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At last week’s annual Commercial Real Estate Trends and Issues Forum, presented by the Business Record, the focus was on office occupancy rates.

Like most U.S. cities, Des Moines and its suburbs already have a surfeit of empty offices. In downtown Des Moines, the problem is about to become worse, as growing companies graduate to their own campuses and leave aging buildings behind.

So what should be done?

It’s certainly important for the business community to play an active part; corporate efforts can range from supporting projects to make downtown attractive, to proactive recruitment of companies.

It’s important for individual leaders to do the same. Now is the time to make the most of national connections, both personal and professional. We’ve spent the past quarter century creating a viable product – an active and attractive downtown – and now is the time to promote it.

As Tim Leach, of the Downtown Community Alliance, said: “Marketing has to be an ongoing process.”

However, we also need to face the fact that some of our office inventory isn’t quite what companies are looking for these days. Do we need to concentrate on seeking out small, entrepreneurial organizations that are more flexible in their needs? Do we need to find practical ways to encourage the (expensive) retrofitting of old buildings? Or will some of those buildings, handsome as they are, have to be replaced?

Some new ideas came out during the forum. For example, maybe a former office building could serve as a sort of mini-campus for a college, complete with student housing and classrooms.

There has been talk of using storefronts for alternative purposes, such as art studios.

Maybe you have an idea that has yet to be discussed.

We encourage you to contribute your thoughts. One way to start: Visit our Facebook page at http://tinyurl.com/BRfacebookfan and respond to our post.