Australian corporate real estate management: identification of strategic issues in practice

Strategic management of Australian Corporate Real Estate (CRE) is identified as a key issue in an enquiry into competitive practices in Australian corporate property management. Focus groups were used to identify current and future Australian CRE issues. Separate groups were formed from corporate organisations and from, predominantly, local government. While each group emphasised different strategic issues in CRE management, a common listing of issues is possible. This synthesised listing, through its collective nature, enlarges understanding of the wider issues for each of the respective organisation types. The strategic environment of CRE management is identified as having 5 aspects – Capital requirements of the organisation, financing CRE, the customer (or retail) interface, service provision and governance of the organisation. These 5 aspects provide a dynamic environment for making CRE decisions. An emphasis on the strategic nature of real estate assets challenges the presumption that it is best practice to move them off the balance sheet. Also, an awareness of the strategic importance of CRE management dictates that strategy setting for CRE is retained in-house regardless of what other CRE management is outsourced.