As the real estate market and economy continue to be on a global mission, CB Richard Ellis and its Global Industrial Services Group will continue to leverage one of the largest industrial and company platforms in the world to provide best-of-class integrated services to its clients worldwide, says Jim Dieter, Chicago-based executive managing director and head of its industrial services business line.
      "The depth of our global platform is unmatched, enabling us to provide industrial services — whether it is disposition, acquisition, land assemblage, consulting, logistics advice or transactional work — anywhere in the world," says Dieter. "This unparalleled coverage and market force is important in many of our clients' eyes because they in turn are looking for us to provide assistance in all parts of North America — including Mexico, which is an area where we have spent a lot of time building our capabilities, and Canada, where we are particularly strong in the Toronto area. In addition, to capture additional industrial market share in Asia, we have been building an impressive industrial practice there as well."
      "In addition to the mainstream services that our industrial platform offers, many times our industrial professionals integrate our Industrial Investment business line from around the country," says Dieter. "We will bring in the Asset Services group and offer property management. Industrial facility management has become an important aspect of our menu of services, as well as project management. We want to be — and quite frankly are — in a position to have the flexibility of providing a seamless and wide array of services on behalf of our clients.
      "Our industrial logistics group will offer advice on site selection including a state-by-state comparison of labor statistics, incentives, transportation costs etc. Industrial Services will many times work closely with our Global Corporate Services group on significant multi-market requirements for the Fortune 500-size company. We also have the Global Retail Services Group that we work closely with because so much of our business is with the large consumer products/retail users for large distribution space, like Target, Circuit City, Ikea and Wal-Mart."
      CBRE has more than 700 industrial specialists notable for their level of information sharing and teamwork. "Far too many times, large service providers are large on paper only and do not have a culture or attitude or wherewithal of utilizing that size to provide better service to their clients," says Dieter. "I can say to you with great pride and authority that the Industrial Services Group of CB Richard Ellis has gained such a culture of sharing, communicating and leveraging that has proven to be a winning formula for its clients."
      The Industrial Services Platform in 2004 did more than $10 billion in total industrial business, handled 5,500 transactions, and negotiated more than 165 million sq. ft. (15,329 sq. m.) of leasing and $6.5 billion in sales.