More Denver Tech Center companies shift to hybrid work, some with newly-designed offices for hybrid schedules

In the Denver Tech Center, more employees are returning to work at the office after remote working since the pandemic. Many companies have since shifted toward hybrid work, and some are even moving into newly designed spaces that work better for hybrid schedules.

Pax8 is one DTC company in Greenwood Village that just relocated and expanded.

Lane Brannan, Executive Vice President and General Manager of Americas at Pax8, said the cloud technology marketplace was founded in 2012 and has called the Denver Tech Center home ever since.

"We were in more of a traditional office space before, right? Everybody, everyone has a desk. Prior to the pandemic, that's how people worked," said Brannan.

Brannan said that during the pandemic, as the company grew, the company transitioned to a hybrid working environment. The company then moved into a higher-quality office space in mid-August, which has all the amenities that would be productive for a hybrid worker.

"We found that you could be productive as a hybrid workforce in COVID, but there are more meaningful connections that can be made in person. So, we wanted to build out an office space that was conducive to that," said Brannan.

With 50,000 sq. ft. of office space on two floors, it's also a mixed-use facility with an immersion space that has a surround XR screen, a studio, wellness rooms and a gym, a café with a full-time barista, and a library, among other amenities. The office can hold up to 240 people utilizing desk spaces.

"We don't have enough spaces for everybody to be in here every day. We're a hybrid company, and we wanted to build out a space that aligns with the working habits of folks in 2025," said Brannan.

"Pax8 is really emblematic of what we see in the region, which is companies reinvesting in high-quality space for their employees," said David Worley, President and CEO of Denver South.

Worley said remote work has dropped significantly. During a commuter survey from this year, with over 1,700 respondents from the Denver metro area region, they also found that over 90% of people want flexibility in their work.

"That means having office space that works around their life and enables kid drop off and kid pick up, enables workers to be more productive, have better conversations with their colleagues," said Worley. "I think that increasingly people are also wanting to work closer to where they live. They want a comprehensive 24/7 kind of location where they can go to lunch, go to the office, get home, and get to their kids' games," said Worley.

Worley said that's why companies are now reinvesting in multi-use office space and evolving offices for their employees.

"They're not just competing with other office space, they're competing with somebody's second bedroom or their living room, and so they need compelling space that can really make a difference for their employees, retention, and productivity," said Worley.

Worley also said after the pandemic, people were in the office less than two days a week, and now it's over three and a half days a week.

"That's a big change. We really believe that it will probably equalize at about four days a week in the office for most companies in the Denver south corridor," said Worley.

Worley said while they're seeing a resurgence in commercial office space along the Denver South Corridor and I-25, they're also seeing a slowdown in the building of new office spaces. Plus, newer buildings are nearly full.

Overall, he believes the future of office space in the Denver South corridor will be increasing hybrid working environments.

"People do want to be in the office. They just want to do it in a different way," said Worley.

"This is the way that great companies work now," said Brannan. "You need to build an environment that's conducive to that. So I hope we lead the way."

Worley also said people returning to offices in DTC have been benefiting small businesses and supporting the local economy at the same time.