Workplace case study

Unitus Community Credit Union

Unitus Business Center | Design Build

the goals

Deliver Unitus Community Credit Union’s long-term strategies of Innovation, Inclusiveness, and Inspiring Service with a workplace building that supports employees where and how they work in a comfortable and welcoming environment.

Project Background

The pandemic was a catalyst for the Unitus Community Credit Union team to re-evaluate what they value and need in a corporate workplace environment. The credit union embarked on a hybrid workplace strategy supported by what they termed the Distributed Administrative Network, a regional collection of physical workplace locations for employees to work, collaborate, and connect.

The Unitus Business Center in Tigard, OR is the first phase of Untius’ Distributed Administrative Network strategy.

Innovative Design

The workplace environment offers an inspiring and calming experience for employees, featuring high-quality lighting, abundant greenery, and décor that celebrates the Unitus brand and local Portland area community, featuring artists from the vibrant local arts scene.

Technology is integrated throughout the Unitus workplace to support seamless collaboration across teams and spaces. Mini video focus rooms give individuals and small groups dedicated places to join virtual meetings, while every meeting and conference space is equipped with collaboration technology as a built-in part of the room design rather than an afterthought.

This integrated approach helps connect employees across the organization and creates a workplace designed for flexible, technology-enabled collaboration.

An Inspiring Community Space

Unitus Community Credit Union’s commitment to sustainability also shaped the design of the space, with design decisions factoring in environmental impact and sustainability as a high priority. As a demonstration of this commitment, Momentum and Unitus are pursuing LEED Certification for the project.

UBC-Tigard is located adjacent to five acres of on-site wetlands that Unitus Community Credit Union owns and has committed to conserving and protecting as part of their commitment to environmental sustainability. This natural area serves as a beautiful backdrop to the complimentary outdoor facilities that Momentum developed for the site, featuring a covered community space built of sustainably grown, laminated wood timbers and surrounded by native plants and a variety of active amenities including a pickleball court and lawn bowling.

Our credit union design build services on this project included:

Design Build, Brand and Culture Integration, Employee Growth and Space Needs Projections, Real Estate Procurement, Hybrid Work, Wellness, workplace strategy & hybrid work

Design-Build

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Real Estate Procurement

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Wellness &
Sustainability

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Workplace Strategy & Hybrid Work

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Brand & Culture Integration

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Momentum Moment

One of the biggest questions for Unitus Community Credit Union was “Where?”

Momentum developed a workplace strategy for Unitus that included internal research and focus groups to inform a property search checklist covering the criteria most important to the credit union team. Momentum performed a total investment analysis that showed a move from renting to ownership was better for long-term return on investment.

Momentum worked with a real estate broker to build a short-list of properties that met Unitus’ criteria on paper and toured them with the Unitus team to select the best fit. The Unitus team also wanted to understand how long it would take for their employees to their new workplace, leading Momentum to develop an application that calculates employee driving and transit commute times and generates a report with an interactive map.

With this information in hand, Unitus Community Credit Union was able to expedite the decision-making process and choose their best new location. The team relied on Momentum’s comprehensive due diligence management to guide the property acquisition and closing. Within a few months of setting out on a location search, the Unitus team was moving forward with renovations to their new, optimized workplace.

Property selection can be a daunting process for any project, but the Momentum team helps organizations cut through informational overload and focus in on what they need to know to choose the best location for their workplace.

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