Corporate real estate is a canvas that is to be painted on. No two solutions should ever be the same. The way you made decisions yesterday should not be the way you make decisions tomorrow. Always assume that the CRE ground has moved under your feet.
These may sound like random thoughts that simply emphasize the role of change in CRE. But the reality of this industry is that our job is to support our business today and create a platform for the business to be successful into the future. Our job is to make sure that we provide a solid foundation for our business to operate from.
What does this really mean? It means that no decision we make can be made in a silo. Everything we do impact someone outside of ourselves. If we put the business in the wrong part of the city, they may have difficulty hiring. If we don’t design the office to ensure productivity and flexibility, the business will have a higher cost hurdle to overcome. If we put a 9-year lease in place for a business that is only going to exist in its current form for 3 years, we’ve put a potential 6 year added cost burden on the company. If we sign a 2-year lease on a space that the business expects to operate in for 10 years, we add a risk of moving before the business would like.
Just because we know how to optimize a real estate deal or implement the most modern workplace doesn’t mean those things will work for the business we are supporting. Just because we know all of the market factors (labor, real estate, financial) doesn’t mean that those factors really matter in a particular decision. It simply needs to be about the business.
Real estate is a canvas to be painted on.