Realcomm, the technology focused real estate web site, recently published an article entitled “The Data is Coming In: Corporate America is Using Less Than 50% of Its Real Estate.” This is no surprise; I remember from my own experience that our offices were nearly 30%-50% vacant at any one time.
One of my colleagues recently posed the question “Is there an example of a decision you made that you would do differently now based upon technologies available today?”
In March of this year, Sodexo released a study of the corporate real estate profession, focusing on its image and value as a viable career path. Having practiced in the profession for over twenty-five years, I experienced first hand the challenges and rewards of corporate real estate as a junior manager, a senior executive and as a broker and consultant . For many years, corporate real estate didn’t enjoy the cache or prestige of other corporate functions such as marketing, finance, and even Information Technology. But this is changing with the advent of new leasing standards and workplace strategies. So it was with this personal back ground I took a special interest in the Sodexo survey and report.
In June of this year, Corenet Global published a report entitled, “The Future of Corporate Real Estate.” The report covered several major trends which would influence the corporate real estate function. Such trends as sustainability, advanced information technology, globalization, the “gig economy”, urban development, workplace changes, etc. would all have a major impact of the future of corporate real estate.
In a recent article in the New York Times, the report described how corporate America is moving from suburban campuses back to urban markets, despite the higher cost of central business district office space.
Security and safety is now high in the minds of CRE managers, because of the eruption of violent terrorist attacks worldwide. It seems a day doesn’t go by when some violent outbreak takes the lives of multiple victims. In many companies the CRE executive is responsible for physical security and thus, must develop a plan for insuring the safety of people and assets in the workplace. Typically the IT department has responsibility for information security, but it’s wise for the CRE executive to coordinate with the CIO on security. So what are the key priorities that need to be addressed in a workplace security plan?
A key process for the CRE executive is overseeing the site selection process, particularly for major office, data center, or manufacturing sites. I’m going to focus on office site selection since this typically represents the most frequent type of leasing actions.
It’s been over a week since the British vote to exit the European Union, and the situation is worsening for property owners in the UK. The greatest impact is happening in the financial markets. Real estate Investment trusts (REITs) are experiencing increased redemption causing some of the biggest funds to halt outflows as a means to protect values for existing investors.
Earlier this week, the world was stunned by the British vote to leave the European Union within 2 years. The most likely impact on corporate real estate markets and operations will be immediate. While equity markets have recovered somewhat from the lows, it’s unlikely that the stock market will return to its historical highs of last week any time soon.
In the last several Blog posts, I’ve explored the various steps in becoming a CRE executive. Today I want to address the question of CRE organization. There is no one organizational model that is ideal. But there are various structures thatfit the needs of most business entities.
