Features

A new research report, IDRC’s Defining Characteristics, charts the leading real estate association’s evolution from site selection resource to business strategy group, and beyond. Organizations that resist change or cannot change will soon find themselves on the endangered species list in the business world. The forces of technology, entrepreneurship and globalization are too powerful to […]

The Johnson Controls USA Office Costs Index [See Tables One, Two, Three and Chart A for data] The Johnson Controls USA Office Occupancy Costs Index is based on a detailed model of a medium grade air-conditioned office building, which operates reasonably efficiently with no unusually high service standards or demands. The building is 160,000 rentable […]

A business cost survey is the centerpiece of a Web-based service that lets “eCities” get the word out concerning local business development opportunities. Corporate site seekers now have yet another way to access key cost-of-doing-business data in markets around the USA via the Internet. The Kosmont Cost of Doing Business Survey tm, published by Kosmont […]

Economic development groups are among those likely to participate in the Keystone State’s newly designed Web site, PA PowerPort, an Internet portal for business development. Pennsylvania is broadening its efforts to be recognized as a technologically savvy place in which to grow a business. The Keystone State’s various public-private technology partnerships and healthy business climate […]

Abstracts of major presentations of the International Development Research Council (IDRC), the world’s preeminent corporate real estate association. “Workplace Transformation: Redefining the Workplace,” IDRC Tennessee World Congress Opening General Session, Oct. 18, 1999: Bell South CEO Duane Ackerman kicked off the session with “Concrete, Cars and Cyberspace,” a case study in workplace redefinition. With many […]

If you build it, will they dot.com? Not necessarily. More accurately, if you dot.com it, you’d better build. 1999, you see, was the year in which some of the Internet’s leading lights decided that they needed big-time bricks to make their clicks work. That concrete lesson in real estate realities is part of the story […]

The Feb. 15-17 Leadership Development Forum in Scottsdale, Ariz., marked the beginning of an important new organizational initiative and membership benefit for the International Development Research Council (IDRC). Fifty-three leaders from the Executive Committee, Board of Directors, policy boards, committees and chapters took part in the program. “Leadership development is becoming integral to the strategic […]

America Online, Prince William County, Va.: The online king of clicks that swallowed Time-Warner searched nationwide before siting this $520 million, 200-employee technology center in this Northern Virginia county, which also bagged Covad Communications’ 1,000-employee technical center. Ameritrade, Fort Worth, Texas: Also part of the clicks-to-bricks brigade, Ameritrade will meet burgeoning online demand with this […]

Labor Pay vs. Consumer Income: Connecticut No. 1 in Both Cost-juggling: It’s often a major concern in locating operations, particularly the distribution facility juggle of calculating labor costs vs. the nearby market’s buying power. Connecticut, though, ranks No. 1 for both personal income per resident and average annual salary, according to the Statistical Abstract of […]

The customer is king in today’s hotly competitive environment, and expansion-minded corporate clients across the country received royal treatment from Site Selection‘s 1999 top development groups. Those organizations parlayed customer commitment into impressive bottom-line results, attracting an average of US$461 million in capital investments and 3,002 new jobs last year. Taking care of the customer […]

Leading the world’s preeminent corporate real estate (CRE) association might seem an Olympian task. In fact, that’s how 1980 U.S. Olympic team member Andy Bessette (right) views his upcoming stint as president of the International Development Research Council (IDRC). “Team,” though, is the key word in the parallels between IDRC and the Olympics, where hammer […]

Selected from the many nominations received for this year’s Site Selection list of top development groups, here are profiles of 10 other worthy organizations from 1999: Baldwin County Economic Development Alliance, Robertsdale, Ala.: Instrumental in attracting more than 1,000 new jobs and US$37 million in capital investments to its service area of 132,000. Major investments […]

The good news: Many new French facilities offer top-drawer technology. The bad news: They’re hot, supply is short and rents are rising. With French economy’s broad-based upturn, the rush of occupiers hungry for modern space is turning into a stampede. But with a supply drought, the sudden demand upsurge is bringing Paris region prices to […]

Identify an opportunity, then seize it. Although an obvious oversimplification, that’s the formula for business success. With real estate and facilities playing a critical role in writing corporate success stories, it’s essential that site seekers keep a close eye on where new business-location opportunities are cropping up around the world. And they’re turning up in […]

Let’s face it. It’s often tough to pick the best new-facility location from today’s dizzying array of options. To do it right, you need all the help you can get. According to a recent Site Selection survey of more than 3,000 economic development organizations around the globe, that help is on the way. From enhanced […]

“We have a mantra in Dell corporate real estate: Set unrealistic expectations . . . and then exceed them,” says Kip Thompson, flashing a smile that’s both playfully devilish and dead serious. Yeah, right, you say? After all, real estate by nature is a long-term process: 24 months to build a facility, 16-18 months if […]

Imagine having the technological resources to run highly effective corporate real estate-related meetings around the country-or world-in a single day without leaving your office. Sound far-fetched? Here is a glimpse into the corporate real estate profession 10 years from now. We all know that the Internet is changing the way business is conducted in almost […]

You’d expect the president of the Economic Developers Association of Canada (EDAC) to be an unabashed supporter of business investment into America’s neighbor and No. 1 trading partner — and an articulate voice explaining the country’s many location advantages. And David Amos is. Amos, who is also director of economic development for the city of […]

Abstracts of recent major presentations of the International Development Research Council (IDRC), the world’s preeminent corporate real estate association. “Technology and the Future Workplace,” IDRC Tennessee World Congress, Oct. 18-19, 1999: Jim Keane, Steelcase vice president of corporate strategy and R&D, provided this workshop audience with an insightful look at the workplace/technology intersection. “Advances in […]

Watching Where YourMoney Goes Lowest-Cost EU Labor in Portugal, Greece, Ireland Europe’s lowest hourly labor costs are in Portugal (US$6.25), Greece ($9.83) and Ireland ($14.13), while Germany, Austria and Belgium are Europe’s highest-cost labor locations, reports Eurostat (www.europa.eu), the Statistical Office of the European Communities. Hourly rates vary as much as $20 among the 14 […]

IDRC’ s blue-ribbon powwow in Nashville spotlighted a host of workplace innovations that add competitive edge. Above all, though, space must fit strategy. “The evolution of the built environment over the next 50 years will shape the future of our society, creating new patterns of geographical distribution and human activity.” — Landscape of Change At […]

Keith Busse’s Steel Dynamics Casts Its Steelmaking Future in Indiana b y     T R A C Y     H E A T H Recovering, competitive, vibrant — these probably aren’t the first words to come to mind when you think of the North American steel industry, but that’s exactly what it has become, says […]

Buyer Beware: Expert Urges Tactical, Not Pervasive, Systems Integration b y     M A R K     A R E N D This report begins a short series on how real estate managers can implement integrated systems without purchasing and installing too much technology. Knowing the difference is a valuable asset. The recent date change […]

Cisco and Lucent’s workplace innovations have cut their European real estate costs and increased optional flexibility. But understanding cultural nuances is a major factor in making it work. Editor’s note: Communications age workplace innovations are rapidly advancing in Europe, propelled by deregulation, exploding Internet usage and the new single currency. Two leaders in European workplace […]