used to the commute. Second quarter office vacancy rates hit a painful 33% in Minneapolis’ core business district and 27% in downtown St. Paul, according to real estate services giant Cushman & Wakefield.

So landlords and employers alike are looking at surveys. It turns out while gym and fitness classes used to be enough, now employees and tenants want green space, too, Duininck said. They also want more affordable lunch options, which could drive some decisions in the fall.

“We are in the thick of this with our clients who are in the Twin Cities,” said Brent Karkula, managing director of agency leasing in the Twin Cities for JLL, which handles downtown giants like the IDS Tower and Baker Center, the Carlson Towers in Minnetonka and 10 West End in St. Louis Park.

Clients say “their job is to try to create an environment that tenants want to be in. And they want these amenities to lure their employees back,” Karkula said. When it comes to piling on the freebies for office workers, “I see it every day. And I don’t see it changing anytime soon. Every [company] is continuously trying to outdo each other.”

Last month, workers dug up the manicured lawn at SPS Tower in Minneapolis to install a beautifully coifed putt-putt course, complete with a curvy rock feature, holes, flags and clubs.

Blocks away, Carmichael Lynch ad agency took its prize-winning view overlooking Target Field and converted it into a flower-strewn BBQ and rock band concert hall for staff.

At the 901 Marquette building, Ryan Companies’ tenant engagement coordinator hauled in 8-week-old chihuahua puppies to get employees off their couch and into the office.

“Puppies? That’s an unbelievable idea.,” said Krsnak at LaSalle Plaza. “I am totally going to steal that idea.”

Lisa Pool, principal at Perkins & Will architects, sees the amenities race shifting into full gear. And not just in Minnesota.

In Dallas, one financial firm had one and a half floors of space converted to a speakeasy, golf simulator and putting green, she said.

“We’ve have also done projects with golf simulators, ski simulators,” Pool said, and designed lounges, salons and studio film spaces for clients.

A single golf simulator can cost $4,000 to $16,000. That’s not slowing Minnesota firms.

Waterford Park in Plymouth recently installed a golf simulator. South Point office park in Bloomington is getting quotes for both a golf simulator and a pickleball court.

Metropoint Tower in St. Louis Park and 3701 Wayzata Blvd. in Minneapolis already spent thousands installing a golf simulation video game in conference rooms.

“People have been working from home for the last few years and they are now looking for a place to work that has [either] the same amenities they have at home” or luxury accommodations that used to be the stuff of dreams, said David Little, workplace principal with HGA Architects.

The costs can range from $500,000 to $10 million to install fancy rooftop terraces, speakeasies, pickleball courts, putting greens, kitchens, collaboration spaces and more, he said.

“It’s certainly not chump change,” said JLL’s Karkula. “To do a space like that is a major financial commitment.”

Karkula offers 7500 Flying Cloud drive in Eden Prairie as Exhibit A.

That 1987 building was renovated in 2017. Since then, Hershey’s, Procter & Gamble and Nestle all moved out. Hoping to stem the exodus and woo new tenants, the owners did another redo. This time they added a golf, soccer and baseball simulator, a shuffle board court, a bar and lockable refrigerators.

“The owner was smart enough to know that a reno that was just fine in 2017 is not good enough for tenants in 2024,” Karkula said.

Braemar Office Complex in Edina similarly pulled out all the stops with a new putting green, bocce ball court and a giant shipping container bar called “The Box” that has beer taps and seating for building employees to use for free.

The building owners now host weekly happy hours with live music.

“And they just signed a contract to build a pickleball court there,” Karkula said. “Every tenant out there right now is really looking for something new and fresh that tells their employees ‘We will invest in you because we want you to be happy and collaborate with other employees.’

But even if office complexes don’t have the money or haven’t pulled the lever yet on new amenities, they are stepping up their game on the entertainment part of the equation.

That’s where puppy days come in, like one on a recent Wednesday at 901 Marquette in downtown Minneapolis.

“I am the happy guy. I bring in the fun,” said Patrick Bemmels, Ryan Cos.’ tenant engagement coordinator, as he watched tenants from Thrivent Investments, the Dewitt law firm and the billboard advertisement firm Out Front Media flock into the lobby.

In one corner a puppy fell asleep on a worker’s chest. In another, a puppy had an accident on someone’s shirt. A third puppy gnawed someone’s notepad.

“This building is always coming up with something,” chuckled Dewitt attorney Paul Quast, getting kisses from a puppy barely bigger than his hand.

Bemmels first asked the Bond Between Animal Rescue to bring in puppies for “puppy yoga” in the spring. Those two classes attracted 80 workers, so Bemmels decided to try it again — this time sans yoga.

Such events have helped, said Bemmels, who jumped into the job in 2021 when COVID was still raging. Trying to get workers back to downtown “was definitely slow.” Events have sped their return and filled corridors that once sat painfully empty.

About 300 workers came in for the ice cream social last month. Dozens came for a raffle for Vikings tickets. About 150 workers came this spring to get free honey harvested from bees that a bee keeper is paid to care for on the roof on the 33rd floor.

“I’m still a hybrid worker, but I come in 100% on days like today,” Thrivent Investment employee Susan Gustafson said.

Bemmels said he has a “healthy budget” for events, though it’s less than $50,000 a year.

Animals do seem to be a magnet.

Kraus Anderson Construction and JLL both brought in llamas to woo their workers back.

“I don’t have a strong desire to go pet a llama. But you would not believe how enthusiastic people are,” Karkula said. “People have really been eating that up.”