Real Estate Services, May 2001

Serviced Office Provider Sets Franchising Plan

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egus Business Centres (www.regus.com), a major provider of serviced office space, is introducing a franchising plan for select organizations and individuals. Franchise owners can create their own office environment, letting them use the space their business requires while devoting the remainder of their workspace to income generation.

       
Franchising packages include the right to use the Regus brand name in a particular locality and its global marketing resources. The company advises franchise owners on such sues as finance, fit-out, information technology, operations, employment and training. Potential franchisees include entrepreneurs, high-net-worth individuals and property companies as well as existing services office providers. Franchisees must have access to $1.4 million in capital in addition to any property costs involved.

Communications System Links Tenants, Managers

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ever House, a Midtown Manhattan office building, is the launch site of a new, Web-based landlord/tenant communication system from Shortpath, New York City (www.shortpath.com). Tenants in the building can communicate building problems and maintenance requests that can be tracked and recorded in real time by building managers. Tenants also can use the service for procurement purposes. Several other New York buildings were scheduled to go online at press time.

       
Shortpath founder Scott Mager says the service will be rolled out in other U.S. markets in the coming year, including Philadelphia, Miami, Dallas and San Francisco.

CB Richard Ellis Brokers Join PropertyFirst.com Platform

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ropertyFirst.com, a real estate transaction and information platform, got a vote of confidence in early March when CB Richard Ellis announced that its 1,500 U.S. brokers would use its for-sale and for-lease systems to market their properties. As members of the service, the brokers have access to PropertyFirst’s lead-generation tools, which identify and connect sellers’ representatives with buyers interested in similar properties.

       
CB Richard Ellis Brokers can create online, customized property marketing packages with unlimited attachments, such as demographic and other information. PropertyFirst’s for-sale marketplace allows for controlled access marketing, meaning a broker can choose to make a listing public, private or confidential.

       
The PropertyFirst marketplace includes more than 11,500 properties for sale with a consideration value of over US$40 billion and 13,700 spaces for lease.

Service Providers On the Move……

Louis G. Erskine has joined The Staubach Company (www.staubach.com), Dallas, as senior vice president of business development for the Staubach Management Services division, the firm’s property and facility management unit. Erskine previously was manager of real estate services at Archon Group, a Goldman Sachs subsidiary. In the New York office, Timothy M. Baydala and Jeffrey C. Norman have joined the firm as managing directors focusing on investment sales.

CB Richard Ellis has promoted Robert L. McSweeney to senior vice president in the firm’s San Francisco office. He works in the R&D/Industrial Properties division.

Debra Moritz has been appointed international director at Jones Lang LaSalle (www.joneslanglasalle.com), Chicago, where she leads the Global Consulting practice in the Americas. And Alison Cooke has been promoted to the position of national director and head of the group’s Hong Kong-based team.

John Santora has been elected executive vice president, asset services, at Cushman & Wakefield (www.cushwake.com), New York. A member of the firm’s Board of Directors and Global Management Committee, Santora served most recently as executive managing director, asset services. The firm also has elected three C&W veterans, Andrew L. Ghertner, Christopher J. Lowery, and Edward J. Weiss, to the Board of Directors.

Colliers Seeley International www.colliers-seeley.com, Los Angeles, has formed a corporate real estate finance group to be headed by W. Bret Hardy and Mark K. Nester, managing directors. The group of six professionals specializes in complex structured finance transactions.

Regus plc, the U.K.-based provider of serviced offices, has appointed Jim Howland CEO-Americas. He joins Regus from American Express, where he served as president, international merchant services. Rob Kuijpers a non-executive director of Regus, joins as CEO responsible for the rest of the world. He leaves his CEO post at DHL Worldwide Express to assume this position.

Julien J. Studley has promoted three managing directors in its Los Angeles office. Arlene Sommer becomes senior managing director; she recently was named top producing broker in Southern California for 2000. David Kluth becomes corporate managing director; he specializes in technology, financial services, health care and the public sector. And Jeff Lasky, a high-tech market specialist, is promoted to corporate managing director.