So you are vacating an office space. Who is your best partner?

5 Characteristics to Look for in an Office Assets Management Partner

Vacating and decommissioning a real estate office facility?  There is a veritable laundry list of things to consider when implementing a successful exit plan.  Top of the list is identifying an effective resource partner to decommission, liquidate, repurpose, and reallocate your office furniture assets. 

You have probably been inundated with messages coming from companies offering some aspect of the services you will need: 

• Moving and storage companies,

• Local recyclers who promise assets you don’t want will end up with charities,

• Consultants with fancy calculators for sustainability metrics from “green” recycling of furniture assets, that won’t end up in a landfill,

• Logistics intermediaries who promise they have “networks” for trucking and negotiating with recyclers, but don’t have direct control over the project, end-to-end.   

If you have one location you are decommissioning for a move to a new facility cross town, you could try to manage this yourself and a local mover might probably suffice. But do you need the headache?

If your portfolio of leased properties is geographically dispersed and complex in terms of the rules of each landlord or building manager, your office assets management partner most definitely needs to be sufficiently skilled and “up to the ALL the tasks” before you. And if your C-Suite is also holding you to contribute to overall ESG goals, you just added another layer of complexity that can’t be left to amateurs.

 It is all very confusing but doesn’t have to be. 

 The optimal partner should be experienced in all aspects of getting your decommissioning project completed on time, on budget and in compliance with sustainability best practices. 

 Given our experience in the field over the last 26 years, here are 5 things we would recommend you look for in an office asset management partner

1. Focused expertise on commercial projects: Commercial decommissioning projects almost always require completely different expertise than residential moving and storage assignments.  Rely on specialists rather than well meaning service providers who claim to be able to “do it all”.

2. Broad experience with every variable at the job site: Every landlord, building manager and site configuration presents a different set of rules, logistics challenges, obstacles, and complications to anticipate.  Whether the facility you are vacating is in a suburban office park or a high rise in a congested urban center, you want a partner who understands the parameters most likely to impact a smooth and successful execution against your objectives.  

3. Turn-key, end-to-end solutions under one roof: Ideally you want a single point of contact for planning, logistics, inventory management, trucking, storage, remanufacturing of damaged or aged furniture items, and re-allocation either to your new facility or for liquidation or charitable donations. Finally, once the extendable useful life of an asset has no further options, your partner should have sustainable solutions for disposition of assets with the highest certifiable carbon offset and landfill diversion metrics.  Any one of these elements your partner outsources to a “network”, means a step they can’t control or guarantee.  Your most effective partner will have direct oversight (and accountability) for every aspect that leads to a successful project outcome.

4. Pragmatic execution against sustainability and ESG goals: Effective facilities management has always had a very clear financial metric – miss your deadline for vacating a facility and substantial landlord penalties kick in. Sustainability is now another part of the equation that the C-Suite wants reported and measured authentically.  Your most effective partner has no-nonsense, reliable solutions to deliver on both.

5. Potential to be a long-term partner: Facilities management projects do not tend to be one-offs. Even organizations with a modest portfolio of leases under management must respond to market conditions for growth and contraction that impact workplace real estate. The process of onboarding a new partner for office asset management can’t be underestimated whether you are growing or contracting. Your ideal partner meets the first four characteristics, and the flexibility and acumen to be your go-to solution provider for any workplace expansion or contraction you are planning in the future.  Look for partners whose existing clients can vouch for them as trusted repeat solutions providers.

If this make sense to you, reach out to inquiry@tfxfurniture.com to find out if we are the right partner for you.