Supporting Office Services for Corporate Clients

Alliance Partners can provide supporting services to help firms determine their office space needs and ensure properties are completed on time and in budget. Our supporting office services are as follows:

1. Determination of Space Needs

Resources: Property Team with supporting architectural/space planning professionals

Space Analysis

Points of Interest

Understanding Client’s business drivers and how space needs are impacted.
Understanding the Client’s utilization of current space.
Understanding departmental functions and critical adjacencies.
Analysis of space needs by employee by department, class, and function.
Assessment of requirements for heating, cooling, lighting, power, technology, etc.
Review of critical Location parameters, scattergram of employees, transportation and access issues.
Understanding future growth, projected changes in client services, number and type of new employee hires over the occupancy term.

2. Development of a Ten–Year Space and Growth Plan

Consideration of various design and space takedown strategies to reduce occupancy cost.
Report and presentation to Management.

3. Assessment of Property Alternatives

Resources: Property Team with supporting construction and development professionals

Points of Interest:

Determining preferred design, finish, and other construction specifications.
Review of properties in selected market, various budget options.
Development and issuance of RFP to selected developers or owners.
Using AIA format for all construction and development submissions.
Building a competitive environment for negotiation.
Selection of final 3-4 qualified alternatives.
Assessment of alternative properties and initial review to reduce cost.

4. Selection and Negotiations for the Preferred Property

Review and negotiation of the lease or purchase agreement.
Review of projected construction costs.

5. Construction Oversight of Building Development, Buildout, and/or Renovation
Resources: Property Team with supporting construction professionals

Selection of appropriate architects, engineers., etc.
tion of appropriate bidders and vendors.
Generating the project schedule including design, construction and relocation.
Project cost control to ensure the project stays on or under budget.
Project quality control to ensure construction quality to standards and adherence to project schedule.

Rodger West
770-355-9279

Benefits of Employing a National Corporate Real Estate firm

Value Added Results from Alliance Partners

A good Broker/Consultant with knowledge of construction, land, market conditions, the request for proposal process, etc., will structure a property search to create a competitive environment with area developers and other property owners for the client’s business. From this competitive environment, favorable lease proposals (rates and other conditions) will emerge and a strong negotiating position is set for completing the process and winning further lease concessions for the client. Our negotiating attitude is such that every aspect of the lease and occupancy is on the table. This includes but is not limited to lease rates, escalations, tenant improvement dollars, terms for expansion, terms for renewal and extensions of the lease, etc. A knowledgeable broker also has the expertise to negotiate a number of favorable lease terms such as penalties for delay of completion, definitions of CAM charge expenses, capital improvements to property and amortization, and other important lease issues.

Alliance Partners supporting services:

Alliance Partners will provide at no charge supporting construction oversight services for our clients. In lease negotiations and especially build to suit properties, this is a key service benefit for the client. For existing properties that need new or expanded offices and other property changes, it is important to have a knowledgeable construction or development professional oversee the process. We assure construction pricing by overseeing the bid process. Build to suit properties are even more critical in this regard. Alliance Partners will insure BTS projects are priced competitively, completed in budget and on time.

A discussion of commissions

Alliance Partners only represents the financial and operating interest of our clients. For a completed lease transaction, a commission is usually paid by the landlord to our firm. The commission is local market determined and is part of the total development cost for any commercial property. In many cases our clients believe this adds “cost” to a project or they believe money can be saved in negotiations by not using a broker. This is a mistake. First of all, the lease rates are determined by market conditions (competing developers) rather than cost. The cost driven model assumes a developer can pass along 100% of costs to the tenant. This is not the case. When multiple developers are competing for a client’s business, they are conscious of total development cost but they are really negotiating their end profit and risk, not their cost. Our business process for the property search will result in lower lease cost and better terms of occupancy that will far exceed any cost of the lease commission.

Rodger M. West, MBA, SIOR,BCCR, SLCR 770-355-9279

RFPs, handling knowable unknowns with no time

As user rep brokers and facility consultants, we try to standardize specifications in a property search and create a competitive environment among selected developers for our clients/users. In some cases where an industrial property search is underway in an area where transporation costs limit the number of sites for consideration, we opt to control the best site and then allow a number of developers to quote on the same building. Under this scenario, we prefer to control the RFP process as follows:

When you are faced with one site and multiple developers (good situation) and there is not a great deal of geotechnical info on the site, etc., we attempt first to place the site under contract with the ability to assign to the winning firm. To handle the isssues of site developement costs in the RFP, we determine a budget number for all developers to assume in their proposals. Although there are many unknowns with any particular site, we investigate local construction projects underway or completed recently to gain an understanding of area site development costs. From this review, we place a site development allowance in the RFP along with a description of what is included and excluded for proposal purposes. In addition, we provide from the land contract, the approximate acreage and cost/acre. From this, all the developers will have the same assumed land and site development cost for the first round of proposal submissions.

In addtition to the land cost and site development allowance, we mention in the RFP our process of determining the actual site costs and having a process the change the final negotaited lease rate to reflect the actual cost of site developement. We clearly state in the RFP the site development work will be bid to area subs with oversight by our firm and our client. When the actual cost is determined, the lease rate is to be adjusted to reflect extra cost over allowance or savings based on pre-determined amortization.

Rodger West

Alliance Partners, Inc.

Corporate Planners & Real Estate Consultants

770-355-9279

Agent Development, new real estate concept

When I first got into commercial real estate, I noticed a number of developers were also 3PL logistics firms. In those days, they were called bonded warehouse companies and usually were local or regional. A little investigation turned up that these developers were first warehouse companies and I soon learned they developed industrial buildings for their warehouse business and then sold them to investors under a long term lease of usually 10 years. So, I learned early real estate development and an operating company could make some serious money not only on the warehouse business but from developing their own buildings. My next question was, why doesn't a firm complete this tranaction for those firms who do not have the skill sets to develop property. Most smaller and even larger firms simply make a decision to own or lease and never consider other options such a developing the property and completing a sale/leaseback. Developers and design/build contractors are there to create properties for users but they do this for the profits generated from the lease. My firm created the idea of agent development, that is where development skills were brought together to serve the user or tenant of the property rather than under the traditional Landlord/tenant relationship. There are no commissions or fees from the Client. Compensation is negotiated on a shared profit basis.

Please add your comments on this new concept.

Rodger M. West, SIOR, BCCR, SLCR


Rodger West

The Importance of Forward operations planning in negotiations

As a "Tenant Rep" broker working throughout the United States for various major firms, I have learned the importance of my Client's facility approval and planning process in strengthening the negotiating position for property acquisitions. Many of us know of the delays and paperwork required under Sarbannes Oxley but what I am talking about is the need for forward planning and agreement within the Client/Company prior to launching a property search. Client/Companies need to know precisely what space and specs are needed, and have the necessary financial and operational approval of the industrial requirement prior to entering the market. We are not talking about a rigid, "set in concrete" type approval but an approval and agreement that is in place so that once the property search is started, there will be no delays in finishing the deal. This is important because any approval delay or reconsideration can be costly in terms of losing leverage and concessions from future landlords and developers.



When there is a delay, the strength of the tenant's negotiating position is weakened significantly. The broker is left trying to explain the delay and this causes two problems. First, the potential landlord realizes during the delay that the Client has selected the property under negotiation. The longer the delay, without action or change, the more the potential landlord realizes he is in the driver seat and there is little risk from another property. Second, any tenant delay allows the potential landlord to declare other firms with interest in the property. The tenant loses negotiating position because of the potential loss of the property due to other interested parties. The tenant cannot realistically negotiate further concessions, and is forced to move forward to secure the property.



The broker's job in my opinion is the set up alternative properties for consideration by the client. The purpose of this is to "build" a competitive environment for the client's leasing business. This competitive environment is to be maintained throughout the process. Tenant delays during the property search can and will "kill" this business process and cause a higher occupancy cost to the tenant.



Rodger M. West, SIOR, BCCR, SLCR

June 4, 2007