Features

 M anaging risk has always been the cornerstone of the corporate relocation process, although rarely has a corporate executive or his economic development counterpart framed the decision-making process in quite those terms. In the post September 11th environment, however, risk management has moved beyond its traditional spheres of technological and financial risk assessment and now […]

Service Providers on the Move…. USAA Realty Co., San Antonio, has named David L. Reahl to head its north-central region and the Chicago office. Reahl previously was vice president and asset manager at LaSalle Investment Management, Chicago, where he was responsible for overall performance of property portfolios of $400 million in assets. Insignia/ESG has hired […]

 T he heat created by the North American push into Europe for new call centers has turned desirable locations into no-go areas for some U.S. corporates. But while some locations have become victims of their own success, others are emerging as new winners in the current cooler environment for new call center operations — especially […]

 C orporate real estate managers with outsourcing contracts coming up for renewal have a unique opportunity, which is to hear how the provider of the service defines what has come to be known as “second-generation outsourcing.” If that provider cannot articulate how the next chapter in a service provider agreement will be better than the […]

 I n the January issue of Site Selection, I introduced the Strategy Alignment Model, which is a framework for directly aligning corporate real estate with the core business. As shown in Figure 1, the model is comprised of three components and seven guiding principles.         The focus of the first installment was […]

  L  ook closely — there’s a new luster on Site Selection‘s Governor’s Cup this year, a gloss that began taking shape last fall, when a new set of competition criteria came into being. After all, the successful systems in place in the business world are those that are maintained and refined as necessary to ensure […]

From Site Selection magazine, March 2002 TOP METROS   The 2001 Governor’s Cup   • and the winner is …   • New Corporate      Facilities and      Expansions   • 2001’s Biggest U.S.      Corporate Facilities   • Top Metros   • Top Industries   • Global Location      Activity Chicago Breezes By Competition for Top Metro Spot By GINNY […]

From Site Selection magazine, March 2002 TOP INDUSTRIES   The 2001 Governor’s Cup   • and the winner is …   • New Corporate      Facilities and      Expansions   • 2001’s Biggest U.S.      Corporate Facilities   • Top Metros   • Top Industries   • Global Location      Activity The Auto Industry Leads All Sectors by RON STARNER   T  […]

From Site Selection magazine, March 2002 GLOBAL LOCATION ACTIVITY   The 2001 Governor’s Cup   • and the winner is …   • New Corporate      Facilities and      Expansions   • 2001’s Biggest U.S.      Corporate Facilities   • Top Metros   • Top Industries   • Global Location      Activity Canada, Far East Lead Top Global Projects in 2001 […]

 L ocation searches frequently focus on the larger metropolitan areas, and for good reason. Data sources are more readily available for these locations, and they represent the largest labor markets, airports, developed properties and other resources. However, there is a whole other layer of locations the small towns — that represent communities with populations of […]

 W hen the Intel Corp. started searching two years ago for a place to build a new wafer fabrication plant for manufacturing semiconductor chips, the world’s largest chip-maker found exactly what it needed in Chandler, Ariz.         When WorldCom needed to expand its international telecommunications empire in December 2001, it announced a […]

From Site Selection magazine, March 2002 IDRC ABSTRACTS Following are abstracts of major presentations of the International Development Research Council, which this year is merging with NACORE to form CoreNet Global — the world’s pre-eminent corporate real estate association. “Corporate Energy Strategies: Corporate Real Estate and Economic Development Perspectives,” Texas World Congress, Oct. 22, 2001: […]

 D uring the closing months of 2001, activity in the real estate sale-leaseback market surged as more and more corporations sought to raise cash in a declining economic environment.         W. P. Carey & Co., LLC, completed US$185 million worth of transactions in the fourth quarter of 2001, nearly half of the […]

 E ven a cursory look at the best-performing states in the Governor’s Cup competition — our annual ranking of states based on their business-expansion success — reveals a new competitive landscape. Relatively sparsely populated states, such as South Dakota and Mississippi, are finalists in the overall ranking, for instance. And the perennial favorites in the […]

 O ver the past decade, build-to-suit (BTS) commercial real estate has proven to companies that expansion or relocation requirements can be better filled by going beyond finding available market vacancies. Whether the company’s main consideration is to have its name on a cornerstone or to move into a commercial or office facility that’s individually tailored […]

 “E merging Trends this year is relatively positive,” said Marshall Woodward, head or real estate operations for Lend Lease, at the Atlanta revealing of the 23rd annual Emerging Trends in Real Estate 2002 report. “I have to underscore the word relatively, though. The real estate industry does have its challenges here in Atlanta and across […]

Kevin Falcon  T he lack of running with scissors wide open may be even more dangerous than the alternative for British Columbia (BC), despite what mothers may warn. The gnarled mess of red tape that makes up BC’s regulatory process is seen by many as the reason for the province’s decline as a business location. […]

 L ooking for labor is usually the first job of any call center. Jeff Furst of FurstPerson, a Chicago-based call center solutions company, looks to fill that need by tailoring labor searches and finding, hiring and keeping the right people for customer contact centers. FurstPerson acts as an on-site recruiting firm and concentrates in creating […]

 W hen a company finds success, they tend to run with it. Such is the case with Xerox’s Canadian call center operations. The firm already has operations in Saint John, New Brunswick, and announced in September 2001 a new center to be located in Halifax, Nova Scotia. The site will initially employ 150 full-time workers […]

Survey: Efficiency Issues Challenge Lenders’ Profitability Mortgage lenders’ profitability – already on shaky ground – is being jeopardized by inefficiency and insufficient use of technology, according to a recent survey conducted by Ernst & Young’s Real Estate Advisory Services Group. The survey was sponsored by CapitalThinking, a financial services technology firm. Ten of the largest […]

 W hen they turn their attention to the Internet, corporate real estate departments have been mainly concerned with improving communications, customer service applications and Web site development. But a Corporate Real Estate Technology Benchmaking Survey conducted in August 2001 by Ernst & Young (E&Y) and the National Association of Corporate Real Estate Executives (NACORE) suggests […]

 N ow in their third year, the Site Selection/William Dorsey Service Provider Awards are emerging as an important industry tool in the area of corporate real estate problem solving. The awards recognize excellence in client service, which ultimately means doing more than the client expected and delivering value that was not contracted for in the […]

 A textbook case of a corporate real estate service provider meeting — and exceeding — client expectations might well resemble work that the Atlanta-based Walker Companies recently completed for Continental General Tire (CGT) Co. The Walker Companies (www.walkerco.com), a provider of real estate management, location consulting and development services, is a 2001 recipient of the […]

 W hen it comes time to deliver on a pledge to go the extra mile, service providers have lots of options, depending on the assignment and the nature of the client relationship. One that rarely gets much serious consideration is to simply give the service away. After all, service providers in the business world exist […]