{"id":748182,"date":"2025-04-22T06:01:57","date_gmt":"2025-04-22T13:01:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/?post_type=wherenext&p=748182"},"modified":"2025-04-22T06:09:41","modified_gmt":"2025-04-22T13:09:41","slug":"real-estate-side-hustle","status":"publish","type":"wherenext","link":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/publications\/wherenext\/real-estate-side-hustle","title":{"rendered":"The Real Estate Team Gets a Side Hustle"},"author":501,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"sync_status":"","episode_type":"","audio_file":"","castos_file_data":"","podmotor_file_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","itunes_episode_number":"","itunes_title":"","itunes_season_number":"","itunes_episode_type":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[],"tags":[280502,367612,11272,388022],"department":[476792],"wherenext-category":[],"industry":[],"class_list":["post-748182","wherenext","type-wherenext","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","tag-commercial-real-estate","tag-corporate-real-estate","tag-demographics","tag-smart-maps","department-cxo-priorities"],"acf":{"short_description":"Innovative real estate teams are redefining their traditional role and putting their businesses on the map, creating an executive view of assets.","pdf":{"host_remotely":false,"file":"","file_url":""},"flexible_content":[{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"A corporate department long viewed as a cost center is carving out a new reputation.\r\n\r\nCorporate real estate teams are using digital technology to expand beyond important but mundane tasks like lease renewals and into strategy. With smart maps, these professionals help executives uncover new sources of revenue from existing properties and business opportunities competitors have missed."},{"acf_fc_layout":"sidebar","layout":"standard","image_reference":null,"image_reference_figure":"","spotlight_image":null,"section_title":"","spotlight_name":"","position":"Left","content":"Snapshot<\/strong>: Corporate real estate teams are evolving from cost centers to revenue advisers. Here we examine their blueprint for finding the highest, best use for company property.","snippet":""},{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"They\u2019re doing so as developers seek land and property for everything from residential housing and sports arenas to new energy sites and recreational retreats. According to a recent survey by commercial real estate firm JLL<\/a>, 62 percent of decision-makers believe they must achieve better utilization of their corporate real estate portfolio.\r\n\r\nInnovative real estate groups are using geospatial technology known as a geographic information system (GIS) to achieve this optimization. Like a grandmaster before a chessboard, a real estate leader equipped with a basemap of company assets can quickly spot opportunities, gaps, and risks others don\u2019t see.\r\n\r\nIn industries as diverse as natural resources, retail, and health care, a smart map<\/a> with vital property statistics\u2014acreage, value, zoning, infrastructure, accessibility, carrying costs\u2014can suggest potential uses. That might mean transforming a shuttered hospital into multifamily housing, converting a former mineral extraction site into a solar energy farm, or transferring unused land to a conservation group for preservation and recreation.\r\n\r\nReal estate groups looking to take a more strategic role should consider these four keys to becoming a revenue adviser.\r\n

Key 1: Establish the Operational Basemap<\/strong><\/h3>\r\nGiven several weeks or more, most real estate teams can assemble a dossier on any property in the corporate portfolio. But the team with that information always accessible on a smart map is a CXO\u2019s MVP."},{"acf_fc_layout":"sidebar","layout":"standard","image_reference":null,"image_reference_figure":"","spotlight_image":null,"section_title":"","spotlight_name":"","position":"Right","content":"Related Read:<\/strong>\r\n\r\n\/\/ Uncovering hidden value<\/a> in real estate","snippet":""},{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"The real estate group at one Fortune 50 oil and gas business used this technique as part of a corporate push to generate cashflow from thousands of assets and land parcels. The first step was to consolidate all the company\u2019s property data in a GIS<\/a> database.\r\n\r\nWith that backbone, the firm created an operational basemap<\/a>\u2014a centralized view of its real estate portfolio. The tool, built with geospatial technology and accessible across the enterprise, allows any knowledgeable party to contribute insight on potential asset dispositions. Now property analysis that once required eight months and the input of 30 employees can be accomplished in seconds.\r\n\r\nAn operational basemap is foundational to each of the following steps. By consulting a map populated with data on land and facilities, real estate teams can quickly advise on the highest, best use for company property.\r\n

Key 2: Understand the Broader Organizational Mission<\/strong><\/h3>\r\nTo advise decision-makers, real estate teams need to consider the company\u2019s overall strategy\u2014not just narrow departmental goals.\r\n\r\nFor a company focused on supporting local communities, real estate analysts could identify opportunities for land that might be sold for conservation or recreation purposes, parcels with high potential for solar energy development, or office buildings primed for conversion to residential housing.\r\n\r\nFor an industrial equipment manufacturer looking to grow sales in a particular market, the real estate team can analyze municipal permits and zoning changes. Sites slated to become manufacturing plants, retail plazas, or warehouses would tip the sales team to opportunities to sell excavators, dump trucks, and road graders.\r\n\r\nThat location insight could lead to a burst of sales\u2014and it starts with a real estate group whose geospatial technology skills support the company mission.\r\n

Key 3: New Data Reveals the Highest, Best Use of Real Estate Assets <\/strong><\/h3>\r\nCertain companies are always on the lookout for new buildings to acquire, outdated facilities to renovate, or land to dispose of.\r\n\r\nBefore greenlighting such moves, executives want data on risks, liabilities, and benefits. A real estate team armed with location insights serves as a strategic adviser, providing a basemap of corporate properties with data on each asset, including:\r\n