From time to time clients raise the question of the difference between corporate real estate and facilities management. In essence, they’re asking why we have two different professional designations since they both seem to have the same responsibilities. But the two professions have distinct differences and responsibilities. Here we explore these differences and attempt to bring clarity to the issue.
What is beacon technology? There’s been increasing interest in what is known as beacon technology. Usually associated with retail marketing, beacon technology first emerged in 2013. Today the technology is…
Commercial real estate (CRE) market analysis reports are an important tool for CRE managers, investors, and decision-makers. By providing detailed insights into the real estate market, these reports guide leasing,…
Why lease administration software is important for real estate brokers Commercial real estate services firms typically provide day-to-day management of property leases for their clients. This service is a relatively…
Understanding the commercial real estate market cycle is a fundamental element of understanding the broader real estate market. However, before discussing the real estate market cycle, we should look more…
Information technology is revolutionizing CRE Technology is transforming everything today and this is true for commercial real estate technology as well. When I look back to the early 1970s when…
Corporate real estate benchmarking is an important process for companies to maximize the value, efficiency, and impact of their real estate assets. This article dives into the fundamentals of corporate…
Over the past few years, Visual Lease has helped hundreds of public companies achieve compliance with lease accounting standards. For many organizations, real estate lease accounting turned out to be…
From time to time clients raise the question of the difference between corporate real estate and facilities management. In essence, they’re asking why we have two different professional designations since they both seem to have the same responsibilities. But the two professions have distinct differences and responsibilities. Here we explore these differences and attempt to bring clarity to the issue.
In attempt to become compliant with lease accounting standards, particularly ASC 842 and IFRS 16, there are many intricate details that accountants often have questions about. Today we’ll address accounting…
We’re back in 2022 with a Season 2 bonus episode! After a bunch of attempts to connect at the end of 2021, Marc and Chase finally got together to discuss…
Adopting new technology has become the reality of every business, especially in the modern remote work era. Companies that shifted to a work-from-home environment during the pandemic had to train…
New lease accounting standards coupled with the many pressures brought on by the pandemic have changed how organizations prioritize their leases. Companies are currently reevaluating their lease portfolios to ensure…
You’d be forgiven for gaining a case of whiplash moving from 2020 to 2021. Disaster—a seemingly closed economy, crashed supply chains, tight labor availability, and many millions out of work—turned…
The verdict is in: the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) will not issue a third delay to the ASC 842 effective date for private companies, which will take effect Dec. 15, 2021….
In a piece of good news for Manhattan’s battered office market, over 3M SF of office space was leased in November — the first time since before the coronavirus pandemic…
The Financial Accounting Standards Board issued an accounting standards update Thursday in an effort to simplify the discount rate guidance for lessees that aren’t public companies, including private companies, nonprofits and employee…
Green shoots are beginning to emerge for the office market, with many tenants starting to consider long-term leases — though most firms plan to revise workplace arrangements when the pandemic…
More than double the share of commercial real estate tenants are planning to increase rather than decrease their space next year, according to a survey by the Visual Lease Data…
Majority of surveyed tenants plan to expand their commercial real estate footprint in the New Year Woodbridge, NJ (Nov. 9, 2021) Visual Lease, the #1 lease optimization software provider, today unveiled a survey of 400 senior accounting and finance…
The upcoming FASB accounting changes are not only a challenge for corporate accounting teams, but also for the commercial real estate group. To get you up to speed, here’s an…
Organization recognized as one of the fastest-growing private companies in America for the second consecutive year Woodbridge, NJ – August 17, 2021 — Visual Lease, the #1 lease optimization software…
There is power within your lease portfolio. Over the last year, public and private businesses have taken a closer look at their leases – and experienced the downstream benefits of…
Real estate leases can serve as key strategic assets for companies, presenting opportunities to improve the execution of a business strategy while also creating operational efficiencies. But leases also present…
This article originally appeared here in Forbes. As a result of Covid-19 and the changing landscape related to leases, private companies have received more time to prepare for and adopt…
This article originally appeared here in Forbes. In 2020, many companies were forced to make tough decisions regarding their leased commercial spaces. From office closures to consolidations and deferrals, many…
For companies that are reporting on a calendar year and have completed their audit, CFOs have recently received or will shortly receive a management letter from their auditors. The management…
It’s been just over a year since the U.S. experienced a series of lockdowns in response to the Covid-19 pandemic. Lessees and lessors have had to quickly adjust their strategies to…
Landlords and tenants are struggling to reconcile 2020 building operating expenses and service charges in an atmosphere of highly irregular occupancy and operational adjustments.
With the ASC 842 deadline for private companies looming, there are several things private organizations can do to set themselves up for success.
Real estate, as an industry, has been more accepting of technology’s benefits to the trade in recent years. A growing number of real estate companies and professionals have embraced tech…
Commercial real estate overhead has never faced more scrutiny. While today’s highly agile workforce brings with it a newfound level of productivity, there are various impacts and considerations felt across…
These are the considerations that financial professionals should keep in mind to ensure they are prepared for changes that may emerge due to COVID-19.
To survive and thrive in today’s new norm, these same companies now need to evaluate how these decisions will continue to affect the leasing landscape, and what that means for…
This past year, organizations across the globe have faced unprecedented challenges as they navigate new business models and virtual work environments. For many, it’s been a race against the clock…
Another day, another breathless survey repeating what we’ve been hearing for the last year: work-from-home is more than just a passing trend, and it just may be here to stay….
Commercial office leases were on the chopping block last year as companies grappled with the impacts of COVID. Of the companies surveyed in a new Visual Lease report, 50% received…
How has COVID-19 impacted the road to compliance and the accounting industry? Visual Lease’s Joe Fitzgerald discusses why FASB has proposed new changes to its lease guidelines and what it…
As the accounting profession navigates the challenges brought on by COVID-19, FASB shifted the deadline to grant private companies more breathing room to achieve compliance with its major lease accounting…
In the current economic environment, businesses are searching for new ways to save cash. However, they often overlook one critical aspect of their business: real estate management. Real estate leasing…
In the current economic environment, businesses are searching for new ways to save cash. However, they often overlook one critical aspect of their business: real estate management. Real estate leasing…
Since the start of the Covid-19 outbreak, commercial tenants have fallen behind on rent payments as cities across the U.S. have been on full or partial lockdown for months on…
With the new FASB/IFRS lease accounting standards, significantly more assets and liabilities must now appear on the balance sheet. Yet, some businesses still aren’t using lease accounting software to help…
Until recently, Corporate Real Estate (CRE) and Accounting departments had little reason to talk to each other. ht CRE is primarily responsible for obtaining space and managing facilities-related issues. The…
An agile leased real estate portfolio supports an agile workforce Business agility is a paramount goal for today’s business enterprises. Given the rapid pace of change, and the shortening of…
Why measure and optimize equipment lease performance? Most large, global organizations have some form of management and oversight in place for their real estate leases. After all, those leases represent…
Over sixteen years ago while a Gartner analyst, I launched a series of research reports on the subject of virtual teaming. Because of mobile technology and the growth of telework,…
In my last couple of blog posts, I covered the basic elements of real estate market analysis and the real estate market cycle. In case you missed them: Real Estate…
For corporate real estate decision-makers, will the new lease accounting standards make an already challenging job even more difficult? You already have many factors to consider when choosing locations, negotiating…
We know you’ve got questions about the IFRS and FASB changes related to the new lease accounting standards. Even if you’ve carefully reviewed FASB ASC 842 and IFRS 16, it’s…
Organizational Challenges & the New Lease Accounting Standards There are many organizational models that are used to manage corporate real estate. Companies adopt primarily two models: centralized and decentralized. In…
There’s been a growing buzz throughout the tech world about blockchain technology and its associated topic of Bitcoin, the blockchain enabled digital currency. The specific characteristics of blockchain make it…
The CoreNet Global Summit is a forum for discussion of the most important ideas, strategies and tactics that leading Corporate Real Estate teams employ to meet goals and increase their…
As organizations worldwide prepare to transition to the new lease accounting standards, FASB ASC 842 & IASB IFRS 16, accounting teams are anticipating a heavy workload to prepare for the…
How do you organize your CRE department? The structure of the CRE organization should directly correspond to key processes such as leasing, construction, design and facilities management. Organizational structure varies by the size of the real estate portfolio, the type of industry, the level of outsourcing and the geographic dispersion of the real estate portfolio.
Perhaps one of the most critical aspects of corporate real estate management is the subject of process management and the software that supports it. Process management is a major subject in the topic of quality management. It has been a topic that has dominated management subjects for decades. Most software applications have specific functionality that addresses process management; particularly around work flow.
In several of my blog postings over the last two years I made reference to the subject of outsourcing CRE functions. But my references were brief. So over the next several blog entries, I plan to delve deeply into the subject. My plan is to first discuss the general pros and cons of outsourcing while providing the rationale for outsourcing various CRE functions. I will then focus on three service areas: lease transaction services, design services, and property management services. I’ll also touch on other activities such as facility management and physical security.
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.
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 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.
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.
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.
In this blog entry I would like to introduce the topic of CRE leadership and management. I hope to explore the topic over the next several weeks with the hope that these personal observations will be useful to those readers who aspire to make corporate real estate management a long term career.
It was early summer of 1995, and I was aboard a French SST Concord traveling at roughly Mach3 from New York to Paris..
During my tenure as head of real estate I always began the new year with a few resolutions that would become goals for the year ahead. These were typically above and beyond department objectives for the year and represented personal goals for some kind of improvement. Here are a few that I recall..
With the New Year it’s a good time to take stock of the corporate real estate domain and consider the challenges facing the managerial profession responsible for the corporation’s real estate assets and services in the year ahead. Here are five major challenges if dealt with effectively will determine in part the success of corporate real estate in 2016.
In this morning’s New York Times, it was reported that Goldman Sachs recently consolidated from three floors to two in its major Manhattan office tower. The Times reports that “the changes in real estate have helped Goldman reduce its cost by 17 percent since 2010.” This is yet another example of the value in corporate real estate strategic planning and why I wanted to spend a bit more time on the subject.
In the last blog entry we reviewed how the strategic planning process evolved from forming the planning team, benchmarking performance indicators, and setting priority objectives. Outlined below is what the strategic plan looks like:
