Are corporate real estate assets a cost, or a competitive differentiator?

This question offers a window into a company’s culture. It is typically the third highest cost (after salaries and benefits), so a value engineering mindset is certainly important. However, If an organization only applies a financial lens to decision-making, short-term cost-cutting deliverables will be met at the expense of long-term value creation. Companies with the wisdom to see value not evident in direct financial tiebacks stand to realize big gains over those that don’t. The right real estate strategy can boost employee retention, foster productivity, showcase innovation, and strengthen a company’s brand. It makes sure that capital gets spent in the right place, at the right time, with solutions that not only meet today’s needs, but future proof the needs of tomorrow. We are in a period of disruption. Old metrics, assumptions, and operational models don’t work anymore and the fallout across the industry is ongoing. This makes it an exceptionally bad time to set it and forget it. Companies that cling to old ways of working risk being stuck with an outdated employee value proposition and sky-high costs to dig themselves out of it. With proper oversight, smart, targeted investments tied to portfolio optimization can transform a company’s workplace in a positive way as it right sizes itself.

It's critical to have Corporate Real Estate strategists on staff to connect the dots. We carefully monitor economic conditions, worker trends, evolving technologies, peer work environments, and strategic partnerships across multiple markets. We also offer the governance to ensure executive alignment on the workplace, which is deeply personal to employees. The pace of economic changes and societal shifts has elevated the need for Corporate Real Estate Professionals who can translate the convergence of these factors into a purposeful strategy that aligns with corporate business drivers. We help executives contain costs while still uplevelling the employee experience. All this takes time and expertise, which is why having us on your team brings back dividends that far outweigh our salaries.

In this period of economic uncertainty, it’s tempting to save some headcount by reducing CRE management to basic procurement and operational functions. Do so at your own risk, because the cost in lost value creation opportunities, bad investments, and negative employee perceptions will haunt you for years to come.