Case Study: Colliers International

Creating True-Cost Comparisons for Tenant Representation Clients with Lx LseMod from Lucernex Technologies

Background

Colliers International is a leading commercial real estate services provider and a member firm of Colliers International Property Consultants. With 11 offices throughout northern California and Nevada, Colliers International’s range of services includes leasing and sales of office, R&D, industrial, land and retail space; property management as well as advisory, investment, financial and tax and appraisal services.

Lucernex Technologies is a provider of powerful software tools designed to support management of all phases of the commercial real estate lifecycle. An innovative leader in Integrated Workplace Management System (IWMS) solutions for nearly 10 years, Lucernex Technologies now also offers Lx LseMod applications to provide corporate real estate managers, tenant rep brokers and real estate consultants with expert financial decision analysis and reporting tools.

The Challenge

As providers of commercial real estate services, the brokers of Colliers International complete a lot of tenant representation deals, where they help clients locate, select and sign leases in new spaces for their commercial operations. Tenant rep work involves accompanying clients as they tour multiple available sites and once they’ve narrowed the possibilities down to a handful of options, providing them with all of the data they need to make an informed decision as to which location to choose. Most of the time, the final decision comes down to finances, so the most helpful broker is one who can provide the most detailed financial information for each site being considered so the client can find the deal that is most economical for their company.

As of 2001, like many other commercial real estate firms, Colliers International had implemented a lease analysis software product in each of its 11 offices to assist with running financial analyses for clients. However, Colliers International’s senior vice president, Duffy D’Angelo, wasn’t fully satisfied with this software’s performance and began to research the market for another solution.

“The biggest issue was that the software we were using was really designed for people with a financial background, and we needed something that was more user-friendly,” he said.

The Solution

This search brought D’Angelo to Lx LseMod , a lease analysis software tool now offered by Lucernex Technologies. Impressed by the solution’s interface and capabilities, he and the other 34 brokers based in Colliers International’s San Jose office split the cost evenly to implement Lx LseMod to assist with their tenant rep deals in July 2001.

The solution enabled the brokers to input the financial information – including rent, tenant improvement costs and all other expenses – from each building a client was considering, and print out a single page report that enabled the true costs of each location to be compared side-by-side.

“Looking at rent alone, one property may appear to be the cheapest, but when you consider additional expenses, the true cost of occupying that space can end up being much more. Lx LseMod is so sophisticated, it allows us to show a CFO all of the numbers involved and truly compare how each property would affect their profit and loss statement,” said D’Angelo.

The Outcome

As of 2010, Colliers International is now using Lx LseMod in all of its 11 locations and is no longer using the competitor product. The brokers continue to be satisfied with the software’s usability, and their clients continue to be satisfied with the quality of information they can now provide – so much so that many brokers now use Lx LseMod as a selling point when they meet with potential customers.

“Corporate real estate is very competitive and everyone has financial analysis software that they use, but we feel that Lx LseMod gives us an edge,” said D’Angelo. “When I meet with new clients, I will show them a sample comparison report generated in Lx LseMod, and they love it because it’s something they can put in their bosses’ hands that shows a detailed financial analysis has been done.”

“Most of the brokers in my office that do tenant rep work use Lx LseMod daily, because there is more to a deal than just rent and without it, you are missing out on the total effect of financial data,” he said. “If you want to do a true apples-to-apples comparison of multiple properties, Lx LseMod is the way to do it.”