I heard an interesting comment the other day, one I haven’t heard before. One of our current clients came to Howard Ecker + Company after a brief relationship with a young broker from a large brokerage firm. When this client informed her broker that she would be switching over to our company, his parting words
Moving your law firm can be pricey, challenging, and risky. Problems may include deteriorating team morale, getting locked in to a long-term lease that doesn’t work for the firm, and spending more money than necessary. Firms that do it right in Michigan not only lock in efficient space at economic terms supported by the firm’s
The law office style that was prevalent many decades ago is no longer relevant. Gone are the days of large law libraries, mountains of paper files, and an assistant for each attorney. Recent technological advances are going to take this even further, as firms transform older, inefficient offices to well-planned work environments, or move to
In the 1980's, a major oil company hired me to seek out 30 locations for a new business they had entered: office products. The company’s head of real estate told me that he wanted me to negotiate 30 leases across the US. The catch? He wanted each one to have an annual cancellation clause. I
The Chinese have a saying: an old horse knows the route. I thought about that last week when a good friend and colleague of mine (let’s call her Jane) asked if I would work with her to sublease her office so her company could relocate. While this sounds like it could be the story of
A recent piece in The New York Times discussed the future of branch banking and what firms like J.P. Morgan Chase are doing to provide their customers with the service they require in a cost-efficient and future-proof model. What I gleaned from the article is actually applicable to virtually any type of service business. Customer
I recently attended a meeting of international companies and space planners, where we discussed the use of open space versus private offices in the workplace. What I found interesting is that many firms desire a location with an atrium, so their employees can see each other as they do their work. In fact, one investment
PART THREE: WHERE While your people and your field of work certainly play a role in shaping your office landscape, another important factor actually has to do with what goes on outside the four walls of your space. According to a study by Gensler, cities and their respective cultures and trends are playing a big
Prices of the area's biggest commercial properties keep rising, and so do their taxes. Property taxes rose at nine out of the 10 commercial properties in Cook County with the highest bills in 2013, according to the Cook County Treasurer's Office. That's similar to the 2012 tax year, when tax bills also mostly rose for
PART TWO: WHAT Last week’s discussion was about considering your people when making decisions about your office space. Another equally important influence on your workplace should be the actual work that you do. It might seem like a given, but it can be quite surprising how often I see offices that do not correspond in
