Seeking an edge, U.S. landlords turn to tenant experience apps

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The firm that sold Chelsea Market to Google for $2.4 billion has joined three large brokerages, among others, to back software designed to meet the growing demands of a millennial workforce that is changing how office space is leased and managed.

Office workers now interact online or through smartphones and landlords who ignore this trend will lose clients, said Michael Phillips, president of Jamestown LP, a real estate investment firm that mixed off-beat food and retail at Chelsea Market to make it a major Manhattan destination.