Acclaim Insights

Ranking States by Competitiveness for Manufacturing As we head toward the end of the year, some interesting rankings for the manufacturing sector. While specific criteria depend on a project’s needs, standard site selection variables drive most manufacturing location decisions: access to qualified labor, competitive costs, and strategic geographic positioning. Speed to market has also become…

The post-COVID era has redefined many aspects of the professional world, with one of the most notable shifts being the evolution of office environments. As companies increasingly enforce return-to-work mandates, the demand for high-quality office spaces has surged. This trend reflects a broader understanding that the quality of a workspace significantly impacts employee recruitment, retention,…

As we head into 2025, the shift toward full-scale returns to the office is becoming more pronounced. Notably, companies like Amazon.com Inc. and financial giant Fidelity are leading the charge by requiring employees to return to the office five days a week. This trend is gaining momentum despite facing new challenges and mixed reactions from…

Normally, visualizing data and visualizing a site require very different technologies. In the world of site selection, however, they go hand-in-hand to help project teams evaluate potential locations.   Site (Location) Visualization Take, for example, the power we now have to perform site reconnaissance remotely, via platforms like ESRI, Google Earth, and Google Maps or…

January 2019 – July 2024

Office foot traffic hit a post-pandemic high in July, reaching 72.2% of 2019 levels, according to Placer.ai data. It’s a sizable increase over June, which had itself been a new record and clocked 68.3% of pre-pandemic activity. Miami and New York were at 90% of their July 2019 levels, and all 11 cities Placer tracks…

Interesting view with a breakdown by use. Mainly the stalwarts for this industry, but a few surprises added that have been doing well for other industries (Dallas, Salt Lake City & Houston). The tricky part is that these are always trailing indicators. By the time they make these lists, the market can be already saturated.…

Office visits continue to creep back to pre-pandemic levels, according to Placer.ai, which reported that nationally, visits in June were down only 29.4 percent compared to June 2019. Looking at markets, Miami is closest to returning to 2019 figures as its visits were down by just 9.8 percent in June compared to June 2019. In…

To get workers back to the office, bosses have dangled fancy coffee, yoga classes and DJ parties. But that still hasn’t been enough, so some firms are giving employees a more traditional perk: a desk of their own. Hot desking or hoteling, where workers get a desk when they show up instead of having a…

Industrial availability has come full circle in New York (state), with the active industrial pipeline pushing the availability rate above 9%, a figure that has not been observed since 2014. This is actually healthy for the market and is slightly north of historic “equilibrium”. The availability rate has increased for eight consecutive quarters, fueled by…

The longer the post-pandemic turmoil in office demand continues, the more clues emerge about what separates the wheat from the chaff for this property type. The relative cost of living in an office building’s metropolitan area appears to be a significant factor. Since 2020, several secular variables have become associated with office performance. These include…

In 2022 and 2023, developers completed more than 1.5 billion square feet of U.S. industrial projects, a tally equivalent to adding all the existing industrial space in metropolitan Chicago! This was the largest expansion of the U.S. industrial supply over two years in more than half a century. And with most of the developments completing…

Employment data is always at the top of corporate site selection evaluations. Corporate leaders need to understand the level of talent and specifics regarding various types of positions and overlaps from competing companies and industries. One of the most misunderstood and misleading data points is the unemployment rate. By definition, the unemployment rate represents the…

Interesting data on office utilization from Yardi Matrix and the Census Bureau. We can see that office utilization rates are not static or universal. They vary significantly from market to market. The Census Bureau’s American Community Survey (ACS) provides detail about the percentage of the working population that primarily works from home. According to the…

High-quality amenities have become increasingly important to discerning office tenants. Some can significantly impact an office building’s occupancy and get tenants to pay a premium in rent vs. competing, similar buildings. On top of most prospective tenant’s lists are: Outdoor spaces Food service Gyms Direct access to public transportation However, tenants put a further premium…

We are frequently asked by corporate leaders in various industries, “Where should we locate our next facility?” Call center saturation can greatly impact the performance and profitability of a corporation due to employee attrition, wage increases, and labor quality decline. There are constant revisions to our site selection lists based on certain markets getting saturated…

Always interesting to get the perspectives of the leaders in the user community, versus just those of site selection pros. While there are no big surprises here, the regional patterns are interesting. This will shift a bit for 2024, as some saturation will kick in. Stay tuned! 2023 Executive Survey Business Climate Rankings – Top…

A state’s tax climate is a critical component in the site selection process. Below is the Tax Foundation’s State Business Tax Climate Index, which scores and ranks all states based on each major component of a state’s overall tax burden – corporate, individual income, sales, property, and unemployment insurance taxes. While each component is separately…

While criteria for location decisions are unique to a specific project’s needs, the “bedrock” factors tend to be on everyone’s lists. Talent attraction & retention, labor costs, efficiency in shipping goods/products, business environment, infrastructure, real estate costs and availability and economic incentives are the cornerstones of these corporate decisions. While no one state will score…

As CEOs bring workers back to the office, they’re hoping to see in-person interactions that boost collaboration and innovation — but those magic moments don’t always happen. Is it because some employees hired during the pandemic have never experienced office life? Are workers still filling their days with video calls? Or is the office layout…

Looking back at all that has transpired in 2022 gives us a great picture of what 2023 & 2024 will look like for manufacturing site selection. Location criteria are unique to each individual project, but there are standard site selection drivers that typically influence most manufacturing location decisions. Talent availability & costs Shipping & receiving…

Those associated with the industrial real estate industry will attest that the post-COVID-19 industrial real estate boom has been unlike anything they have ever experienced in their career, despite how long they have been in the industry. Over the course of the last 24 months, developers have constructed buildings at a record clip, vacancy has…

The recent pandemic created a massive shift in population across the U.S. People migrated from major cities like New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, and the Bay Area to lower-cost cities such as Dallas, Phoenix, Atlanta, and Austin. There is a flight from the densely populated mega-cities as people seek a better quality of life.…

We are hearing from many clients that they are having huge challenges in hiring and retaining DC talent. The data confirms this. Most of the cities below are no surprise, but a few of the lower % growth areas in the table immediately below could represent competitive opportunities for savvy DC operators!   Distribution workforce…

This shortage will affect quality of life, result in higher prices for consumers, and diminish the speed and quality of services. In many ways, the labor shortage and supply chain issues we are experiencing now are a foretaste of what’s to come. Gone will be the days of businesses trying to find the best talent…

US Credits & Incentives   ALABAMA With a robust aviation and aerospace industry, Alabama legislators are now seeking to extend a key tax exemption that is otherwise set for expiration. As introduced, HB 20 would extend the state’s preexisting gross receipts tax exemption on the sale of parts, components, and systems that become a part…

Canada Credits & Incentives   There is a common misconception that incentives are not prevalent across the Canadian provinces. While there are certainly varying ways in how incentives are utilized and deployed, provincial and local governments throughout Canada do leverage financial and technical resources to support business growth, industrial development, and job retention. Very often…

According to the US Department of Labor, a staggering 11 million people in the US quit their jobs between April and June. What employees accepted in 2020 BC (before COVID) has drastically changed. The reset button on humanity has been pressed and we’re never turning back. The shutdown gave us time to question what we want for ourselves,…

In today’s labor market, it can be extremely difficult to find quality labor. The effects of COVID-19 and responses to the pandemic continue to drive wages up. Distribution employers will need to stay ahead of these trends to control costs in the coming years and budget accordingly. We looked at wage escalation in the distribution…

Companies have been leaving California’s high tax and minimum wage environment for years despite the deep talent pool of workers. The state’s myriad of problems, including the thousands of homeowners currently at risk from wildfires, illustrates the delicate balance companies must navigate when deciding where to relocate their call centers, manufacturing plants, distribution centers, software…

The global shipping container shortage of 2020 and 2021 is having huge effects on shipping and container prices. It’s causing delays in deliveries and increased costs for exporters. You may be asking why the shipping container shortage is so profound and how we ended up in this situation. Are you also wondering what’s being done…

Anyone that leases warehouse space, knows how frothy markets have gotten. Rates and operating expenses will continue to rise for the foreseeable future. However, opportunity still exists to get a good deal that boosts your profitability and efficiency (see “Silver Lining” below). There is a relatively short window of opportunity on the horizon. Some facts…

As 2021 begins, a new survey from The Conference Board reveals the biggest issues that will keep business leaders up at night in the new year. CEOs in the United States are more worried about higher corporate taxes and increased regulation, but less worried about global political instability and disruptions to global trade. And compared…

Year end 2020 best states for business climate & overview of key metrics.

In 2009, IBM reported that 40% of its 386,000 employees in 173 countries were working remotely. That policy allowed IBM to sell off its office buildings at a gain of almost $2 billion. Hailed as a savvy business strategy, the trend of telecommuting was soon in full swing. Impressive, right? Why then, in March of…

Leaders of businesses will return to a more discerning workforce that will expect continuous assurances that they are working in a safe environment. This will include posted displays of updated safety, health and wellness information and resources for employees, visitors, and occupants throughout the building, both inside and outside the workplace. Establish a multi-disciplined Team:…

The coronavirus has turned everything upside down. However, our clients are beginning to wonder how they can best bring people back into the office when the crisis subsides. This will be a transition rather than an “all in” move. We know from several recent studies that a well-designed workplace is still overwhelmingly the place that…

Wage rate and job growth analytics for top markets in US.

Leading real estate professionals, site selection consultants, and C-suite executives have begun to focus not just on pure cost, but more on the performance of real estate as a strategic asset. Together, we are looking increasingly at real estate’s contribution to overall company results and realizing return on investment (ROI). Yes, return on investment. Now…

Office space occupants are getting more and more efficient, which is good for the corporation’s bottom line, but a big challenge for the company’s CRE team and landlord’s alike. The average parking ratio across all classes of offices buildings, nationwide is 3.12 cars per 1,000 rentable square feet of space. Today’s most efficient space users…

Competition for Tech Labor remains fierce. A recent Tech Talent research report ranking 50 U.S. and Canadian markets according to their ability to attract and grow tech talent provided a few surprises amongst the perennial favorites. The Tech Talent Scorecard rankings are determined based on 13 metrics including: tech talent supply, growth, concentration and cost,…

The old adage of “it’s always cheaper (and easier) to renew” doesn’t hold true today. A lot depends on your updated space utilization metrics, goals for that particular facility, design criteria and labor analytics. A few interesting points to consider when working through this decision: There is an efficiency delta of ±15% when re-configuring existing…

On November 11, 2015, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) decided upon the effective date for the long awaited and much debated new lease accounting standard requiring companies to recognize leases on their balance sheets. The effective date for public companies will be in fiscal years (including interim periods within those years) beginning after December…

How does your company’s real estate support and enhance corporate goals and objectives? I.E. – if a corporate goal is to be a low-cost producer, does the real estate footprint support that objective? If retaining and attracting talent is critical, how do locational decisions, workplace decisions, and facilities decisions advance that goal? Many C-suite executives…

In 2016 the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) and international Accounting Standards Board (IASB) changed accounting rules so that in the near future, companies will be required to show virtually all leases on their balance sheets. This solution will require detailed planning and preparation that all companies will need to address promptly and with collaboration…

Whether you are planning a new office, renewing an existing lease or developing company-wide space standards, developing updated design benchmarks and occupancy strategies will prove extremely helpful. A company’s real estate can and should be an enabler of the business plan! When a new client engages my team, we take nothing for granted. Far too…

Corporate Leaders: What is your vision of the ideal workplace? Is it the same vision as that of the ideal labor force that you are trying to attract and retain? Does it truly represent and enable your vision for culture? Real estate markets around the world are tightening, and will continue to do so for…

Different cities, different landlords, different space measurement methods! Accurately defining your leased square footage is important. How can you best protect your company’s interests and assume that you are getting the amount of usable and rentable square footage that you bargained for? Since 1915, the BOMA Standard Method for Measuring Floor Area in Office Buildings…

When a company acquires or merges with another company, it’s often also acquiring outstanding obligations, holdings, liabilities, employees and real estate assets. M&A due diligence should include a comprehensive evaluation of all real estate assets and liabilities. Having an experienced and knowledgeable real estate professional included early in the process of an M&A transaction will…

Labor analytics – using a combination of both primary and secondary data – will help a company to ensure the location it is considering will be able to meet its workforce needs, today and in the foreseeable future. Understanding your potential workforce, and/or your current workforce is critical when undertaking a site selection project. Ensuring…

With markets tightening dramatically around the country, most of the “low hanging fruit” opportunities for cost reduction are gone. Your team needs to be keenly positioned to bring value in other ways. Three key questions to flush out their preparedness and capabilities: How will you use data to better align the company’s real estate with…

An office lease is a long term commitment, but the real estate needs of your business are subject to change. Armed with foresight and enjoying maximum leverage (because you were still talking with multiple landlords) you had your broker negotiate a right for you to terminate your lease early. With a termination option in your…

Your company’s lease for office, warehouse or manufacturing space is set to expire in the not too distant future. Given that markets around the country are tightening rapidly, and rents are rising, how will you create leverage and drive the best results? You can always simply exercise the renewal option in your lease. Only about…

The effective date of January 2018 is fast approaching. With regard to leases for corporate real estate, finance executives and their teams can take the following steps to prepare and mitigate: Review each of your leases, starting with the largest obligations to clearly understand how they will be accounted for under the new rules. Focus…

It seems like a relatively easy, “cut and dry” decision. Your lease is scheduled to expire within the next year or two. There doesn’t seem to be anything terribly wrong with your space or the building. Your cost of space seems competitive from what you can tell, and you don’t have the time, or patience…

If you have a Right of First Offer (“ROFO”) on certain space, then the landlord must offer to lease the ROFO space to you (when it becomes available) before it can be put “on the market” for lease. Most office leases structure ROFOs so that it is the landlord who makes the initial price offer,…

In a sign that expectations of a permanent work-from-home culture may be overstated, a fresh KPMG survey of top CEOs worldwide found a mere 17% plan to shrink their overall offices, an abrupt drop from the nearly 70% talking about it in August. The sharp drop in office plans for the next three years comes…

When Monster Moto opted to shift its assembly of minibikes and go-karts from China to Ruston, La., the company moved into a new 100,000-square-foot factory. After the move – which included 22 UPS semi-trailers packed with equipment, an inventory of spare parts and 5,000 finished bikes – UPS and Monster Moto sat down to figure…

We’re in the midst of the most significant reinvention of work in our time. We’ve proven people can work anywhere and the greatest social experiment—sending everyone home to do their work—has decimated barriers to working away from the office. Some contend people are working with a reasonable level of productivity from home. And this is…

Interesting study on Site Selection in 2020. No surprise that companies are leaving some of the largest, most expensive, and congested cities. Some of this is no doubt driven by the current pandemic, but that is a short-term driver. More likely that taxes and unfavorable legislation are bigger impetus of these strategic migrations. What is…

While the coronavirus outbreak is wreaking havoc on office demand, Raleigh, North Carolina, is outperforming most other markets throughout the nation. The Tar Heel State’s capital city ended the third quarter with average rents up about 4.6% year over year, one of the highest marks in the nation. Raleigh’s performance is nothing short of remarkable…

Top states ranked for the number of new projects starts for key US markets.

Facilities lessons from times of crisis: September 11 taught us about evacuation protocols and design/ safety criteria to aid exiting without confusion. Hurricane Katrina taught us the need for business contingency plans and the risk of single location strategies. Superstorm Sandy taught us the need to be able to work remotely in times of crisis.…

Leadership will improve. Throughout a crisis, leadership is of vital importance. It has also become clear which leadership behaviors are most effective. In the toughest times, the leaders who excel are those who communicate clearly, stay calm and strong, demonstrate empathy, think long-term and take appropriate decisive action. Corporate leaders will become more effective overall…

Top markets for growth and digital service jobs, some predictable and some surprises.

First, you tear down the walls and dispense with the soulless cubicles. Then you put everyone at long tables, shoulder to shoulder, so that they can talk more easily. Ditch any remaining private offices, which only enforce the idea that some people are better than others, and seat your most senior employees in the mix.…

A contraction option is a fixed right in your lease to reduce the size of your premises at some future date, but prior to your lease expiration date. You can use it to downsize an office space prior to the lease’s scheduled expiration date. As you might expect, landlords (and their lenders) vigorously resist giving…

Over the years we have found that operating expenses (OE) are among the most misunderstood real estate cost component, particularly because there is no clear standard of how these costs are addressed in leases. OE pass throughs can easily grow over a lease term to significant levels, particularly given the “compounding” nature of how they…

There has been a ton of talk, and articles published on this subject. We all now are aware of what’s coming and when. Here is a concise summary of what you need to know and do to comply and get ahead of the curve.   EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Preparedness is the key The intent of the…

Perception is finally changing! Corporate real estate is not merely an operating necessity; it’s a strategic resource. It affects everyone – customers, employees, investors, regulators. Real estate is not easy to manage. In many organizations, real estate remains a reactive, second order staff function, focused on discrete projects and transactions rather than on the company’s…

ENABLE THE BUSINESS PLAN Develop and propose solutions proactively to build sustainable, trusted relationships with key business and functional stakeholders. It’s also an opportunity to add value consistently across the business cycle, rather than at the time of transactional or operational events.   DON’T LIMIT YOUR FOCUS TO FACILITIES & REAL ESTATE Instead, focus first…

Historically, most corporations have analyzed the lease or purchase of office and warehouse space using standard financial analyses of the project’s direct impact on “bottom line” figures like net operating income or EBITDA. Cutting edge corporations today are applying better operational and quantitative views to determine the true impact on a broader and more meaningful…

The market pendulum has fully swung to “landlord favored” in the vast majority of markets in the USA and globally, and is likely to stay that way for several years to come. This shift, coupled with rising inflation (that will increase the cost of building operating expenses), means significant cost increases for corporations whether they…

Every year, different industry groups, consultants and government entities publish their lists of “Top Locations for Business” (Cities, States & Countries). While the intent is good, and the methodology sound, there is significant fault in the findings and corporations should only use them as a comparative starting point. The data points are solid: Accessibility, cost…

Few areas hold as much impact on capital outlay as real estate and leasehold expenses. Ensuring that your company is not overpaying is integral to fiscal management. You know an audit is in order when you see:   SIGNIFICANT JUMPS IN OPERATING EXPENSES / ADDITIONAL RENT Performing a simple trend analysis of your year-to-year operating…

Corporate leadership ranks “overall efficiency” as very high on their list of priorities. It’s not always directly related to corporate real estate, but it should be. When you tour one of your company’s facilities, it seems to be fairly efficient. What isn’t fully apparent are the significant gaps in utilization rates & overall efficiency created…

“If you always do what you always did, you will always get what you always got”. -Albert Einstein   OLD SCHOOL THINKING The historic approach goes something like this: “We currently lease X square feet. We probably need about the same going forward or Y square feet because we have fewer people or more people,…

Although corporate real estate and facilities represent a very significant portion of the balance sheet and operating expenses, they often do not receive the attention they deserve despite the huge potential for creating competitive advantages, reducing costs and improving operating efficiency. Corporate real estate must be viewed as a strategic asset, not a liability or…

The costs to construct / renovate and furnish office space are key components in your company’s overall cost of space, particularly under current economic conditions. During the past few years, the costs of labor and materials have increased sharply while the lack of availability of each has become a significant problem. In addition, municipal permitting…

Current Work Force Time is leverage. Most companies do not allow enough lead time to adequately prepare for, analyze, and execute a successful relocation or renegotiation of an existing lease. Have your team develop a timeline, including critical action dates, for use throughout the project.   Commutation Studies When comparing alternative locations, identify and map…

A move is the best time to implement new work processes and technologies to help create greater efficiency, raise productivity and morale, and control long-term occupancy costs. However, problems in the relocation process most frequently arise through insufficient planning. The following should help you avoid common pitfalls during your company’s next move.   Assemble Team…

Commitment Commitment is the cornerstone of great service in today’s highly demanding, rapidly changing business environment. It is essential that service providers are committed fully to delivering comprehensive solutions that satisfy the client’s short and long-term needs.   Communication Efficient reporting and regular interaction are key to any successful relationship. Communication timetables, forms, and parameters…

Advance Preparation The odds of achieving optimum results on any real estate project are greatly increased when sufficient time is given to fully analyze needs and develop a thorough plan of action. The size and complexity of the requirement will dictate how many months in advance to begin a needs analysis, compilation of locational data…

Whether you are planning a new office or developing company wide space standards, having “design benchmarks” can prove extremely helpful. The following information is an average for general office use. General space allocation should be approximately 150 to 200 usable square feet (sf) per person. This figure can vary depending upon your use, industry, and…

Prepare 18-24 months in advance Time is leverage. Most companies do not allow enough lead time to adequately prepare for, analyze, and execute a successful relocation or renegotiation of an existing lease. Have your team develop a timeline, including critical action dates, for use throughout the project.   Location, location, location Choose the most suitable…