National Assurance Company
A national assurance company’s office had and office in Union County, NJ that was part of a merger and had surplus space as functions were consolidated and employees were relocated to other offices. The existing lease rate had escalated to 17% above market. They were also paying additional charges from operating expense and tax pass-throughs based on an old base year. Morale was being negatively impacted due to the surplus space and dated furniture, layout, and construction.
The firm engaged Sam and his team to evaluate all options for reducing costs, upgrading the facility, and improving the work environment. Sam and his team worked with the client to define operational needs, establish head counts, and create a strategy for right-sizing the facility. They evaluated the market landscape and created strategies to pursue various disposition and restructure models including subleasing, lease restructures, or an early lease termination.
Sam and his team led intensive negotiations to restructure the lease with the landlord to create savings in excess of $1,224,797 over the final two years of the existing lease term. The client immediately right-sized their footprint and upgraded the facility with modern finishes, new furniture, and a contemporary layout. The new lease term provided a market sensitive rate without burdening the client with an onerous lease term.
New England Consumer Products Company
A New England based consumer products company had been occupying their headquarters location for more than two decades. The building was dated and had a number of age-related structural challenges. Management wanted to find a way to remain in place while leveraging market conditions to reduce real estate costs while also having the landlord make necessary repairs to the property.
Sam was able to create leverage and manufacture an active bidding environment and force the landlord to compete by offering both a competitive rental rate and a commitment to complete substantial renovations to the exterior and interior of the building.
The client was able to reduce their rent by 28% and lock in those reductions a full 12 months before the lease expired. In addition, the landlord committed to a half million dollar renovation plan to upgrade the building for the new lease term.
New Jersey Technology Company
A technology company with a significant sales presence in New Jersey recognized that their current location was no longer serving their business interests. The existing space was dated and inefficient and the landlord was no longer providing services they deemed necessary to sustain the operation.
Sam undertook a comprehensive search of the market and identified a number of alternate locations that would provide the necessary platform to both improve the corporate culture, boost morale, and maximize efficiencies.
By leveraging each alternative in the market, the client was able to secure a competitive rental rate, generous workletter allowance, and twelve months of free rent.
New Jersey Materials Testing Company
An engineering/materials testing company with more than 80 locations around the United States and Canada had a decentralized real estate model that allowed individual managers to make real estate decisions with little corporate oversight. This lead to reactionary decision-making, excess costs, and inefficient execution.
Sam and his team were engaged to create a global real estate process and structure to streamline the real estate process, provide more accountability to management, and remove non-core responsibility from regional managers. Within ninety days of contract execution, all leases were entered into a corporate database, critical dates were identified, and crisis projects were identified and resolved.
Since the contract was signed two years ago, the client has seen a 30% drop in lease costs, better management of the lease acquisition process, and high levels of satisfaction and productivity from regional managers.
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