Why Alvéole fits inside your existing budget

Budget comes up almost every time we talk to an asset manager. It's the objection we hear most, and here's how we usually get past it.

Most of the time, the request gets filed under discretionary amenity spend. That bucket is frozen right now, on most portfolios. That's not a judgment on the program. It's a filing issue.

Here's why Alvéole fits inside your budget anyway.

It runs through a budget line you already have

The program cost typically runs through your OpEx budget, the same way you already recover costs for other tenant-facing services like landscaping or security. There's no new approval process to build, because there's no new line to approve.

By default, this cost gets filed under amenities. It doesn't have to stay there. Clients fit it under marketing, leasing, or engagement instead, wherever there's room in the budget this year.

Programs start at $10K a year. That's about the cost of one tenant event, except this one runs all year.

Line itemAlvéole programA single tenant eventSustainability reporting supportWhat's includedManaged hive, tenant workshops, honey harvest, ongoing programming, MyHive digital accessOne team activity: happy hour or catered lunchGRESB assessment fee alone, before consultant fees or staff timeRuns for12 monthsOne dayOne reporting cycleCertification valueFeeds GRESB, TNFD, and BOMA BEST/360 data directlyNoneCovers the assessment fee only, no ongoing dataTypical costStarts at $10K/year~$5K to $10K~$5K to $15K/year

Turning it down isn't free either

It just doesn't show up as a line item.

Cushman & Wakefield's 2025 global occupier survey found that 85% of occupiers now expect landlords to deliver more than space, and 46% would pay a premium for better amenities and service. Alvéole is built for that gap. The events are unique and memorable, from making your own honey to spotting the queen bee, the kind of thing tenants actually bring up when someone asks what their building is like.

CBRE's 2025 Americas Office Occupier Sentiment Survey found that about 26% of occupiers would reject a building that lacks sustainable features, and 43% say sustainability influences rent negotiations. Alvéole makes sustainability tangible instead of theoretical. It's not a plaque or a panel on the roof nobody sees, it's a hive tenants can walk up to and honey they can taste.

What that program actually buys

Alvéole runs a live beehive program at your building. A local beekeeper visits every three weeks to maintain the hive and lead workshops: honey extraction, guided hive visits, candle making, honey tastings, and in-lobby activations. Your property team doesn't plan or staff any of it. The program runs all year for the cost of one event, with 9 workshop options, scheduled hive visits, and MyHive digital access so tenants can follow the bees between events.

MIT research (Hu, Kok, Palacios, 2024) found that for every one point increase in tenant satisfaction, tenants are 11.5% more likely to recommend the building to others.

Differentiation

The hive becomes a fixed, physical thing tenants and prospects associate with the building, not a one-off event forgotten by next quarter. Branded honey jars, guided visits, and MyHive's ongoing updates give marketing and leasing something concrete to show on a tour or in an RFP, not just describe.

At FIVE Houston Center, the beehive became a mandatory stop on every broker tour, and expected leased occupancy went up 20% since the bees arrived.

"When you have something highly visible like that, it becomes a major stop for every broker tour that comes through the building. It becomes an amenity." — Scott Talbert, General Manager, FIVE Houston Center (JLL)

Certification and reporting

MyHive isn't just tenant facing. It also turns the program into asset-level biodiversity data your team can put directly into GRESB, TNFD, or LP reporting, plus a portfolio dashboard if you're running this across multiple buildings.

It also contributes toward BOMA BEST and BOMA 360 scoring criteria (ask your assessor for the exact points available for your certification cycle).

Empire State Realty Trust fed its biodiversity data directly into its GRESB submission and has held the #1 GRESB ranking in the Americas for five straight years. See more customer stories.

It closes certification gaps cheap

For GRESB or BOMA BEST buildings, this is a low cost way to pick up points you'd otherwise have to build from scratch or pay a consultant for. The certifications page walks through how the program lines up with each framework, and the certification points guide breaks down exactly how many points it can earn across 7 major certifications.

The same $10K that covers a tenant event also closes a certification gap.

If you're mid certification cycle, don't think about it as ROI. Think of it as the cost of missing a point this cycle.

The bottom line

The budget question usually isn't really about budget. It's about where the line item sits, and what it actually does once it's there.

Book a demo to see what it looks like for your building.