< Previous8 MAY 2021 S I T E S EL E C T I O N I’m retiring from IAMC this year after serving since its founding in 2002. Before IAMC, I worked with its predecessor IDRC for 15 years. That’s a total of 34 years I’ve been with Conway Data (CDI), the management company for both. While it’s certainly no record, I realize it’s a very long time to have been with a single employer. I was offered the opportunity to write a brief look-back and to review my experience and how corporate real estate has changed over this period. I came to work for CDI after a long stint in the Research Department of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta and a shorter stay with a large management consultant. Conway is small, which for me was a refreshing change. I loved being able to know and talk with everyone, including the CEO. The culture was strongly determined by founder H. McKinley Conway, known to all of us as Mac. A few memories and observations: Mac Conway: I recall a conversation with an MIT Sloan School professor about Mac Conway and his company in which she proposed to do a case study on them for teaching purposes. Mac was interesting. He was Southern in outlook and expression; always willing to listen; articulate with his goals; a good public speaker and writer. He hired with an eye toward staff chemistry, not just adding skills. He would conduct sessions to surface new ideas from staff and then put the best of them into practice. He was a taskmaster, but at the same time he was loyal to hard-working employees. Corporate Real Estate: With the Fed, my responsibilities included keeping up with the U.S. commercial real estate sector. I enjoyed conversing with industry analysts and personalities, who I found to be very talkative. When I started with CDI, I was assigned to the professional association IDRC. I had a bit of real estate background, but I did not know corporate real estate (CRE), which was the organization’s specialized content focus. Today, we take it for granted CRE is an important and well-defi ned management area. However, in the 1960s when IDRC started, it was not. At the time, large-company business units might operate with some independence, somewhat like fi efdoms within the company. Staff departments such as legal, marketing and HR sometimes struggled to defi ne themselves, maintain operational integrity, and get suffi cient budget to do their work. And this was especially true of CRE at the time. A strong business unit head might refuse to engage with staff departments like CRE and instead buy the same services in the marketplace. Alternatively, at a few companies, business units developed their own internal real estate capabilities, which they funded and controlled. In the 1990s and early 2000s, corporate enthusiasm for outsourcing staff functions, such as CRE, hit like a pandemic. Real estate staffs were pared back and even eliminated at a few companies. There was widespread worry and pessimism in the fi eld. But as many The Evolution of Corporate Real Estate And a Look Back at IAMC’s Roots Today, we take it for granted CRE is an important and well- de ned management area. However, in the 1960s when IDRC started, it was not. At the time, large- company business units might operate with some independence, somewhat like efdoms within the company.” — Joel Parker look-back and to review my experience and how corporate real estate has changed over this period. Today, we take it for look-back and to review my experience and how corporate real estate has changed over this period. Today, we take it for by Joel Parker10 MAY 2021 S I T E S EL E C T I O N companies learned, fully or largely outsourcing CRE comes with some significant downsides. A fine understanding of how the company works, a network of friendships with other internal corporate managers, and an employee’s intrinsic loyalty cannot be duplicated by an outside service provider. So, today outsourcing is viewed differently. Most companies highly value a core of skilled CRE managers. And they also utilize outsourcing extensively. It’s a case of realizing they need both, not one or the other. IDRC: IDRC was one of the first associations — maybe the first — to focus on CRE and make a long-term go of it in the marketplace. Others tried it but faded away. For some, it was a pie slice of their work but not the focus. IDRC was all about CRE. IDRC was founded in 1961 and managed by CDI. Early on, it served to define and promote corporate real estate and provided organized settings, conferences called World Congresses, for members to compare notes on how they operated and which service providers they used. At first the primary selling point was so-called professional networking, but in the 1980s the end-user members, then called Actives, were indicating an interest in a CRE certificate or certification through IDRC. We began a long process of developing this, which took three to four years. My first specific responsibility with the organization was editing a 16-page section of Site Selection magazine dedicated exclusively to conference program transcripts and articles on corporate real estate. I was preparing four to seven articles for each bimonthly magazine issue. That’s a lot of reading, editing and confirming with the authors. I enjoyed it. I’m a writer, and I love discussing ideas and working to refine points and conclusions. I did this for six editions per year for about five years. The process taught me a ton about corporate real estate without ever having worked in the field myself. IDRC eventually grew large, global and financially successful. IAMC: The high point of my time with CDI has been as a staff member for the Industrial Asset Management Council, IAMC, which was IDRC’s successor organization at the company. In 2000, IDRC decided to manage itself and so no longer needed CDI as its management company. But even before IDRC’s departure, we had begun planning an association startup to replace it. We had an outstanding staff on hand, and Mac Conway supported and even participated in the development process. Further, he funded the entire startup for which the IAMC organization later repaid him. The staff talked a lot about what the new organization’s niche should be. At the time, I recalled conversations over the years with IDRC members who said it was a great association except that it was very lean on support of industrial CRE. So, I suggested we focus IAMC on corporate real estate in industrial environments, and this was incorporated into the founding documents. I recall the early-on excitement for IAMC because so many of the potential members we contacted immediately saw value in the organization. They liked the industrial focus, the smaller size, and our plans to manage the balance of Corporate members to others at Professional Forums. In 2002, IAMC was launched, holding its first Professional Forum in Savannah, Georgia. Now, 34 in-person Professional Forums and one virtual Professional Forum later, the organization is going strong. In retirement, I will miss working with IAMC’s talented executive directors and staff, current and past, as well as hundreds of friends among the members. And this includes many CDI associates who worked outside the company’s association business. I’m proud of how IAMC became established, has grown, and will, I believe, serve its members for many years to come. I’m proud of the part I played. But what I’ll cherish most is memories of the cool and wonderful people I got to know and work with in my 30-plus years with Conway Data. 12 MAY 2021 S I T E S EL E C T I O N Evolving by Devolving: The BBC Invests ‘Across the UK’ The United Kingdom has welcomed a bounty of creative industries and media campuses in recent years. Witness Pinewood Group’s plan to invest more than $533 million and create 3,500 new jobs at a new “global growth hub” located at the very site in Buckinghamshire that gave us special agent 007, James Bond. The UK’s flagship broadcasting service isn’t using stealth measures in its latest special operation. But it is hoping to seduce some regional goodwill. In early 2021, even as post-Brexit momentum builds for further government devolution to the UK’s four nations, the British Broadcasting Company unveiled its own decentralization plan to spread its production and technology — and about 400 jobs — away from London. The “Beeb” aims to invest an extra £700 million (US$967 million) by 2027/2028 “Across the UK” (the name of its plan). In the process, the investments are targeted to reinvigorate such cities as Bristol, Glasgow, Cardiff and Birmingham with a combination of more regionalized reporting and programming and more direct economic impact from BBC operations. Leaders in Cardiff, Wales, for one, welcomed the news that the £100 million BBC Cymru Wales headquarters at Central Square will become a global center of excellence. BBC Wales started broadcasting by ADAM BRUNS adam.bruns@siteselection.com UNITED KINGDOM Part of the BBC’s Across the UK blueprint, the £100 million BBC Cymru Wales headquarters in Cardiff will become a global center of excellence. Images courtesy of the BBC14 MAY 2021 S I T E S EL E C T I O N from the new location last summer after years in suburban Llandaff . “ e BBC’s decision is a vindication of this council’s creative industries strategy and of our decision to regenerate Central Square and to install BBC Wales as the anchor tenant for the development,” said Councilor Huw omas, leader of the Cardiff Council. e BBC cites the emerging creative cluster in Cardiff — including the Roath Lock TV studios that are home to the “Doctor Who” series, among others) — as demonstrating the transformative eff ect the BBC can have on the creative economy outside of London. Not everyone is so sanguine. Asked by email about the BBC strategy and process and its impact on his region, Sir John Redwood, the Conservative Member of Parliament for Wokingham since , told me, “I do not have a region. I am a citizen of the UK. England is my country. e BBC consistently seeks to balkanize and marginalize England, seeking to split it into false regions we do not relate to. I am not part of the South East, rest of South East, ames Valley, Wessex or some other meaningless concoction usually derived from the EU ‘s wish to break up England.” In sum, he said in a subsequent email, “UK my nation. England my country. Berkshire my county. Wokingham my constituency. All great places to invest.” Spreading the Wealth e places where the BBC will invest hope to become greater because of it. Among the planks of the organization’s blueprint: • Half of the BBC’s UK-focused story teams will be based around the country rather than in London. • Salford, a city in the Greater Manchester area, will be the main base for BBC digital and technology teams and will also be home to radio operations Radio and Music, as well as the broadcast location for the hit BBC One daytime show Morning Live. e Salford global center of excellence will be supported by digital teams in Glasgow, Cardiff and London. All told, the BBC will create more than digital engineering jobs to support its news product development and online editorial teams. • BBC Studios bases in Bristol, Cardiff and Glasgow will be expanded, and the BBC HQ in Belfast will be upgraded. • Newsbeat and Asian Network radio operations will be based in Birmingham. • A tailored BBC One will be developed across Yorkshire, North West and North East England, with up to six new peak- time BBC local radio services, including in Bradford, Sunderland and Wolverhampton. • e BBC will renew creative partnerships with Northern Ireland Screen and Creative Scotland, create a new one with Creative Wales, and focus on partnerships in the North and Midlands in England. • e BBC will double its commitment to apprenticeship by supporting , apprentices in any year across the UK and piloting an Apprentice Training Agency in the West Midlands. A forthcoming study by KPMG fi nds that half of the BBC’s total economic contribution is generated outside of London — an increase from % in . It holds out Salford as a prime example of its presence and investment in cultivating a creative and digital cluster. Employment in the sector has seen growth of % between and , and the number of digital or creative businesses has grown by %. In remarks prepared for delivery to BBC staff in March, BBC Director-General Tim Davie said, “ is shift will create a much more distributed model that moves not just people, but power and decision- making to the UK’s Nations and regions. It is the right and fair thing to do. is plan, while good for audiences, will also help us build more world leading creative hubs, attracting diverse talent and stimulating sector growth. “Now, as we look to the future, we must play our part in supporting social and economic recovery,” he said in the organization’s announcement, “rebuilding the creative sector and telling the stories that need to be heard from all corners of the UK.” It is clear that Cardi ’s creative sector is building an excellent and well- earned reputation.” — Councilor Huw Thomas, Leader of the Cardi Council It is clear that Cardi ’s creative sector is building Asia’s Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership Will Reshape Trade After eight years of negotiations, Asian countries signed the world’s largest free trade agreement — the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) — on November , . Consisting of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations’ (ASEAN) member states, China, Japan, South Korea, Australia, and New Zealand, RCEP aims to establish a comprehensive economic partnership guided by a common set of rules and standards, lowered trade barriers, streamlined processes and improved market access. For investors, the agreement will deliver substantial new trade and investment opportunities within participating countries — covering roughly % of global GDP (US$. trillion) and % of the world’s population. RCEP is monumental not only because it amasses vastly disparate Asian economies and manages to fi nd common working ground, but also coherently amalgamates, leverages and builds upon various existing bilateral and multilateral trade agreements. ose include fi ve ASEAN ‘plus one’ agreements as well as the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacifi c Partnership (CPTPP) and the New Zealand-Australia-Japan-India New Supply Chain Pact. What’s in the Agreement? RCEP is a forward-looking trade agreement. In contrast to World Trade Organization (WTO) rules, the agreement balances a mix of ‘WTO-plus’ commitments to lower at-the-border trade barriers and ‘WTO-extra’ provisions to address behind-the- border regulatory issues. Within its chapters, RCEP makes signifi cant improvements in the following areas: • Common rules of origin: Rules of origin will be unifi ed for the entire bloc. Investors will only require one certifi cate of origin for trading in the region and can bypass tedious processes of checking and adjusting to specifi c rules-of-origin criteria in each country. • Reduced tari s: Tariff s will be eliminated on around % of goods and implemented progressively over the next years, per each country’s Schedule of Tariff Commitments. Some agricultural and sensitive goods will be excluded from tariff reductions. • Customs procedures: Simplifi ed by KYLE FREEMAN editor@conway.com A SIA Wat Ounalom at sunset in Phnom Penh, Cambodia Photo: Getty Images 16 MAY 2021 S I T E S EL E C T I O N S I T E S E L E C T I O N MAY 2021 17 customs procedures and enhanced trade-facilitation provisions will be implemented to facilitate expeditious administration and clearance of goods. • Trade in services: At least 65% of the services sector will be fully opened to foreign investors, with commitments to raise the ceiling for foreign shareholding limits in various industries such as professional services, telecommunications, financial services, computer services, and distribution and logistics services. A “negative list” approach, fully opening the market to foreign service providers in industries not specified on the list, will be implemented. • Investment: Processes required of investors entering, expanding or operating in RCEP countries will be eased, and adoption of further restrictive measures will be forbidden. A dispute settlement mechanism will be developed and can be invoked by member states. • Intellectual protection: Standards for IP protection and enforcement in all participating countries will be raised through greater protection rights of traditional copyrights and trademarks. Non-traditional trademarks (sound marks, wider range of industrial designs) and forms of digital copyrights will also be protected, which goes beyond commitments in CPTPP. Trade and Investment Implications The manufacturing sector and supply chains in Asia will benefit most from RCEP. Elimination of tariffs on most manufactured goods and the common rule of origin will allow goods to move more freely and lower costs, attracting multinationals to further establish supply chains across the bloc and growing global value chain activity in the region. Companies with supply chains sourcing some components from outside the bloc may also qualify for reduced tariffs under RCEP’s more flexible and cumulative approach to determining country of origin, further integrating the region with global value chains. Within the new trading bloc, production of certain goods will shift from countries with higher production costs — such as Australia, Japan, New Zealand, South Korea and Singapore — to countries with lower labor costs, such as Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar. The benefit of cheaper goods will spread throughout RCEP countries as well as filter through to consumers in Europe and the United States. Reduced tariffs and a lower cost of goods will provide greater access to growing consumer markets within the bloc. For example, China has a trade deficit with the RCEP bloc largely driven by trade, in part consisting of processing goods, with Australia, Korea, Japan, Malaysia and New Zealand. RCEP’s lower tariffs on consumer goods coupled with China’s recently introduced dual circulation model, designed to increase domestic consumer spending, will make China an increasingly attractive and viable consumer market within the bloc. RCEP will also help to facilitate greater investment and services trade liberalization within the bloc. Adoption of a negative list approach for foreign investment and services trade, which will be fully implemented by all signatory countries within six years, will provide greater market access, transparency of regulations and certainty for businesses. Compared with CPTPP, RCEP has weaker commitments for foreign investment and service trade liberalization, certain intellectual property protections and treatment of state-owned enterprises, as well as omission of labor and environmental protection clauses. Nonetheless, RCEP will still provide investors with numerous benefits and advance regional trade facilitation and international economic integration over the next decades. With Singapore recently becoming the first country to ratify the agreement, other signatories have indicated they will strive to complete ratification to expedite its enactment by January 1, 2022. Once ratified by three-fifths of signatories — namely six ASEAN countries and three non-ASEAN countries — RCEP will enter into force within 60 days and begin reshaping trade. Kyle Freeman is a partner at Dezan Shira & Associates, a pan-Asia, multidisciplinary professional services firm providing legal, tax and operational advisory to international corporate investors. Visit www.dezshira.com. RCEP will deliver substantial new trade and investment opportunities to a region covering roughly 30% of global GDP (US$26.2 trillion) and 30% of the world’s population.Next >