June 15, 2012 Off

U.S. Macro Update for June 2012

By Chris

“What are you seeing in the market?” is the question that I hear the most from my clients. An excellent midyear status check up can be found in our U.S. Macro Update which was just released by Cassidy Turley’s Chief Economist, Kevin Thorpe. This blog post summarizes that report.

May 4, 2012 Off

The Greenest Government Building Ever

By Chris

NASA just finished its latest effort, a 50,000 sf office building at the Moffett Field Ames Research Center in Sunnyvale, California. It is being advertised as the “greenest” federal building. For years now, commercial office buildings have been the focus of sustainability groups and the next big push for making our world a more environmentally friendly place to live and work. It is true, there is a lot of energy to be saved and we can still improve upon the standards we all live by in our commercial buildings. NASA may have just set the bar for all of us.

March 22, 2012 Off

What Color Is Your Lease?

By Chris

Green leasing is becoming an increasingly popular concept – one that evokes images of buildings that use no energy, where every space has an operable window and solar powered robotic vacuums quietly recycle water bottles and compost leftover lunches. Although these buildings don’t exist yet, the idea that a “green” lease will somehow make it so is a common misconception. So what is a green lease? How can you tell? And perhaps most importantly, how much will it cost?

November 30, 2011 Off

Your Lease/Balance Sheet Will Soon Be Related

By Chris

Accounting Standards – What’s The Latest? As a CEO or CFO, keeping an eye on the progress of the Global Accounting Standards topic will help you position your company and preserve its value. Specifically regarding your corporate real estate, an understanding of the discussion around the re-characterization of leases will benefit you in your leasing decisions. The changes being proposed primarily affect public companies but there will be a modified standard for smaller, non-public companies which is referred to as “Private-Company GAAP”.

November 16, 2011 Off

Why Do Market Reports Matter?

By Chris

You meet with your commercial real estate broker or talk on the phone and he gives you a market report for your area. Why? Isn’t it his job to know all those rent, vacancy and absorption numbers? Why should you care? The answers are important for your current and future business and may help you make business decisions aside from real estate.

September 14, 2011 Off

LEED-CI: Making Green or Just Spending It?

By Chris

Productivity – It’s our buzz word these days. Everyone is doing more with less. Green thinking is popular, but does it fit into business reality? Read on to learn how you can make environmental decisions with your physical space that actually improve your company’s performance … your brand, your people and your facilities.

September 9, 2011 Off

Where Were You on September 11, 2001?

By Chris

A Tribute – 10 Years Later
– We Will Never Forget –
Click on “Read Full Story” and then the video for a moving tribute of music and photographs dedicated to the heroes and those lost on September 11, 2001.

August 17, 2011 Off

Hunker Down or Move Ahead?

By Chris

With the volatility in the stock market last week, many of us are wondering what’s next. I’ve been writing about the increase in jobs in the economy and the venture capital boom as fundamentals pointing toward a slow but steady climb out of the recession. What should we do then with the downgrade of our U.S. credit rating and wild stock market activity last week? Should we hunker down and stop spending altogether or continue to move forward making business decisions as wisely as we can?