Corporate real estate knowledge is often thought of as a standalone function. It’s not something that is usually considered part of the manager’s toolkit of knowledge. Does a manager really need to know everything about choosing between cities when relocating an office? Traditionally the answer has been no.
I would argue that CRE expertise inside of the business where decisions are made could be the single biggest improver of business decision success in the future.
As businesses become more complex, rates of M&A increases, and the world becomes more global, corporate real estate decisions become more complex and have increasingly significant financial impacts. If someone with real estate expertise isn’t directly involved in the planning phases, projects could progress to a point where the real estate is at the end and will simply be what it is with minimal ability to optimize.
The number of true, broad CRE experts in the world is a smaller number than it should be. Embedding this knowledge with the businesses serves two purposes: ensuring that CRE impacts are factored into the start of the decision and spreading the knowledge of CRE more broadly. Both of these impacts will improve the quality and success of all strategic business decisions significantly.