Andrew B. Zezas, SIOR
Relationship Manager,
Strategist, President
(908) 245-5999 x11
andrew.zezas@realstrat.com

The 10 Service Providers Your Company Will Need for Its Next Real Estate Project

"The lease on our real estate is going to expire soon. Let's hire a broker!" Ah, the lament of the business executive with little discretionary time on her hands and not enough real estate experience. When the lease on your company's office, distribution, or other real estate is scheduled to expire, hiring a broker is often thought of as the light at the end of the tunnel, right? Not necessarily!

You see, so many factors come into play when a company's real estate lease expires. Whether the real estate is used for offices, distribution, research, assembly, manufacturing, or otherwise, and whether its functions include headquarters, back-office operations, biotech, pharmaceutical, research, healthcare, call centers, disaster recovery, or otherwise, a relocation or renewal can have a significant impact on productivity, employee and customer retention, service quality, functional efficiency, overall corporate profitability, and more. Planning and executing a major real estate transaction, whether your company wishes to renew its lease, renegotiate before the lease expires, or relocate, and then whether it wishes to lease or own, can have a major affect on all of the above.

With each type of real estate and the corresponding structure of the transaction come separate and distinct lists of parameters. More importantly, that list of parameters will change and grow depending on how your company operates, the company’s short and long term business objectives, and much more.

Although many issues are common among multiple real estate types, others are separate, distinct, and can often be mission critical. Real estate types that demand separate focus include:

  • Office
  • Distribution
  • Research
  • Assembly and Manufacturing
  • Data Centers, Customer Care, Co-Location, and Disaster Recovery
  • Others

For a details as to renewal, relocation, and use issues for each of the above real estate types, download the Report entitled: “Decision Criteria When Selecting Different Types of Corporate Real Estate” by clicking here.
Note: Reports will be available April 1, 2007.

Are you still thinking about hiring that broker to negotiate your company's real estate deal. Think again! Each of the detailed issues contained in Decision Criteria When Selecting Different Types of Corporate Real Estate (and, I've only scratched the surface), require the expertise of multiple and varied professionals with specific depth of knowledge capable of advising you in advance of your decision-making and approval processes.

SO WHERE DO WE START?

That depends a lot on the nature of your project and your company's operational and financial objectives. A traditional real estate broker, whose primary expertise most often includes local market knowledge, relationships, and negotiating skills, will play an important role in your project. But, your company may require more than just rudimentary real estate skills.

Unless your company has developed its own internal expertise capable of planning and executing the myriad details of a strategically important real estate project that could affect multiple aspects of the company’s operations, you may require a more sophisticated service approach.

WHO CAN HELP US?

A real estate service provider, or a team of real estate experts, well-versed in elements of strategic planning, project management, financial reporting and tax implications of various real estate structures, risk, and operating issues, and offers analytical and decision support services can advise and guide your company as to the additional professional disciplines required to make intelligent business and real estate decisions, and can lead your project to success.

Depending on the nature of your company’s project and the manner in which it makes strategic decisions, your company may require a more or less sophisticated approach. The 10 service providers that most companies require, or at least should consider, as essential partners when they’re engaged in real estate projects include:

  • Architecture and Design
  • Construction Services
  • Demographics Services
  • Engineers – MEP, Structural
  • Furniture Consultants
  • Governmental Incentive Experts
  • Legal
  • Logistics Consultants
  • Moving and Rigging
  • Voice and Data Services

While these 10 essential service providers form the foundation of a solid advisory and transaction team, additional service providers may be just as critical to the success of your company’s project. This largely depends on the business your company is in, the nature and magnitude of its real estate needs, required functionality, and more.

So, what’s the punch line? Before hiring anyone…a real estate broker, or any other expertise…first, assess the scope of your company’s project. Then, determine which expertise your company already has internally, and which skills you’ll need to acquire externally. Assess how your company wishes to go about planning and executing its project, as well as, the strategic importance of the project, itself. Engage a traditional real estate broker if that’s what your company needs, or a sophisticated real estate service provider, and the other professional services that will best support your company, in order to succeed in completing its project quickly, confidentially, and profitably.


Andrew B. Zezas, SIOR, is Relationship Manager, Strategist, and President & CEO of Real Estate Strategies Corporation, Publisher of "Business, Profits and Strategy", a monthly online publication read by thousands of business, financial, and real estate executives nationally, and, is the author of two new real estate books, The CFO's Guide to Understanding Corporate Real Estate Transactions and The CFO's Guide to Hiring the "Right" Real Estate Service Provider, both of which will be available shortly at www.thecfosguide.com.

Mr. Zezas is well-known for his ease and informative style of public speaking, and has given talks, presentations, and has lead educational programs for business, professional, government, and trade associations, including the Building Owners and Managers Association, American Management Association, the U.S. Postal Service, RealComm, Society of Industrial and Office Realtors (SIOR), and others. Andrew is National Chairman of the SIOR Tenant Representation Specialty Practice Board, and is a licensed real estate instructor in Texas and Indiana. He can be reached at 908 245 5999 or via email.

Real Estate Strategies Corporation, located in Kenilworth, New Jersey, and serving clients throughout the country, helps companies create and execute Business DRIVEN Real Estate Solutions...and Opportunities, faster and with less risk. Visit www.realstrat.com.

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