The commercial real estate industry stands at an inflection point. Traditional office leasing models are crumbling under the weight of hybrid work adoption, which now characterizes 74% of companies according to Zippia’s 2023 research. Meanwhile, 83% of employees prefer hybrid work models (Accenture, 2021), forcing building owners to fundamentally rethink how they operate their assets.
The answer isn’t just in flexible workspace offerings—it’s in adopting an entirely different operational philosophy borrowed from an industry that has mastered the art of service delivery: hospitality.
The Hotel Blueprint: Separation Creates Specialization
The hotel industry operates on a time-tested model where ownership, management, and branding function as distinct entities. Take Ashford Hospitality Trust, which might own a hotel property while a subsidiary like Remington Hotels handles day-to-day operations. Meanwhile, brands like Marriott or Hilton license their names and standards to management companies, providing marketing muscle and operational expertise in exchange for fees and access to their pipeline.
This separation isn’t just organizational—it’s strategic. Ownership focuses on long-term investment and asset management. Management concentrates on operations and guest experience. The brand delivers marketing, sales, and loyalty programs that drive revenue and customer satisfaction.
CBRE’s $800 million acquisition of Industrious in 2021 signals exactly this type of evolution hitting commercial real estate. The world’s largest commercial real estate services firm didn’t just buy a flexible workspace provider—they bought into a new operating model that separates property ownership from experience delivery.
Why Buildings Are Ready for This Transformation
The data makes a compelling case for hospitality-style building operations:
Tenant expectations have shifted dramatically:
- 85% of employees now expect digitally enabled workplaces
- 60% of tenants prioritize amenities when choosing office space (Colliers, 2023)
- 77% of tenants report that technology improves their office experience (CBRE, 2023)
Building owners are responding with investment:
- 92% of landlords are investing in technology to enhance tenant experience (Deloitte, 2023)
- 30% of new leases now include flexible terms (JLL, 2023)
- The flexible workspace market is expected to reach $13.6 billion by 2027 (CBRE, 2023)
The operational benefits are measurable:
- Smart building sensors can increase space utilization by up to 30% (Jones Lang LaSalle, 2022)
- Intelligent building systems can reduce energy consumption by 15-20% (Navigant Research, 2022)
Real-World Success Stories
Several forward-thinking building owners have already demonstrated the power of hospitality-inspired operations:
The Innovation and Design Building in Boston was transformed under Jamestown’s management by focusing on tenant experience and community building. Through strategic amenity investments and technology integration, they achieved an 89% tenant signup rate for their workplace experience app and a 54% active monthly user rate.
JLL’s “Flex and Experience Management” locations have seen flexible workspace utilization exceed pre-pandemic expectations, with revenue from these spaces surpassing projections through diversified offerings that cater to hybrid workforce needs.
The Role of Technology as the Great Enabler
The hotel model in hospitality works effectively because sophisticated technology platforms manage everything from reservations to revenue optimization and guest preferences. Buildings need the same integrated approach.
Meeting room bookings have increased 25% compared to pre-pandemic levels (JLL, 2023), yet many buildings still operate with disconnected systems that create friction for tenants. Modern building platforms must handle a range of functions, including touchless access, space booking, automated amenity management, and real-time analytics.
This is where platforms like Proximity become critical infrastructure. Rather than managing multiple vendor relationships for access control, visitor management, and tenant engagement, building owners need integrated solutions that enable hospitality-grade experiences while providing the operational visibility necessary to drive performance optimization.
The Economic Opportunity
The market opportunity for hospitality-inspired building operations is substantial. The U.S. commercial real estate market was valued at $1.2 trillion in 2022. Even conservative estimates suggest that buildings adopting hotel-style operational models could capture significant value through improved tenant retention, increased revenue per square foot, and operational efficiencies.
Consider the typical hotel metrics that buildings should track: occupancy rates, revenue per available square foot, guest satisfaction scores, and lifetime value. Buildings operating with hospitality principles are already seeing measurable improvements in these areas.
The Path Forward
The future belongs to building owners who recognize that real estate is becoming a service industry. This doesn’t mean abandoning traditional leasing for large anchor tenants; instead, it means creating buildings that can serve multiple tenant types through various engagement models.
The hotel model offers a proven framework:
- Ownership focuses on asset strategy and long-term value creation
- Management handles day-to-day operations, tenant services, and space optimization
- Experience providers deliver branded environments and community programming
Success requires integrated technology platforms that can manage this complexity while delivering seamless experiences to end users. Buildings that embrace this transformation today will capture the tenants of tomorrow—those who expect their workplace to anticipate their needs, adapt to their preferences, and deliver service that feels less like renting space and more like belonging to a community.
The question isn’t whether commercial real estate will adopt hospitality principles; instead, how quickly it will happen. The question is whether your buildings will be early adopters, capturing market share, or late followers struggling to catch up in an increasingly service-oriented world.
The transformation to hospitality-inspired building operations requires more than strategy—it requires the right technology foundation. Learn how Proximity enables building owners to deliver hotel-level experiences while optimizing operational performance.