Yet, investment sales must reflect assumptions about the future real estate rental market. That's why I was interested to read Jones Lang LaSalle's recent Survey of CRE Executives, primarily from Fortune 100 companies. Half of the executives expect to be asked "to reduce real estate costs in the 10-15 percent range" over the next 18 months and that "headquarters and general office space were cited as offering the biggest opportunities for savings."

Longer term, half of these companies have "impaired" less than 10 percent of their surplus space. (Recent FASB regulations require firms to write off space that they will not use in the future.) According to a Jones Lang LaSalle executive, "Until companies finish impairing their space, the true impact on real estate markets may not be known, and the point at which the market reaches equilibrium may be farther out than previously anticipated. This current lack of transparency is one unfortunate -- and presumably unintended -- consequence of the new accounting rules."

Spread the Word... Many thanks to my friend Mark McLaughlin at McLaughlin Ventures for sponsoring the PikeNet Dispatch this week. Only twelve sponsorship availabilities left in 2003.

--Peter Pike