A post-COVID World

The COVID-19 pandemic will eventually be brought under control through a vaccine or other measures, but developers and architects aren’t taking any chances.

To heighten workplace safety and wellness, they’re implementing various measures and design features now into new buildings now, ranging from touchless entryways and bathrooms to special paint and enhanced ventilation systems.

At The Loft, a 70,000-square-foot boutique office and retail building under construction in the 22-acre Midtown Tampa project, the building has being designed with a number of features and systems geared to elevated wellness.

“Our original design was intended to offer a boutique experience with large floor plates, high ceilings and a vision for ample outdoor space,” says Nicholas Haines, CEO of the Bromley Cos., the master developer of the $500 million project located between downtown Tampa and the suburban Westshore Business District.

“And our original design features spoke to the concept of wellness, with bathrooms that contained touchless fixtures and sinks and digital entry at doors. With COVID-19, it’s crystalized our thinking and prompted us to add even more features.”

The three-story Loft, which is slated to be completed in December, also will contain an upgraded air filtration and ventilation system using ultra-violet lights to kill pathogens; multiple touch-free, secure stairways controlled by an app to potentially limit close human contact; and bathrooms without door similar to the design in most airports.

Common area walls will be painted with a special antimicrobial paint that resists viruses, fungi, mold, mildew and some bacteria, and 15-foot ceilings will provide airiness.

In all, the project designed by WDG Architects, of Dallas, is valued at $33 million.

Haines says the enhanced features have cost about $500,000, but he views them as a necessary investment.

“We want and plan to own this building for the long-term,” he says. “So we’re mindful of not wanting to be caught in any short-term thinking. We believe these features will create long-term value.”

The Loft won’t be the only new project along the Gulf Coast with features aimed at limiting the spread of COVID-19 or other viruses, of course.

The Related Cos.’ planned Ritz-Carlton Residences Tampa also is expected to incorporate “touchless” elevators and other features into the 27-story tower and surrounding townhomes when completed in 2024, says company senior vice president Mike Hammon.

In addition Miami design firm Arquitectonica plans to add special lighting and automatic disinfectants into the building.

Architects say it’s likely that most, if not all, new office, hospitality and residential buildings will include features that reduce touchpoints and minimize close human contact.

For Midtown Tampa, the enhancements to The Loft come at a pivotal time. The 1.8 million-square-foot project, which also includes 200,000 square feet of retail and restaurant space including REI Co-op, Whole Foods Market and Burtons Grill & Bar, a hotel, apartments and a trio of office towers, is slated for delivery in the first quarter of next year.

Highwoods Properties, the Raleigh, N.C.-based firm developing Midtown Tampa’s three office towers totaling 750,000 square feet, also is expected to include a number of elements to prevent the spread of COVID-19 or other viruses.

Earlier this month, Bromley announced that The Hall on Franklin creator Jamal Wilson would bring a food hall concept to the ground floor of The Loft.

The 8,000-square-foot Hall at Midtown will feature various food vendors — similar to Wilson’s hall within The Heights project in Tampa, which debuted in 2017 — as well as a private dining room and expanded outdoor space.

The roughly 300-seat hall also will be open for breakfast, lunch and dinner, and remain open into the evening for drinks, Bromley says.

With The Hall, roughly 80% of the retail and restaurant space within Midtown Tampa has been committed to, Haines says.

He adds the enhanced wellness features in The Loft, where space is expected to rent for about $35 per square foot on a triple-net basis, are both intended to attract tenants and generate value for Bromley.

“Everything we’re doing we expect will resonate strongly both in the short term and the long term,” Haines says. “For instance, was clean air important before COVID-19? Sure. Is it more important now? Definitely.

“The building we believe reflected what office tenants wanted before the pandemic, but now these are things they are much more attuned to, and should be,” he says.

“And for us, we’re interested in making investments in systems and alike that users will value now and five years from now, because that’s what generates long-term value,” Haines adds.

Ultimately, he hopes The Loft building will become the psychological centerpiece of the 22-acre project.

“What we’re offering will be much more than four walls — it will be a building that’s the integration with all the other projects in Midtown Tampa, all the other components,” Haines says.