Features

OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 1998 The road to opening a new facility is fraught with land mines, but avoiding the myths outlined here can help clear the way to an on-time start-up. Debunking the Top Start-up Facility Myths by Brad Cunic Recently, a company spent millions of dollars buying a prime piece of real estate on which to […]

Highlights from October/November 1998 COVER STORY Baan’s Battle with Skyrocketing Space Demands Baan’s big U.S. move coincides with a number of key challenges, most based in blur-like growth. But business climate factors augur well for the software giant’s $40 million Virginia project. pg. 908 Whiplash Changes Leave Location Winners, Losers in Wake pg. 890 Industry […]

AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 1998 AOL’s Balancing Act: The Need for Nearness vs. ‘Virtual Space’ by Jack Lyne When AOL hit cyberspace hell in 1996, it’s problems were rooted in old-fashioned physical space. But the online king has come back, centralizing brainpower and technology to fuel rapid global expansion. Cyberspace may be where you make your fortune — […]

AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 1998 The Telecom Connection: How It’s Rewiring the New Economy’s Location Rules by Jack Lyne “Infostructure” is dominating and changing many location criteria, perhaps nowhere more clearly than in corporate call centers’ swelling ranks. “The ‘digitized infrastructure’ connecting office buildings and factories has become as important as bricks, mortar and hard walls,” says a […]

AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 1998 At Your Service: Suppliers Key in Mastering Real Estate’s New Realities by Jack Lyne Corporate real estate is morphing again, driven by infrastructure integration and value-based management. Service providers are scrambling, but the leading edge is fundamental in finding solutions, IDRC’s Maryland World Congress underscored. Packard Bell was in deep real estate trouble, […]

AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 1998 Power Deregulation: A Bumpy Road Begins the Free-Market Ride by Jack Lyne Early brownouts have partially dimmed the luster on electric utility deregulation. Some firms, however are capitalizing, orchestrating lower facility rates and cutting costs through advanced demand-side management. Make no mistake. The global electricity deregulation revolution has not been unplugged. But that […]

AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 1998 Corporate Real Estate Can Be a Profit Center by Dr. Danny Lam and Dr. John Kanz High-tech veterans know that growth and profitability come in fits and starts until reliable product cycles are in place. One way to ensure future growth once profitability is achieved, is to manage real estate assets in such […]

Highlights from August/September 1998 COVER STORY AOL’s Balancing Act: The Need for Nearness vs. ‘Virtual Space’ When AOL hit cyberspace hell in 1996, it’s problems were rooted in old-fashioned physical space. But the online king has come back, centralizing brainpower and technology to fuel rapid global expansion. pg. 638 Corporate Real Estate Can Be a […]

JUNE/JULY 1998 All Dressed Up with No One to Grow? How Fast-Growth Firms Are Surviving Labor Pains by Jack Lyne Even fabled gazelles are finding their expansion plans beached in the labor pool’s shallow end. But some SMEs are outwitting the work-force crunch. Many areas’ tight labor markets are creating some highly unorthodox corporate expansion […]

JUNE/JULY 1998 Avoid the Sand Traps in Build-to-Suit Leases by Mark Arend Working effectively with developers in build-to-suit lease arrangements means being heavily involved in the building specifications early on and throughout the planning process, provided the facility’s complexity and intended use warrants such attention. After all, the developer is likely to sell the building, […]

JUNE/JULY 1998 The REITing of Corporate America by Stephen Finn Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) are once again a force to be reckoned with. Institutions and other investors seeking to diversify their stock-heavy portfolios have concluded that real estate isn’t such a bad investment after all and have poured billions into the asset class. Traditional […]

Highlights from June/July 1998 COVER STORY Uncommon Gazelles: Unorthodox Strategies Fuel Their Fast-Track Expansions Expansion-minded “little giants” are so influential that firms of all sizes are scampering to understand what makes them tick, coveting the extravagant price/earning ratios with which financial markets are showering them. pg. 492 All Dressed Up with No One to Grow? […]

JUNE/JULY 1998 C O V E R     S T O R Y Uncommon Gazelles: Unorthodox Strategies Fuel Their Fast-Track Expansions by Jack Lyne Though fast-expanding “little giants” are the stars of today’s entrepreneurial economy, their real estate strategies often buck real estate best practices, a Site Selection survey indicates. Gazelle has become the […]

APRIL/MAY 1998 The Pinnacle of the Profession: Site Selection?s 1997 Top 10 Development Groups by Tim Venable W hen you want results, you go to the top. That?s what site-seeking companies like Compaq Computer, Dana Corp., Georgia Pacific and IBM did last year. They sought location expertise from the pinnacle of the development profession: Site […]

APRIL/MAY 1998 Strategic Alternatives to Synthetic Leasing by Michael L. Evans and James Ryan T he emergence of the synthetic lease has, perhaps more than any other development in the last 10 years, allowed Corporate America to maximize the value of its real estate assets. A synthetic lease is a financing vehicle that enables companies […]

APRIL/MAY 1998 Cost Measurement for the 21st Century by Mark Arend Some executives wonder whether telecommuting and other “dynamic workplace” structures really are cost-efficient. Others seek more accurate tools with which to measure occupancy, equipment and human resources costs tied to specific projects, departments, and business lines. A new accounting methodology, called workpoint cost accounting, […]

APRIL/MAY 1998 IDRC?s Best Practices Award: Australia Post — Leadership by Jack Lyne When market-driven pressures transfigured Australia?s national mail system, its real estate arm took a decidedly proactive turn. In two short years, the group has forcefully made the case for cost-effective strategic space utilization. Australia Post Property Division?s designation as 1997?s winner of […]

Highlights from April/May 1998 COVER STORY The Strategic Art of the Deal: 1997’s Top Ten Spanning four continents, 1997?s top 10 deals illustrate billion-dollar investments, multimillion-dollar incentives and savvy facility location strategy. pg. 190 The Pinnacle of the Profession: Site Selection?s 1997 Top 10 Development Groups pg. 202 Strategic Alternatives to Synthetic Leasing pg. 276 […]

APRIL/MAY 1998 The Service Imperative: A New Mind-set for Corporate Real Estate by Michael A. Bell I n May, the International Development Research Council (IDRC) Spring World Congress in Baltimore will focus on the subject of service delivery and why it has emerged as a corporate real estate imperative in a sustained period of unprecedented […]

APRIL/MAY 1998 The Strategic Art of the Deal: SS‘s 1997 Top 10 by Jack Lyne Spanning four continents, 1997?s top 10 deals illustrate billion-dollar investments, multimillion-dollar incentives and savvy facility location strategy. These 10 deals were chosen by Site Selection?s editorial team as 1997?s top facility location deals. Here are capsule looks at those 10 […]

Highlights from Site Selection ? February/March 1998 Machinery, Chemical Sectors Claim Most Facilities in ’97 by Mark Arend If new plant announcements are any indication, 1997 was a banner year indeed. More than 7,100 new or expanding plant projects were reported to Site Selection’s New Plant database in 1997, a 22 percent increase over the […]

Highlights from Site Selection ? February/March 1998 Pharmaceutical/Biotech Siting: The Search for Space, Workers, ‘Community’ and Creative Financing by Steve Usdin Today’s pharmaceutical/biotech site selection decisions are driven by factors both old and new. On one hand, the industry is searching for skilled labor and room to expand, traditional location concerns, but increasingly scarce resources […]

Highlights from Site Selection ? February/March 1998 European Union: How Europe is Rewriting Its Site Location Rules by Mark Arend On January 1, 1999, the euro will emerge as a negotiable currency, replacing several Western European currencies — the exact number of which will be determined in the coming months. “It is very likely that […]

Highlights from Site Selection ? February/March 1998 IDRC’s Service Delivery Best Practices Award: Ford Motor Land Services and Alliance 2000 by Tim Venable In late 1993, Ford Motor Co. Chairman Alex Trotman had a better idea. He announced his intent to globalize the company as the first step in a push to become the world’s […]