Labor, Incentives Rule Site Decisions

"Labor drives these things," says Greg O'Brien, executive vice president of Adevco Corp., a Norcross, Ga.-based commercial real estate firm specializing in customer contact center development. He says Canada's labor market strongly supports centers with skilled employees.
        "Companies are moving away from first-tier cities and strongly looking to second- and third-tier markets," O'Brien says. "They like to go into markets where they are the dominant employer of choice."
        Kurt Rosene, senior vice president of Chicago commercial real estate company The Alter Group, says some corporations opt for tertiary markets with cheaper labor and associated costs. Others lean toward deploying in regional hubs with associated offices in the area.
        Alter recently developed customer support centers for Nextel in Bremerton, Wash., and Temple, Texas. Bremerton can accommodate 500 people in a 60,200-sq.-ft. (5,590-sq.-m.) building. Temple is a 108,800-sq.-ft. (10,100-sq.m.) facility which may one day employ 800. "Both facilities were located very close to military bases either in the process of being shut down or downsized," Rosene says. "These areas offered great labor in localized markets."