Since its founding in 1898, the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business (GSB) had occupied a growing number of buildings on the Hyde Park neighborhood campus. By the late 1990s, outdated facilities in disparate locations detracted from a cohesive campus life for students and faculty. In 1995, the leadership of the GSB drew up plans to update the GSB facilities. They wanted a single, unique building with state-of-the-art technology infrastructure that would facilitate interaction and promote the school's sense of community. As a first step, the school held an international architectural design competition and also partnered with Mesirow Financial's Real Estate Division. The professionals at Mesirow Financial, using their expertise in the development process, managed the project – benchmarking other competing business schools, offering objective analysis of the project costs and risks, providing knowledgeable guidance for dealing with multiple contractors, and creating effective solutions for addressing the needs and desires of the many interested parties – to help turn the vision of the GSB into a reality. The new 410,000-square-foot building, named the Hyde Park Center, is one of the most advanced business school facilities in the world. The project was completed in the fall of 2004, on time and on budget.

Your Facilities Sustain Your Business
If you run a business, the space you purchased or began renting when you started your enterprise was likely chosen because it made the most sense for your operations, your cash flow and your size at the time. But as your business grows and changes, it's important that your physical space keeps up. "Any developments that cause you to rethink the way you manage your company should also be a cue to rethink the support facilities," says David Rotholz, senior vice president, Real Estate Division. The right space for a small start-up may serve to limit the operations of a growing corporation. "Similar to the GSB, a lot of businesses – especially very successful ones – tend to just add on to facilities ad hoc as the operations expand," says Rotholz. Without a master plan, they eventually find that the facility no longer truly fits their needs.

Space to Meet Your Needs
Even if your firm is contracting – or simply changing focus – you may find that your space no longer performs optimally for your operations. "As companies take advantage of outsourcing and new technologies, for example, the need for space to fit employees or machines may diminish," says Jeff Foster, senior vice president, Real Estate Division. As a result, they may be spending more money than necessary to manage overly large facilities.

At the same time, growing reliance on computers, teleconferencing and other electronically intensive technology may overtax facilities that weren't designed to support it. "Electrical infrastructure, which was a minor component in building projects as recently as 10 years ago, is now often a primary consideration," explains Foster. Because retrofitting older buildings is relatively difficult, many companies are opting instead to build new space with features such as raised flooring and dedicated wire management pathways.

Selecting the Right Option
Even if your current space doesn't perform optimally, you may not need to abandon it and build a new facility. Many options are available, including staying in your existing headquarters and renting additional space close by. You can also choose to build within the existing space, restacking and optimizing space use. But how do you decide which option makes the most sense for your business?

While you have the expertise to run your business, you probably don't often face complex decisions about its physical space. Even if you have facilities management staff to handle the day-to-day improvements and maintenance, those professionals may not have experience working with large facilities projects from the design phase through construction and occupancy. That's why it makes sense to hire a professional development manager to represent your interests.

Add an Expert to Your Team
With a deep understanding of the process, a development manager can offer an objective and thorough assessment of the available options to improve your space, in light of your business goals and budget. They can help you identify and anticipate both the costs and potential road blocks, providing you with a realistic and comprehensive understanding of all the costs and issues involved in the improvement project before you commit.

The earlier a development manager gets involved in a project, the more value he or she can provide. By offering sound guidance on key decisions early in the process, a development manager can help you avoid costly mistakes so you can achieve your goal faster and more directly.

When choosing a development manager, look for a demonstrable record of success, particularly in the specific type of project expertise you'll need. Consider the level of difficulty of the projects they have managed, and whether those were completed on time and on budget.

This article originally appeared in the 2005, 2nd quarter edition of the Mesirow Financial Quarterly. Click here to access the current and all past issues of the Quarterly.