Costs to Modify Your Office Amid the Coronavirus Pandemic
As we navigate the realities of the COVID-19 pandemic, office landlords and tenants are scrambling to make changes to mitigate the spread of germs so employees and clients can feel safe as they trickle back to office buildings.
Common areas such as lobbies, elevators and bathrooms as well as the spaces inside office suites like reception areas, desks, kitchens and conference rooms are all being modified. Building occupancy levels are being reduced below those allowed by fire codes to meet social distancing guidelines, signs are being created and installed, bathrooms are undergoing retrofits to install touchless fixtures and panels are being installed between workstations. These are just a few of the many changes underway.
Landlords and Common Areas
Cynthia Milota is director of workplace strategy at architecture firm Ware Malcomb, headquartered in Irvine, California with 24 offices in North America. She and her colleagues are helping building owners and tenants plan, strategize and modify their offices for a mid-COVID return. Landlords seem to be focused on what she calls “the touchless experience.” Many were already on their way prior to the pandemic having installed touchless faucets and hand dryers, but now they are completing the conversion by adding features like touchless soap dispensers. She notes that every day there seems to be a new touchless add-on coming to market, like gadgets that let you operate doors with your elbow or foot pedals that open or close doors, all items that are adding to the arsenal of hands-free tools to help mitigate the spread of germs.
She notes that as expected, landlords are also looking at mechanical systems to ensure high quality air filtration. They know that installing an ultraviolet light filtration system cannot be done overnight, so many are opting to improve air filtration on existing systems by installing higher value filters or increasing the air exchange rate to consistently replenish the building with fresh air. Others are introducing free-standing filters dispersed around the office.
Controlling building entry points to monitor occupant density is a common practice being implemented by landlords according to Deanne Erpelding, national practice leader, landlord services, with architecture firm Nelson. Building users are funneled through one main entrance with other doors made operable only from the inside for use in an emergency. They are controlling for delivery and packages, setting occupancy limits to elevator lobbies and cabs, and installing dispensers with sanitizing gel and disinfecting wipes near “high touch” areas such as elevator lobbies where buttons must be pressed.
She notes that a handful of property managers are having spaces such as lobbies, bathrooms and tenant suites cleaned more thoroughly and frequently, and they have indicated anecdotally that these extra cleanings have added between 3 and 5 cents per square foot to operating expenses.
Tenants are Social Distancing
On the tenant side, Milota says that business owners are focused on capacity; how many people can they safely allow in each space? Capacity in reception areas, conference rooms, open and private offices and more have “largely been set by local jurisdictions, with requirements of 25%, 50% and 75% occupancy.” So, the calculation has become, “how many people can I get in here at six-foot distances while maintaining those occupancy percentages.”
Erpelding notes that in kitchen areas, tenants are running the gamut in terms of modifications. “If they are enabling [full] access to the kitchen, they install signs indicating maximum capacity that allows for social distancing.” If they’ve chosen to keep the refrigerator accessible, they supply disinfecting wipes and display signs reminding users to wipe surfaces they have touched.
Some components of the kitchen may be off limits, like the microwave, since that is not a necessity, however some kitchens house the only source of drinking water in an office so it must remain accessible.
Penciling Out Costs
Much has been written about what is being done by building tenants and landlords but how much do these modifications cost?
Gardner Builders, an intrepid general contractor based in Minneapolis, was getting so many inquiries relating to the modification of office spaces that the company created a price list summarizing tasks and base costs related to the most-asked questions they received. Gardner’s COVID-19 Office Preparedness Services list is below. While these are ballpark figures for one region in the U.S., they do provide an indication of the costs (materials and/or products plus installation) that many employers and building owners are bearing to facilitate a safe return to the office. The list is by no means exhaustive, but it does serve as a solid estimate of costs for any business or landlord planning to modify offices.
Use the figures below to estimate the costs you may incur as you prepare your office to open and operate in the COVID-19 environment.
COVID-19 Office Preparedness Services, Base Costs
Gardner Builders, Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Signage
- Fabricate/Install Temporary Social Policy Floor/Wall Signage $1.00/SF of floor/wall
- Fabricate/Install Branded Floor/Wall Social Policy Signage $3.50/SF of floor/wall
Workstations
- Install Plexiglass Screens at Workstation $250 each
- Add Power/Data to Convert a Workstation $1,500 each
Sanitation/Wipes
- Add Hand Sanitizer Station From $150 each
- Add Wall-mounted Surface Wipe Station From $150 each
Doors
- Install Automatic Entry Door Operator $6,500
- Install Foot-operated Handles for Swing Doors $250 each
Bathrooms
- Retrofit Toilet with Touch-free Flush Valve $800 each
- Retrofit Restrooms with Touchless Fixtures $4,500 each
- Retrofit Trash Cabinet with Touchless Pull $250 each
Air Quality
- Clean HVAC Diffusers and Exposed Ductwork $0.30/SF
Antimicrobial
- Replace countertops with antimicrobial materials $800/LF
- Antimicrobial Wall Paint $3.00/SF
- Antimicrobial UV Undercabinet Lights $3,000 each
- Antimicrobial In-ceiling Light Fixture $2,000 each
- Antimicrobial Door Hardware Retrofit $1,050 each
Audio/Visual
- Add TV, Power, Data & Zoom Camera in Meeting/Phone Room $3,500 each
- Add Professional Grade Video Conferencing to Meeting Room $19,500 each
- Upgrade Acoustics for Video in Typical Meeting Room $6,500 each
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