From new office towers to re-imagined legacy assets, office building owners have invested substantial capital into amenities over the past decade. They’ve added fitness areas, lounges, bike parking, and bookable meeting and workspaces, among other offerings. Many in the industry openly question whether the return on investment is, or will be, sufficient to justify the costs. A recent survey of 559 Canadian office workers by simplydbs revealed when and how amenities improve tenant satisfaction (as inferred by Net Promoter Score)—and when they do not.

Amenities alone do not appear to improve tenant perceptions. Usage does. Across the survey, the number of amenities a respondent personally used correlated with how likely they would recommend their building to others.

The relationship between amenity availability, usage and the tenants’ views about their office building is reflected in the building’s Net Promoter Score (NPS) — the share of occupants who would recommend their building to a friend or colleague (rating it 9 or 10 out of 10) minus the share who are considered detractors, with a recommendation score of 0 to 6.

The more amenities a tenant used, the more likely they were to give the building a high recommendation score.  Put simply: an amenity a tenant never uses contributes little to how they feel about the building.[i]  See Figure 1.

Regardless of building class, those who use more of the amenities available rate their buildings higher.

Astute observers of Figure 1 will note that Class A buildings have higher net promoter scores than Class B buildings at every level of amenity usage.  The survey suggests why: Class A occupants report higher satisfaction with air quality (85% vs 70% in Class B) and natural light (85% vs 73%), both of which track closely with overall building ratings. It is also possible that amenity quality is higher in newer buildings, which the survey did not measure.

Perhaps most revealing, across the asset classes, communication levels between building management and tenants correlate with the higher scores, and higher amenity usage. In Class B buildings, occupants who would recommend their building rated communication from building management 8.2 out of 10, on average; those who would not recommend it rated it 5.5. Although not measured, it is plausible that buildings with better communication strategies also promote amenity usage through those messaging tools. 

One approach to communicating with tenants is a dedicated “tenant portal.”  This could be a webpage or an app, for example.  Occupants whose buildings offer a portal —and who use it — gave the highest NPS ratings; those whose buildings have a portal they ignore, and those with no portal at all, rated their buildings lower. This pattern holds when comparing buildings with similar numbers of amenities (Figure 2). Availability is uneven: Class A occupants are more likely to have a portal at 81% vs 59% in Class B and 52% in Class C. Among Class B occupants without one, 62% say they would use it if offered.

Booking amenities may be a reason communications portal use correlates with higher scores. Four in ten office workers surveyed — including many who already use their building’s amenities — said they would use the amenities more often if they could book them through an app.

It is important to note that correlation does not necessarily mean causation. Amenity usage, portal engagement, communication experience, and building ratings all move together, but the survey cannot establish which drives which. It is possible that buildings offering strong amenities and a well-run portal are more focused on customer experience overall, and that this focus helps generate higher tenant satisfaction.

Key takeaways

For office owners and managers, the survey reveals that adding amenities may not drive dramatic increases in tenant perceptions of the building. What distinguishes the higher-scoring buildings is that occupants use what is available to them.

Investments in amenities should include a strategy to ensure tenants use and value the new spaces. A communications plan, including a portal (whether a webpage or an app) is appreciated.

Whether higher scores translate into better leasing outcomes is beyond the scope of this survey; however, the responses are suggestive. Among survey respondents who had a role in their company’s lease decision, 75% of those who would recommend their building reported that their company intends to renew or expand at the next lease event, compared with 56% of those who would not recommend it.

Source: simplydbs Office Workplace Study 2026, 559 Canadian office workers. Percentages are based on respondents answering each question; base sizes vary.

[i] Relationship between usage and NPS score: (r = 0.39), whereas the number available but unused showed almost no relationship (r = 0.05).