Case Study

Block’s LA Office Space Strategy

Block are taking a radical new approach to office space in the age of AI.

Block's LA office launch may be one of the most innovative evolutions of the office space asset class. We believe it is also an indicator of where the industry goes from here, as almost every business rearchitects almost every function for the AI age.

In the old world, companies could take years to find the space they wanted, months to get it up and running, and decades before they could change course.

Today, we explore how, leveraging Desana, Block launched in a new market in minutes, leveraged data to make accurate decisions on location and employee preference, and spun up dedicated workspace, customised to their specific needs, in LA in 3 weeks.

Here's a summary of their approach to their LA office with Desana:

  1. Desana's OnDemand solution helped them establish optionality for employees to leverage space across LA County, while only paying for what they used.

  2. Booking data from Desana OnDemand drove location and fit-out decision-making for their dedicated office space.

  3. Desana's Broker Product surfaced the full market of dedicated workspace options, from traditional coworking to multiple "managed" solutions, where they could control fit-out, security, and internet specifications.

  4. Using Desana's FastTrack MSA (known as LongBook at the beta phase we filmed this), they significantly streamlined their procurement process to move in in days, rather than months, into their customised space.

  5. Measure and iterate - the team will monitor utilisation over the short period, and will be able to flexibly extend, or justify longer-term commitment to the space, with the certainty of data to back up that decision.

The impact was a faster, more aligned, more efficient, and more agile strategy to better meet the needs of a necessarily rapidly evolving business, that we believe sets a precedent for companies building in the age of AI.

Resources:

Q&A with Mateo (Head of Global Real Estate).

Podcast with Mateo and Vincent from Block.

Playbook (request below)

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