Office Life Magazine

Stan Krawitz knows about relationships. Eighteen months ago, he began a casual inquiry among his real estate peers to find out how brokers and office space tenants perceived their relationships with each other. Turns out there was a problem. After a leasing deal was done, brokers complained they could no longer get hold of the client to maintain the relationship over the long term. Clients, on the other hand said they felt abandoned.

Krawitz saw this expectation gap as an opportunity to introduce an efficiency to the traditional brokerage system. Through his new online venture Real Facilities, Krawitz brings the two parties to a much more thorough way of acquiring space, one that creates a long-term relationship. Since its soft launch last year, things seem to be working out.

In late 2000, following the acquisition of Toronto's Janna Systems, Siebel Systems, a multinational software company with annual revenues of $1.8 billion turned to Real Facilities to find and lease the right space for the company's new combined Canadian operations.

"We wanted to combine our operations efficiently and operate in a high profile space that would meet our advanced technology demands," says Linda Jansen, Vice President of Facilities and Real Estate for Siebel Systems.

With Real Facilities' assistance, Siebel leased over 100,000 square feet of office space in one of Toronto's most technologically advanced facilities, complete with highly visible signage and underground parking. Real Facilities negotiated flexible provisions in the lease to accommodate future growth and, says Jansen, the two organizations will be effectively integrated in far less time than was originally anticipated - thanks in no small way to the efficiencies of the online environment.

The tools used to design, build, buy and sell space have increasingly been married to the efficiency and speed of the Web. Companies looking for space are encouraged to check for available space on-line.

FULLY OUTFITTED
Real Facilities proposes that brokers work with tenants through the whole process - from finding space to outfitting it. The company does this through a set process. On the Web, the client indicates how much space it requires, and a listing of all available space fitting its requirements in the Greater Toronto Area is brought up on screen with the help of a space calculator and other tools used to determine the precise amount of space a client would need.

Through discussion with a broker, those choices are narrowed down to one or two that the client might want to tour prior to making a decision. Once a choice is made, Real Facilities provides the client with professional design assistance. Construction, furniture and technological needs are managed by Real Facilities.

The company gives the process a simple name - the FLOW system. "Find space, Lease space, Outfit space to be Work ready in real time." The process is supported by secure document sharing online, online project management and financial analysis. For instance, the company provides the team with Web-based tools to store documents such as leases and floor plans, areas where members can leave messages and track projects progress - all in a secure place.

"Corporate space users in the GTA have long been searching for a simple one-stop shopping vehicle to find, lease, outfit and manage their corporate facilities, so they can be work ready in real time," says Krawitz.

The Real Facilities team meets with the CEO, CFO and a Human Resources professional from the client company during the office design process. "We do not consider the client or itspeople a commodity," notes Krawitz. "Involving HR helps create a positive productive work environment."
All bidding on construction work is done online and Real Facilities facilitates that as well by suppying a list of five construction companies that it associates with. "If the client wants a particular designer or construction team, we can accommodate that," says Krawitz. "However, we also give them a choice of suppliers of our own, to simplify the process.

BUILDING RELATIONSHIPS
Until recently, the company has kept a low profile, developing a solid stable of satisfied clients before launching the concept with full force into the marketplace. Siebel Systems, Brightspark Labs Inc, and Symantec are four of more than a dozen clients that have already embraced this new integration of disparate real estate functions.
"One of the reasons for our success is that we did not get out and develop a technology that was waiting for an audience," notes Krawitz. "We recognized the inefficiency in oubusiness model that meets our clients' demand."
Krawitz is playing the market very carefully, however. Although the ideas has sparked interest from investors in the U.S. and is promising concept for the rest of Canada, for now the company will remain soley a Toronto venture, serving office needs in the Greater Toronto Area.