2023年经济学人 奢华的写字楼与低迷的市场（2）

 

 

    The result is an arms-race at the very top of the market, particularly in the most competitive cities.

    其结果是，商业地产的最高端市场展开了“军备竞赛”，尤其是在最具竞争力的城市。

    Many of the new breed of luxury offices offer concierges¹ - some having poached hospitality teams from places such as the Four Seasons hotel chain - and rooftop bars serving high-quality booze.

    许多新型的豪华办公室都开始雇佣为其他员工服务的雇员——一些公司从四季连锁酒店等公司挖来了接待团队——以及屋顶酒吧，提供高品质的酒水。

    They typically boast eye-catching entrances.

    大厦的入口通常都十分引人注目。

    The lobby in 425 Park Avenue, an office block round the corner from One Vanderbilt, is three storeys tall.

    公园大道425号是范德比尔特一号大厦拐角处的一栋办公楼，它的大堂有三层楼高。

    At Spiral, a new tower with tree-lined terraces on every floor, the lobby is infused with a signature scent² and soothing³ music.

    螺旋大厦每一层都有绿树成荫的露台，大堂里弥漫着独有的香味，舒缓的音乐回荡在其中。

    The ambition is to make life as cushy as possible for workers - not just to get people back into the office, but also to aid recruitment in a tight labour market.

    设计的宏伟目标在于让员工的工作环境更加放松——不仅是为了让人们抛弃居家办公，也是为了在紧张的劳动力市场中脱颖而出。

    Tenants⁴ at 50 Hudson Yards, home to BlackRock, an investment firm, and Meta, a social-media giant, have access to a helipad, which offers five-minute transfers to John F.Kennedy International Airport for roughly the price of an Uber suv.

    哈德逊广场50号是贝莱德投资公司和社交媒体巨头Meta的总部所在地，这里的租户可以使用直升机停机坪，五分钟就能到达肯尼迪国际机场，费用大致相当于在优步上叫一辆SUV。

    Other offices provide services such as pet care, baby-sitting and dry cleaning.

    还有一些公司提供宠物护理、照看婴儿和干洗等服务。

    Landlords are rushing to spruce up older offices as well.

    房东们也在争先恐后地整修老旧办公室。

    The GM Building, a 55-year-old tower overlooking Central Park and once owned by the Trump⁵ Organisation⁶, was recently refurbished to include a bar, lounge and fitness centre with spin and yoga studios.

    曾为特朗普集团所有，能够俯瞰中央公园，有55年历史的通用汽车大楼最近进行了翻修，翻修后的大楼拥有酒吧、休息室和带有动感单车和瑜伽馆的健身中心。

    Modern workers do not just seek luxury, however.

    然而，现代职场人士追求的不仅仅是奢华。

    They also want to salve their consciences.

    他们还想抚慰自己的良心。

    As a result, green buildings are increasingly popular.

    因此，绿色建筑越来越受欢迎。

    For landlords, these have the twin advantages of attracting higher rents and hedging against obsolescence⁷, as countries look to meet their net-zero carbon goals.

    对于房东来说，由于各国对净零碳的追求，这些改变既能提高租金，又能抵御房屋陈旧的风险。

    New energy-efficiency requirements for buildings in England and Wales mean that more than half of London's office stock could be unusable by 2027.

    英格兰和威尔士对建筑的新能源效率提出了要求，这意味着到2027年，伦敦一半以上的写字楼储备物可能无法使用。

    In Europe buildings will be required to source roughly half their energy from renewable sources by 2030.

    欧洲要求，到2030年，建筑物使用的能源大约一半要是可再生能源。

    Among the newer breed of offices, clean air, minimal⁸ carbon emissions⁹ and better insulation¹⁰ are commonplace.

    空气清新、低碳排放和高强度隔热成为了新型办公室的标配。

    One Manhattan West, another tower in the Hudson Yards development, is powered entirely¹¹ by renewable energy.

    “曼哈顿西区一号”大厦是哈德逊城市广场开发项目的另一座大楼，它完全由可再生能源供电。

    Like many developers, the tower's owner, Brookfield, is aiming to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050.

    与许多开发商一样，该大厦的所有者布鲁克菲尔德的目标是到2050年实现净零排放。

    Yet one question hovers¹² over the luxury boom, and it is a big one.

    然而，有一个关键的问题一直笼罩着这股“奢华热潮”。

    What happens to the market if economic conditions deteriorate¹³?

    如果经济状况恶化，商业地产市场会受到怎样的影响？

    After the global financial crisis of 2007-09, premium¹⁴ buildings were hit less hard than their more humble¹⁵ rivals, but the whole industry suffered.

    在2007至2009年的全球金融危机之后，高端建筑受到的冲击虽没有其低端建筑的竞争对手那么严重，但整个行业确实都受到了影响。

    In London, prime-office rents in the third quarter of 2009 were 35% below their peak in 2007.

    在伦敦，2009年第三季度高端写字楼的租金比2007年峰值时低了35%。

    The owners of today's luxury towers must hope that foie gras and high-tech¹⁶ gyms will protect them next time around.

    如今，这些豪华大厦的业主们一定希望鹅肝酱和高科技健身房能在下一次金融危机时保护他们。

1 concierges   

n.看门人，门房( concierge的名词复数 )

参考例句：

2 scent   

n.气味，香味，香水，线索，嗅觉；v.嗅，发觉

参考例句：

• The air was filled with the scent of lilac.空气中弥漫着丁香花的芬芳。
• The flowers give off a heady scent at night.这些花晚上散发出醉人的芳香。

3 soothing   

adj.慰藉的；使人宽心的；镇静的

参考例句：

• Put on some nice soothing music.播放一些柔和舒缓的音乐。
• His casual, relaxed manner was very soothing.他随意而放松的举动让人很快便平静下来。

4 tenants   

n.房客( tenant的名词复数 )；佃户；占用者；占有者

参考例句：

• A number of tenants have been evicted for not paying the rent. 许多房客因不付房租被赶了出来。
• Tenants are jointly and severally liable for payment of the rent. 租金由承租人共同且分别承担。

5 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

6 organisation   

n.组织，安排，团体，有机休

参考例句：

• The method of his organisation work is worth commending.他的组织工作的方法值得称道。
• His application for membership of the organisation was rejected.他想要加入该组织的申请遭到了拒绝。

7 obsolescence   

n.过时，陈旧，废弃

参考例句：

• For some small unproductive mills,the reality is not merger but obsolescence and bankruptcy.对一些效率低下的小厂而言，现实不是合并，而是可能被淘汰和破产。
• Finally,the cost approach can provide a basis for allocating penalties,specifically economic obsolescence.最后，成本法可作为一个分配因陈旧特别是因经济

8 minimal   

adj.尽可能少的，最小的

参考例句：

• They referred to this kind of art as minimal art.他们把这种艺术叫微型艺术。
• I stayed with friends, so my expenses were minimal.我住在朋友家，所以我的花费很小。

9 emissions   

排放物( emission的名词复数 )； 散发物（尤指气体）

参考例句：

• Most scientists accept that climate change is linked to carbon emissions. 大多数科学家都相信气候变化与排放的含碳气体有关。
• Dangerous emissions radiate from plutonium. 危险的辐射物从钚放散出来。

10 insulation   

n.隔离；绝缘；隔热

参考例句：

• Please examine the insulation of the electric wires in my house.请检查一下我屋子里电线的绝缘情况。
• It is always difficult to assure good insulation between the electric leads.要保证两个电触头之间有良好的绝缘总是很困难的。

11 entirely   

ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。
• His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。

12 hovers   

鸟( hover的第三人称单数 )； 靠近（某事物）； （人）徘徊； 犹豫

参考例句：

• A hawk hovers in the sky. 一只老鹰在天空盘旋。
• A hen hovers her chicks. 一只母鸡在孵小鸡。

13 deteriorate   

v.变坏；恶化；退化

参考例句：

• Do you think relations between China and Japan will continue to deteriorate?你认为中日关系会继续恶化吗？
• He held that this would only cause the situation to deteriorate further.他认为，这只会使局势更加恶化。

14 premium   

n.加付款；赠品；adj.高级的；售价高的

参考例句：

• You have to pay a premium for express delivery.寄快递你得付额外费用。
• Fresh water was at a premium after the reservoir was contaminated.在水库被污染之后，清水便因稀而贵了。

15 humble   

adj.谦卑的，恭顺的；地位低下的；v.降低，贬低

参考例句：

• In my humble opinion,he will win the election.依我拙见，他将在选举中获胜。
• Defeat and failure make people humble.挫折与失败会使人谦卑。

16 high-tech   

adj.高科技的

参考例句：

• The economy is in the upswing which makes high-tech services in more demand too.经济在蓬勃发展，这就使对高科技服务的需求量也在加大。
• The quest of a cure for disease with high-tech has never ceased. 人们希望运用高科技治疗疾病的追求从未停止过。