Saw an article on Bloomberg today about bringing dogs to the office (link below). Seems like RE tends to be pretty old school but it got me wondering if any well-known developers or investors have progressive policies like this. Does anyone know of any RE firms with a silicon valley culture?
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The only national developer I know that boasts this culture is Toll Brothers (however they are mostly residential). There are a few, hip, regional developers in my market who are like this. I work for a small family shop and fortunate to enjoy a fridge stocked with local beer, gourmet coffee, and "wear whatever you want, just do not look like an idiot" atmosphere.
Would you like some safe spaces as well?
youre fucking clever
(Eye roll emoji)... Don't tell me you're a .... Hipster..
Nothing better to do than troll a forum?
How is bringing a dog to the office "progressive?" Is it left-leaning? Solving some social ill?
Anyhow, tons of real estate companies, especially developers, are super laid back. They're the local heavy hitters though, not the national, corporate players. I know a guy who wears skinny jeans, has a beard, and long blonde hair who renovates Class C apartment communities in Nashville and does well for himself while looking like he should be skating down Venice Beach. You're not finding this at Hines or Related though.
Agreed here with CRE with regard to local heavy hitters.
In San Diego you're more than likely to find the most chill office environment possible. Nobody here wears slacks, dogs are always at the office and even old farts surf.
I get that it's an election year but there are plenty of definitions of the word progressive that are not related to politics. Progressive like forward moving, kind of like the general trend of offices to more open and collaborative environments.
Interestingly enough, there's a solid argument to be made that the open office concept has reached its apex and is now in decline (as it should be)
Short answer: extremely uncommon. Especially with PE firms.
One of the perks of making the switch from the corporate RE world to the CRE tech world!
My shop is super-laid back. We get to wear polo shirts on Fridays. Not joking. Place is fucking incredible, never worked anywhere like it.
Also in a polo shirt right now. RE is far more laid back than other areas of finance. Of course, there are the traditional corporate cultures as well, but as with everything else it depends on the location/firm/team.
I work with a regional developer and it definitely is super conservative. Whether this is due to it being in the south (I'm from the north) or because it's the industry is up for interpretation. Although we always throw parties, get togethers, and office outings to blow off some steam it really is pretty conservative. Best culture I've ever worked at though - straight up, no BS.
Weird thread to bump. Adding to what everyone else has said, including me, it really depends on what you mean by "progressive culture."
If you mean politically, you're not going to find many Bernie Sanders or Elizabeth Warren types as big private equity people or developers. That should be fairly obvious.
If you mean some form of "social justice" then neighborhood development companies and/or firms that focus on low income housing would be a good place to start, but don't let a company's mission influence what you assume their personality to be. I know a couple of LIHTC developers who drive Porches and own multiple homes. It could be a calling, or it could just be a niche like any other.
If you mean "progressive" as in development or investment that is good for the community because of its approach, the materials used, and the philosophy behind it, look into the Urban Land Institute (ULI) and the Congress of New Urbanism (CNU). They regularly feature companies, award recognitions, and publish case studies on TND and high density infill development.
If you mean the actual office culture being "progressive" as in cool or something, as in the opposite of uptight, that varies too much from person to person, office to office, city to city, etc. What I think is cool you might not, so I don't even know how to try to answer that. Generally though, smaller private companies have a higher chance of being "cool" compared to big bureaucracies, but then again, Google and Facebook are both massive, so it's still not a rule or anything.
The initial post was about the last category. Seems like developers, especially in NYC, are often suited up and a little old school with vanilla offices and dated tech. Wondering if anyone was known for being more casual, uses Slack, cool offices, etc. Seems maybe the smaller design-oriented groups are more prone to this like Alloy, FLAnk and DDG
"Smaller, design-oriented groups" are definitely more likely. A good, albeit not a full-proof, way to find these firms is to find a really creative or out-there project and to work backwards. Incredible, creative developments are generally not built by boring, out of date people. They might still wear suits to work and use Dell computers, but the mentality of the executives and the company matters more than the dress code or the OS - at least to me.
There are also development companies out there that were originally architecture firms. Eventually, the architect either got tired of building bullshit or got tired of making 50k a year and became architect-developers. These firms, in my experience, are far more forward-thinking.
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I met this eccentric owner who develops multifamily places in the south. He drives a segue to and from work, has a painting of himself in his office, and puts modern "art" throughout his properties (if you consider framed to-do lists and mannequins in bunny fur suits art). I met with him since he's in my AM portfolio, surprisingly he can only get 55% occupancy with crude tasteless art in the entryway. But even then, I didn't see a dog in his office.
I work for a national developer and wear either a patagonia, button down, or under armour polo combined with clarks or loafers. I love my company :)
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