Articles

EcoDev

Combating Congestion: Consider Moving Out

Americans have seen tremendous technological advancement in the past 50 years. We operate and communicate at a faster pace, with one glaring exception: the physical movement of people and products. We still move goods on the same transportation infrastructure that President Eisenhower created in the 1950s. Back then, infrastructure was created to accommodate the growth […]

Read More

Know Your Freight Costs

Warehousing and distribution continue to be the hottest sectors in site selection. In fact, when researching a five-state region for a client to determine the most active industry sectors, warehousing and distribution topped the list. This location pattern is taking place nationwide. It is a trend that will continue as retail expansion drives more and […]

Read More

Real Estate, Logistics, and Politics Converge

Legendary baseball philosopher Yogi Berra once said, “90 percent of the game is half mental.” In the development world, 90 percent of real estate is half logistics. As shippers increasingly examine ways to make their global supply chains reliable and diversified, they look to infrastructure improvements to support their plans. Because globalization has added length […]

Read More

Site Selection: Think Globally, Act Locally

The globalization of commerce has created a new infrastructure that is fast becoming the backbone of our information economy. This change also affects worldwide logistics operations. Because of the global economy, companies have a greater need to operate their supply chains at maximum efficiency. To achieve these results, many Fortune 500 corporations—along with small and […]

Read More

Inland Ports Make “Location” Matter More

It has become a tired axiom that the three most important success factors in real estate are location, location, and location. But this statement has never been more true, especially with global trade and transportation trends driving demand for large, exceptionally well-located distribution and logistics facilities. Consider the reality of U.S. global trade and transportation […]

Read More

Logistics Developers Embrace the ‘P Word’

The real estate development community in the United States has performed a dramatic about-face when it comes to forming development partnerships. Developers have realized the dreaded ‘P word’ may be necessary for certain projects. This new attitude pays off for real estate developers providing build-to-suit logistics facilities because they operate in a changed reality shaped […]

Read More

Port Diversion Strategy: Consistency Beats Velocity

A steady increase in imports from Asia during the last five years has helped create a logistics dilemma for U.S. businesses using West Coast ports. The ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach and their key partners—rail, labor, stevedores, truckers, and distribution centers—were not properly prepared to handle these volumes, leading to significant receiving and […]

Read More

New ‘Lifestyle’, New Logistics Challenges

The proliferation of “lifestyle centers”—one of the biggest trends to hit retail real estate in decades—is having a significant effect on retailers’ logistics and distribution networks. Lifestyle centers—typically 150,000 to 575,000 square feet in size—are vibrant, upscale, Main Street-style shopping areas with aesthetic extras such as plazas, fountains, decorated walkways, and landscaping. They are often […]

Read More

Building a Warehouse Without Going Broke

A warehouse construction project is always a major undertaking. Whether you are retrofitting an existing DC or constructing a new one, it is crucial to pay attention to details so your project is done on time and within budget. Here are some tricks of the trade for controlling costs and ensuring a smooth project. Design […]

Read More

States Targeting Logistics Hit the Bull’s-Eye

How much do you know about state and local economic development policy? Here’s a quiz. Check which industry is most favored in terms of federal, state, and local tax incentives: Industry A, where national employment has grown by 12 percent over the last five years, and will continue to accelerate with the globalization of the […]

Read More

Choosing a DC Location: Keeping Success in Site

The decision to build a distribution center comes with expectations that it will help a company reach key markets, hire an appropriate workforce, and maximize profitability while minimizing operating costs. Finding that ideal location in a community that embraces the company’s operations, however, is more difficult than merely choosing any site within a targeted region. […]

Read More

Building a Better Warehouse

Choosing the right site for locating a warehouse or distribution center (DC) is a key challenge for any business. Numerous factors—such as access to transportation, an available worker pool, community support, and environmental regulations—converge to make a certain location a prime spot for meeting one company’s transportation and distribution goals, while sounding a death knell […]

Read More

Choosing a Warehouse Location: Look for More than Just Price

The pressure on corporate supply chains has never been greater. Major supply chain glitches can impact a company’s shareholder value by as much as 20 percent or more within six months—regardless of who is at fault—according to industry estimates. Companies feel increasing pressure to reduce inventories and increase inventory turns. And, in a post-Sept. 11 […]

Read More

Attracting Hi-Tech DCs to Your Community

As consumers continue to drive the supply chain, the role of technology in providing better collaboration between the manufacturer and the retail outlet has increased. To stay competitive, public entities—cities, counties, economic development districts—must be able to accommodate the needs of high-tech distribution centers. Economic development commissions and other public entities seeking to attract new, […]

Read More

Protecting Your Assets While Maximizing Efficiencies

Think about this scenario: Your leased distribution center is part of an industrial park consisting of millions of square feet of warehouse space, thousands of trailers and containers, and hundreds of millions of dollars of entrusted products. On weekends, the operation often goes unmanned for periods, but much of the perimeter is protected by natural […]

Read More

Warehouse Networks Keep You Close to Customers

Both new trends and familiar old factors are driving the development of American supply chains and warehouse networks. These trends and factors include: Time sensitivity. Our comprehensive, pervasive sensitivity to time stands as the single most important trend driving supply chain development today. We are a connected society. Wireless connections, e-mail, voice mail, pagers, PDAs, […]

Read More

Scarcity as a Strategic Imperative

Jeff Immelt succeeded Jack Welch as CEO of General Electric on Sept. 7, 2001. His world, and ours, changed dramatically four days later. With a new CEO and a post-Sept.11 world, it was a given that GE’s corporate strategy would change. The only question was, how? Immelt recently laid out his strategy: GE will invest […]

Read More

Making a Bid for Real Estate Auctions

Over the past several years, millions of square feet of manufacturing and distribution space have been rendered obsolete as technology advances create the need for new production facilities, and the economy continues consolidation and repositioning of corporate-owned real estate. Consequently, the need to accelerate the sale of large surplus assets has created a surge in […]

Read More

Rethinking the Role of Public Incentives

When you consider changing a logistics center location, or expanding an existing logistics network, a myriad of crucial factors influence and shape the decisions your logistics team makes. Traditionally, the availability and applicability of local and state incentives is not a make-or-break factor in logistics placement decisions, but perhaps the time has come to elevate […]

Read More

Breaking the Size Barrier in Global Logistics

The last three years have brought a whirlwind of activity to global sourcing, which eliminated many traditional manufacturing jobs in the United States. The Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates that the manufacturing workforce in the United States shrank by two million production jobs between 2000 and 2003. Headlines appear weekly with news of more outsourcing […]

Read More