Features

T ry to image a more daunting task than relocating a plant to another location. Better yet, to another country. Building a new plant is just part of the task. Relocating a plant also involves moving equipment, materials and production lines to the new facility — and disposing of the original site.       […]

H ow can you help your region grow when you’re busy managing your own growth?         That is one of several questions facing the economic development arms of utilities big and small around the United States. As a recent benchmarking and best practices survey by the Utility Economic Development Association found, utilities […]

Worldwide Practice Named Real Estate Law Firm Of the Year The law firm of Paul, Hastings, Janofsky & Walker, founded in Los Angeles in 1951, was named the International Real Estate Law Firm of the Year at the Chambers Global awards in London, which honors the finest performers in international commercial law. Philip Feder   […]

E xecutives of the US$11 billion Computer Sciences Corporation understand the business benefits of outsourced services as well as anyone. The El Segundo-based company earned a $344 million profit in its 2002 fiscal year as an outsourcing provider of information technology services to corporations. Check that. Approximately $40 million of Computer Science’s 2002 profits came […]

T he queues were shorter, but the destinations more varied.         That is one conclusion to draw from the annual “European Investment Monitor” report from Ernst & Young. European new facilities and expansions dropped 12 percent in 2001, but it was a good year nonetheless for “gatecrashers, EU (European Union) accession countries […]

E merging industry clusters in such high-tech fields as life sciences and software engineering are driving demand for a new breed of business park. But more than futuristic laboratory and office space is required to catch the attention of industry players seeking suitable locations in which to research and develop tomorrow’s systems and services. The […]

S ite seekers evaluating California locations have used, for some time, the Kosmont Cost of Doing Business Survey, among other tools. Kosmont Realty Corp., Los Angeles, has gathered cost information on hundreds of communities in The Golden State.         This research has now been expanded to include 22 markets outside California, giving […]

I ‘ve saved this space to recognize some outstanding individuals in the corporate real estate profession — the seven winners of this year’s Site Selection Corporate Real Estate Leadership Awards, which were presented at the CoreNet Global Summit this past May, in Salt Lake City. With their permission, we will spotlight the work they do […]

From Site Selection magazine, July 2002 WORLD REPORTS   | SOUTH KOREA | MEXICO | AUSTRIA | PORTUGAL | SINGAPORE | SCOTLAND | Incheon Stakes Its Claim as Intelligent City In the first-ever U.S.-South Korean real estate joint venture, The Gale Co. has been tapped as a partner in developing the US$12.5-billion New Songdo Intelligent […]

Grubb & Ellis Growth in Services and Affiliates Inspires Investment Real estate investment firm Kojaian Ventures, based in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, has agreed to stake $15.2 million on the growing fortunes of real estate services firm Grubb & Ellis, a measure that would grant Kojaian the voting power of a majority stockholder. The investment will […]

J oe Moravec, commissioner of the Public Buildings Service of the U.S. General Services Administration, recently sat down with Site Selection’s Director of Publishing Ron Starner for an interview on the changing role of GSA and how the agency’s new direction will impact corporate America.         The linchpin of Moravec’s strategy is […]

W hen Concept Inc. went looking in 1988 for a site to manufacture arthroscopic medical devices, the company found what it needed in Largo, Fla., a town in the Tampa Bay Area on the Gulf of Mexico.         Today, the US$256 million-a-year company known as Linvatec employs 1,100 workers and occupies 235,000 […]

N ine out of 10 CFOs based in the U.S. believe that using outside resources to perform non-core functions increases shareholder value.1 Yet fewer than two out of 10 have empirically measured the return on investment (ROI) of their outsourcing initiatives. Those who have measured ROI report an average of 17 percent savings.     […]

The new Conway Eco-Site project involves several elements: A small, privately maintained nature preserve, the Mockernut Botanical Garden. A family residential compound in a quiet rural area surrounded by magnificent vegetation. A private library and research facility away from distractions and interruptions. A farm for growing vegetables and fruit — and later, a greenhouse. A […]

 C orporate site selectors have a new tool to use in their next business location search. It’s the revamped Development Alliance web site, the product of a partnership between the International Economic Development Council and Conway Data Inc., publisher of Site Selection magazine.         Launched in early 2001, www.developmentalliance.com is the corporate […]

 T he medical technology industry – medtech for short – is very much in vogue in Europe. For one thing, corporate investors crawled out of the dot-com rubble and sought sanctuary alongside what they thought would be the next golden goose. But this sector is more complex than the financial world thought, being multi-faceted, capital […]

 D o you sometimes think that you receive too much information? In his excellent 1999 book, How the News Makes Us Dumb: The Death of Wisdom in an Information Society, historian C. John Sommerville laments the loss of truly wise people in an era in which meaningless daily news consumes us, and in which we […]

 I n an economic downturn, inexpensive, capable labor becomes even more important. India has both and offers call center site selectors the added bonus of a workforce dedicated to making a career within the call center industry.         “India offers a workforce of highly-dedicated, well-educated, English-speaking professionals, and the infrastructure needed to […]

 I f you’re not keeping score, then you’re just practicing, goes the adage. More and more economic development groups are realizing how true that is as they evaluate their performance relative to other locations. The heated Governor’s Cup contest covered in our March issue is testament to that. But other measures are emerging that can […]

 W hen national electronics retailer Best Buy needed to place a regional distribution center in the Southeast, the Georgia Center for Site Selection played a pivotal role.         What’s unique about the GCSS? It’s operated by a utility cooperative association — the Georgia Electric Membership Corp. (GEMC) in Atlanta. The center helps […]

 M ost Fortune 1,000 companies view corporate real estate as a strategic asset. This means it plays a primary role, along with human resources, technology and information, in helping the company achieve its long-run goals and objectives. In 1993, the International Development Research Council’s (IDRC) first Corporate Real Estate 2000 Program report said, “We have […]

Welcome to the 4th Quarter 2001 Johnson Controls USA Office Occupancy Costs Index, which provides a snapshot guide to the cost of providing and operating property and facility management services in the USA.         This cost index briefing is published twice a year and has become a powerful and dynamic business reference […]

Zurich, Vienna and Vancouver Top Quality of Life Survey The 2002 worldwide quality-of-life survey conducted by human resources firm William M. Mercer has found Zurich, Switzerland to be the best overall place to live in the world, trailed closely by Vienna, Austria, and former No. 1 city Vancouver, British Columbia.         The […]

 W hen manufacturer Superior Walls of Central Illinois opened for business in the Springfield Enterprise Community, it created job opportunities for 42 low-to-moderate-income neighborhood residents. “These employees show great pride in producing a quality product,” says Springfield developer Mike Suhadolnik, owner of Superior Walls.         Suhadolnik’s enthusiasm is matched by that of […]