BC Business
As family growth and home ownership become priorities for older millennials, the suburbs are returning to favour
The dwindling availability of commercial space in Vancouver’s civic centre may just be reflective of a larger social trend in North American business capitals. Millennials dreaming of home ownership and family plans appear to be choosing, in higher numbers, to live and work in suburban areas.
A focus on development within U.S. downtown cores in recent years—by major operations including Twitter Inc., Salesforce.com Inc. and Motorola Mobility LLC—was said to be inspired by the desire of younger employees to live near major social hubs and lead car-free lives, but new reports suggest the same goals fail are shared by those with their eye on more long-term plans for children and square footage. In a recent report by Bloomberg, Charles Lamphere, chief executive of Chicago-based real estate developer Van Vlissingen & Co., observed, “The city is a difficult place for the average working family.”
Caterpillar Inc. has shifted to a Chicago suburb to provide employees with more residential options, while Marriott International Inc. chose a transit-accessible locale in Bethesda, Maryland, over space in nearby Washington, D.C. Origin Investments LLC also reflected the trend with significant changes to the landscape of operations in both Denver and Charlotte. In Colorado, a sprawling fitness centre and full-service coffee lounge was added to employee perks, and in North Carolina, a rotating succession of mobile food purveyors provide lunchtime options on-site.