Global Corporate Real Estate Management

Written for corporate real estate managers, this is a comprehensive practical guide to the selection, management, and disposal of corporate real estate properties in both the home and foreign countries. The author focuses on the management of the real assets of U.S.-based multinationals, although the discussion can be applied to multinational company management of worldwide real estate regardless of headquarters country. Among the key topics addressed are the ways in which a corporate real estate department can be most effectively organized, the need for computerization in the management of diverse properties in a variety of locations, leasing property, tax management, risk analysis and management, and real estate performance measurement. Throughout, the author includes details of the actual experiences of leading U.S. multinationals to illustrate the unique problems associated with various national and local real estate markets around the globe. Hines begins by offering some suggestions for corporate policy formulation aimed at guiding decisionmaking in the acquisition, development, and divestiture of property related to company operations. She addresses the lease-or-buy decision, demonstrating that the decision depends on the nature of the corporate real assets, the need for security, and the availability of funds. A separate chapter addresses the widely varying leasing conditions and terms that are encountered around the world. Since income, value-added, sales, withholding, and ad valorem property taxes affect country and site selections as well as company profitability, Hines provides an in-depth treatment of tax management from the perspective of the corporate real estate decisionmaker. Global real estate risk management also receives extended coverage. The final chapter shows how to measure real estate performance and demonstrates that global real estate holdings can and should be viewed as global portfolios with overall returns and risks--rather than as individual buildings with individual profit-and-loss profiles.