CoreNet Global Launches Corporate Real Estate 2020 Transformative Research Initiative

Thought Leaders Examine Changing Industry

ATLANTA, Aug. 26, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- CoreNet Global, the world's leading association of corporate real estate (CRE) and workplace professionals, has launched Corporate Real Estate 2020, a transformative research initiative that brings together corporate real estate thought leaders to analyze and consider the industry's current and future state.

Corporate Real Estate 2020 launched August 17 in Dallas with 70 corporate real estate and workplace executives, service providers and economic development professionals gathering at AT&T's global headquarters to discuss the transformative research effort and workplace of the future. The program launch comes at a time when corporations and their CRE teams are dealing with a mixed global economic outlook, volatile financial markets and still-recovering commercial property and capital markets.

The Dallas launch team, which included executives from corporate end users such as The Travelers Cos., Merck, Nokia, Shell Oil, Coca-Cola Refreshments USA, Tyco International and the General Services Administration, examined a wide range of external and macro-economic, societal, political and other influences, triangulating these drivers against a litany of trends affecting the globally networked enterprise and CRE itself.

"Corporate Real Estate 2020 is a primary emphasis for CoreNet Global over the next year and will fully benefit members and the broader, global business community as they assess future workplace and site selection needs," said Matthew J. Fanoe, Chairman of CoreNet Global's Board of Directors and Vice President of Real Estate at Coca-Cola Refreshment USA Inc. "For our board and members, Corporate Real Estate 2020 will serve as a roadmap to the future."

With the launch meeting completed, the research effort will open up to the entire CoreNet Global membership to reflect the diversity of knowledge, experience, viewpoints and geographies of the 7,000-member global organization. Results of Corporate Real Estate 2020 will be delivered at CoreNet Global's San Diego Global Summit April 29 – May 1, 2012.

"As an organization, the focus on Corporate Real Estate 2020 is one of our highest priorities," said Angela Cain, CEO of CoreNet Global. "We will leverage members' global expertise and data and compile a thorough compendium of research that informs both short- and long-term planning and efforts in an uncertain economy."

Corporate Real Estate 2020 represents a continuum that began in 1993 with the introduction of Corporate Real Estate 2000, and in 2004 with Corporate Real Estate 2010. Both of these prior, future-facing initiatives yielded defining concepts such as the globally networked enterprise in 2004. The changing nature of work and corporate social responsibility are among the other breakthrough concepts from CoreNet Global's lineage of transformative research. To inaugurate Corporate Real Estate 2020, the Dallas group of senior-level executives made some compelling predictions, or bold statements, including:

• Non-Asian real estate markets will experience 40% vacancy rates
• Rising transportation costs and oil prices will result in more localized manufacturing
• There will be a resurgence of manufacturing in the U.S., mainly through regional operations and reverse foreign direct investment
• At the portfolio level, corporate occupiers will become producers and consumers of energy
• Power will increasingly come from micro-grids that lessen reliance on centralized delivery of electricity
• Work will go to people as opposed to people going to work
• Within the corporate organizational structure, Procurement will become part of Corporate Real Estate
• The computing function will be outsourced to the Cloud but Information Technology will get more involved in delivery of hand-held collaborative devices
• Hand-held devices will allow for "collaboration in the pocket" any time, any place
• Workers will be encouraged to "BYOT" (bring your own technology) to work, further blurring the distinction between personal and business technologies

The new research program involves eight teams exploring relevant trends and topics for the industry, with CoreNet Global staff serving as liaisons. Backing the effort are Pinnacle Sponsors AT&T, HOK, Johnson Controls and Jones Lang LaSalle; Premiere Sponsor CresaPartners; and Leadership Sponsors Cushman & Wakefield, Steelcase, HermanMiller, Regus and the County of San Bernardino, Calif.

The eight domains are:

• Enterprise Leadership, with Tim Venable serving as liaison
• Location Strategy and the Role of Place, with Sonali Tare serving as liaison
• Portfolio Optimization and Asset Management, with Bailey Webb serving as liaison
• Service Delivery and Outsourcing, with Melissa Securda serving as liaison
• Sustainability, with Chelsie Butler serving as liaison
• Technology Tools, with JD Hughes serving as liaison
• Workplace, with Anna Johnson serving as liaison
• Partnering with Key Support Functions, with David Heaton serving as liaison
• Richard Kadzis serves as primary author of the research series' preliminary and final synthesis and summary reports.

"Corporate Real Estate 2020 is the most important thought leadership and knowledge sharing program our industry can offer," said Tim Venable, vice president of knowledge/research at CoreNet Global. "Members gain value from the opportunity to work with their professional peers at a strategic level. Our members will define a set of key benchmarks for the future by getting involved."

About CoreNet Global

CoreNet Global is the world's leading association for corporate real estate (CRE) and workplace professionals, service providers and economic developers. Our 7,000 members, who include 70 percent of the top 100 U.S. companies and nearly half of the Global 2000, meet locally, globally and virtually to develop networks, share knowledge, learn and thrive professionally.

 For more information, visit www.corenetglobal.org.

SOURCE CoreNet Global