How Link Logistics scaled a biodiversity program that resonates with its customers
About Link Logistics - ~500M Sq Ft Portfolio
Alvéole Program
- Managed beehive program with beekeeper visits
- Hive placement built into the leasing strategy
- One hive per cluster to keep cost per square foot low
- Branded honey harvest, bottled and distributed to tenants
- MyHive engagement page with QR-code access for tenants
- Annual educational session with the property's beekeeper
It starts with something prospects actually notice
A prospective tenant touring a Link Logistics property in South Florida walked past a beehive on the way through the site. Inside the suite, he spotted Link-branded honey jars and stopped to ask about them.
The conversation quickly shifted from the building itself to the company behind it. To him, the hives showed that an operator at Link's scale was willing to invest in the environment and the local community.
That's exactly what the program does during a tour. It gives prospects something tangible to react to and gives the leasing team a conversation starter that has nothing to do with clear heights or dock doors.
The program was designed to work across a portfolio
Stuart Pechner, Associate Director of Property Management for South Florida, championed the program across Link's South Florida portfolio.
He had already seen it succeed elsewhere. Before joining Link Logistics, Stuart worked for a national third-party provider, overseeing a region covering DC, Maryland, and Virginia. He introduced the program there with Alvéole across an office portfolio. Customers responded well, adoption was quick, and the program eventually expanded to other regions across the country.
When Stuart joined Link Logistics, he brought the idea with him: a visible, year-round program with a cost per square foot low enough to fit within a Common Area Maintenance structure.
Placement is part of the leasing strategy
One of the biggest reasons the rollout worked was treating hive placement as part of the leasing strategy rather than simply a site decision.
The hive is placed where prospects are most likely to encounter it during a tour. Seeing a living program on the property changes the conversation in a way that a sustainability slide never can. Instead of talking only about the building, leasing teams have something real to point to, and prospects naturally start asking questions.
Deployment follows the same thinking. Rather than installing one hive at every building, Stuart's approach is one hive per cluster. An industrial park with several buildings under one contract shares a single hive across the entire park. That keeps the cost per square foot low and makes the program practical across an entire portfolio, not just at a flagship property.
The experience continues long after the tour
Once a hive is installed, the program is built for customers to find and follow on their own.
The signage invites customers in
Link's branded "Bees at Work" signage goes up at each hive, with QR codes linking to a customer-facing MyHive page. Tenants follow the colony through the season without anyone at the property having to send them anything.
One event a year with the beekeeper
Customers are introduced to the program when it launches and invited to an annual educational session with the beekeeper who maintains their hive.
A program the property team doesn't have to run
Alvéole handles the beekeeper visits, hive maintenance, annual programming, and customer communications. Gravel pads replace grass around each installation, keeping nearby maintenance to a minimum. Link's property managers coordinate the initial site walk and forward the necessary templates. After that, everything runs on a predictable calendar without requiring day-to-day management at the property.
The story leaves the property with every jar of honey
In 2026, Link's colonies pollinated roughly 330 square miles of land around the properties where they were installed. That range is one reason each site's honey tastes a little different, depending on what is flowering nearby. Link bottles it under its own brand.
A broker who takes home a jar has a tangible reminder of that particular property. Customers who receive one have a connection to where they work that no building upgrade really creates. Long after a tour is over, those jars keep finding their way back into conversations.
One successful rollout became a repeatable model
Stuart led the first installations in South Florida with the expectation that other regions would eventually follow.
Three years later, property managers in Florida, California, and Illinois are running installations on their own. They coordinate directly with Alvéole's beekeepers, select hive locations, and build the program into their annual budgets. The model transfers without requiring a central team to drive it.
Today, Stuart manages 85 properties and 8 million square feet across South Florida. When peers ask whether the program is worth doing, his answer doesn't change.
"It's worth doing. Absolutely. It means a lot and people appreciate it."
- Stuart Pechner, Associate Director of Property Management, Link Logistics
Every region that has adopted the program since has started the same way: one hive, placed where prospects are most likely to walk past it.
