Success Story: Cresa + Urban Resource Institute

Cresa partnered with Urban Resource Institute (URI) to create a centralized hub in Midtown Manhattan, designed to empower URI's nearly 1,000 employees across New York City and Westchester County. By prioritizing inclusivity, collaboration, and employee input, Cresa delivered a space that fosters training, connection, and innovation. This strategic location not only enhances accessibility but also provides cost savings, enabling URI to reinvest in its critical mission of supporting victims of domestic violence and homelessness. Watch how this transformative space is helping URI make a lasting impact.

Nathaniel Fields, CEO, URI:

It's really unique because when you think about our work we often are working with people where something bad has happened to them. We're organized to work with victims of domestic violence and those experiencing homelessness and our goal is to end that. Our staff members are all around the city. We have nearly a thousand staff members in all the boroughs and Westchester County. As we think about how we work we know some people are going to be working here and there are going to be people who come into the site and we wanted to have them feel connected.

Charles Carroll, Sr. Vice President, Asset Management, URI:

So, we wanted to be able to have a central place where staff could come to train, could come to collaborate, and learn from each other. With Cresa we were given the opportunity to bring in their space planning folks and so they interviewed all of our current staff that were at the other location and really found out what was important to that staff, not just the management, so that we were able to really build a space that would serve the organization long term.

Beverly Riddick, COO, URI:

We want to locate in the heart of the city. It was as important as what the space looked like. We intentionally built a space that was inclusive and was able to accommodate trainings for all staff, even though staff that are located off-site, it's a space It's accessible to people who work in Queens and the Bronx, we believe, as accessible to those who work in Brooklyn. So, we're in Midtown Manhattan. The vibe is crackling. It's really exciting to be here. And we think that this is a hub for all of our workforce.

Robert Sattler , Principal, Cresa:

Because it was a leasehold condo structure, it had some unique aspects to it and some significant cost savings for the organization that allow them to deploy costs that would have otherwise gone to rent, back into their programs. In addition, I think the centralized hub of the new location will allow many of their employees to come and collaborate and share best practices and best ideas so they can then take it back to their sites and their shelters and run it out through the organization.

Beverly Riddick, COO, URI:

What stood out to us is that Cresa's team, a comprehensive team that helped us to vision, what we want to look like and who we are, and Cresa pulled together a series of focus groups for all of the employees who are going to work at what we now know as the Hub, and they were able to talk through challenges, opportunities, wants, all the way from the coat closets to what do we do about meeting spaces, and technology, technology was huge. Cresa helped us to sort to prioritize all of those wants and needs and put together a list of locations that we went out and looked at and as a result selected the one where we are now. The work that we put in on the front end in terms of the design and the collaboration with all across the hub workforce, which we did pull all of those team members in, it really did help to support an environment where people want to come to work in person and work together.