Just like fire needs fuel, an office needs workers.
The work-from-home era ushered in by the COVID-19 pandemic has Atlanta’s employers grappling with how to attract their workforce back to a physical office. Some mandate employees commute to an office most days, while others try to woo workers with high-end amenities.
The leaders of one of the Southeast’s largest natural gas providers opted for the latter, relocating their headquarters to a new space designed to connect a bustling workplace with remote workers. Kevin Greiner, president and CEO of Gas South, said it’s important for an office to spark employees’ interest — and locating it in a vibrant area like the Atlanta Braves’ Battery only helps.
“We’ve very much embraced hybrid work as the future,” Greiner said.
Credit: Seeger Gray / AJC
Credit: Seeger Gray / AJC
Gas South last week moved into its new headquarters at Three Ballpark Center, occupying the building’s eighth floor. The company’s prior home base was One Overton Park along Cumberland Boulevard, which is only about two miles away. But Greiner said he wanted to get as close as possible to the energy created by the Battery and Truist Park.
Greiner said the prior offices worked well before workplace habits changed.
“Our old space was nice for the old way of working,” he said. “It was the classical cubicle farm with some very nice offices… but it wasn’t built for the world of hybrid work.”
The move shrunk the company’s footprint by 47% to 31,000 square feet. Many metro Atlanta companies have decided to lease less office space in response to the rise of hybrid work, which has contributed to a tumultuous office market.
About one-third of all office square footage in metro Atlanta was available to rent at the end of June, according to real estate services firm CBRE. It was the fifth financial quarter in a row in which the region reached a new high-water mark for unwanted office space.
Leasing activity has begun to rebound with eight leases of at least 90,000 square feet being signed between April and June, according to real estate services firm JLL. The largest of those was penned by one of Gas South’s competitors, Southern Company Gas, which signed a 264,300-square-foot lease in Midtown.
Lisa Jebodhsingh, director of Atlanta research for JLL, said the uptick in leasing activity is a reflection that companies are regaining confidence with their office needs. In 2021 at the height of the pandemic, employees at Fortune 100 companies used an office 1.6 days a week on average, she said. But that roughly doubled by early 2024.
“Hybrid is the biggest portion,” Jebodhsingh said. “But the smallest portion is going to be fully remote.”
Greiner said Gas South has not implemented an in-office mandate, instead relying on the new headquarters’ technology, collaboration spaces and amenities.
“A one-size-fits-all strategy for time in the office didn’t really make sense for us,” he said. “We tried to create a space where people want to be versus where they feel like they have to be.”
Credit: Seeger Gray / AJC
Credit: Seeger Gray / AJC
Designed by Atlanta architecture firm Gensler, the office is defined by its workplace options and theming. Employees can choose from a roster of desks, conference rooms, sofas, booths and stools. Rooms with monitors were designed for video calls and reserved meetings. And each wing of the open-floor space is named after baseball terms or references Gas South Arena.
About 250 workers are based out of the Atlanta headquarters, while Gas South also operates a smaller office in Gainesville, Florida.
Greiner declined to disclose lease terms except for its length of 12 years, which is longer than the average metro Atlanta office lease. He said it shows Gas South’s confidence that the new office will withstand the test of time and shifting workplace needs.
“I feel like this is our forever home, so let’s make the most of it,” he said.
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