Are You Proactive or Reactive with Your Real Estate Planning?
Most companies are reactive in their commercial real estate needs, especially as their business locations increase. To become proactive, companies need to see the big picture – there needs to be a vision that comes from the top. If the CEO or Division Manager hasn’t defined a vision for the business, it’s hard to be proactive with real estate. A vision tells people where they want to go, so real estate can be planned and managed in order to support that vision and those business goals.
Other suggestions for how a company can become more proactive regarding their real estate are:
- Having a robust and accurate data source, so the status of a present space is known. This allows you to determine how best to use that space.
- Making your portfolio efficient by getting rid of entire locations, like consolidating three locations into one. This will have a big impact on your EBITDA – earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization.
- Finding a real estate professional that looks at the entire portfolio, not just individual transactions. You need a manager that acts as a general, not someone who just fights the war.
At Mohr Partners, we have a whole staff negotiating transactions. What sets us apart is the big picture planning: consolidating locations and moving into low-cost environments. Doing this can save a company big money.
For example, a company that anticipates the future might see they have three leases coming due within a three-year period. As a proactive company, they would likely contact a real estate professional to work out a strategy that supports their business vision, like moving all three offices to a better place, once the leases expire on a common date. When the expirations come up, they would consolidate locations so three of everything wasn’t needed – almost a guaranteed savings.
Many people can perform a transaction and do it well, but not everybody thinks through the big picture – that’s where the real value is added. That’s our calling card at Mohr Partners.
George E. Grace
Mohr Partners, Inc.
232 Madison Avenue
New York, NY 10016
646-312-6800