CBRE’s new office space in West Des Moines is a high-tech, “free address” space that showcases the company’s Workplace360 program while containing touches of Iowa’s culture, officials with the brokerage firm said.

CBRE Group Inc. purchased the CBRE-Hubbell brokerage division from Hubbell Realty Co. in 2022. It moved into the new 8,000-square-foot office in the 595 Tower at 595 S. 60th St. in West Des Moines in early March.

CBRE’s new Managing Director Ajay Kalra and Senior Vice President Bill Wright gave the Business Record a tour of the new space recently, describing it as an example of CBRE’s Workplace360 program featuring the company’s “Future of Work” space standards.

According to a release, CBRE launched the program in 2013 and has opened more than 100 Workplace360 offices worldwide.

During the tour, Kalra and Wright showcased the RISE cafe. RISE stands for respect, integrity, service and excellence. There are various seating styles and tables, light wood floors, a dark green accent wall with natural lighting from the windows that overlook the front of the building. There is also a coffee bar and refreshment center along one wall.

“This is really the center point of all our new CBRE offices,” Wright said.

Staff meetings can be held in the space, and a large-screen TV can display property listings, special events or other information.

New technology allows employees access to several collaborative workspace chat and video applications. The technology is all wireless and hands-free, and meetings can be joined by voice messaging or touch screen. It’s a very collaborative space, which Kalra said makes it an easy, welcoming space for workers.

“All of the technology is really what this Workplace360 program is all about,” he said.

The office features both sit-down and stand-up workstations. It includes several work areas, including conference rooms, focus rooms and huddle rooms, each named after a county where CBRE does business. The office also features art by local and regional artists.

“We really tried to incorporate and represent Iowa ties, and that started with the names of the conference rooms and the artists,” Wright said.

Approximately 50 employees work from the office on any given day, including the valuation and appraisal team, which used to be housed in space off of Jordan Creek Parkway.

Kalra said the office is a “free address” space, where there are no assigned desks and space is first come, first served.

All employees are 1099 sales employees and not required to come in, but so far, workers have not hesitated to take advantage of the new office, he said.

The design of the office, which includes a fully appointed and stocked kitchen, fits in with CBRE’s mission to “promote the office in this new age of direction and layout,” Kalra said.

“Just the little things as far as direction of office, these are the amenities a lot of organizations are trying now to get people back to the office,” he said.

“While the office is distinctly Workplace360, it also incorporates several hints of Iowa and Des Moines culture, truly making it stand out among similar new offices in the region,” Peter Van Emburgh, global head of CBRE’s corporate real estate, said in a release.