We don’t intend to cover the job market much, but it seems an unavoidable “hot topic” these days.  The 2008 SelectLeaders/Cornell Job Barometer has been released, and the prospects are bleak virtually across the board.  The survey collected and analyzed data from eight online job boards (from February through August 2008), plus 217 senior management surveys and thousands of resume submissions through SelectLeaders.  Among the findings, those directly related to corporate real estate jobs include… (more…)

In its Autumn 2008 Survey of CRE managers, London-based GVA Grimley reports significant pessimism and plans for portfolio contraction across the board, particularly in leisure (hotels & restaurants), retail, and financial services sectors. 

Among the findings, personnel cuts have left 50% of the corporate real estate users with surplus property, and 40% sitting on completely vacant sites.  Rather than hold the space for better times (e.g. subleasing), a strong C-level emphasis on cost control (more…)

FMLink.com reported on October 29th that the District of Columbia has launched Alert DC, a mobile communications system that allows the District to send instant, geographically-relevant crime alerts via text message to businesses.  Whether or not you have facilities in DC, it’s a good time to consider that similar systems have been introduced nationwide, including in Philadelphia, San Francisco, and many counties and universities. 

Some of these alert systems go beyond crime to include notifications of significant fire, utility, weather, and commuter issues.  Many support email as well as SMS messaging.  These can be invaluable resources to the corporate facilities manager, as much as (more…)

While it doesn’t seem to be hitting the mainstream media quite yet, word on the street is that large layoffs have actually occured within the past week at several construction firms.  Details are scant, but rumors include the completion of cuts totaling 600 at Bovis Lend Lease  (more…)

The inaugural World Architecture Festival recently concluded in Barcelona, and with an international attendee list stretching 11 pages long, it seems to have been quite a success.

The heart of the festival was the WAF Awards, with over 722 entries in 17 categories from 63 countries.  Within the office category, shortlisted entries that are clearly tenant/user driven included:

• Google EMEA Engineering Hub (Zurich, Switzerland) by Camenzind Evolution
• Abu Dhabi Investment Authority Headquarters (Abu Dhabi, UAE) by Kohn Pedersen Fox
• Chevron Intl Trading Co Headquarters (Nanjing, China) by Perkins+Will

Interestingly, none of the shortlisted office buildings were located in the United States, despite five entries including notable tenant/user driven projects such as Comcast Center (Philadelphia, PA) by Robert A.M. Stern and the US Census Bureau Headquarters (Suitland, MD) by Skidmore, Owens & Merrill. 

Alas, the judging panel is looking beyond whether the design is user-driven, and considers issues such as site, embedded challenges, environmental impact, planning considerations, construction materials, novel concepts and materials applications, etc. 

The selected first place office project was Duoc Corporate Building in Santiago, Chile, by Sabbagh Arquitectos, a relatively young firm.  Duoc is a 40,000 student vocational/technical school, but presumably this building will be primarily used for administration.