by Brianna Crandall — May 8, 2015—With heavy pressure on public agencies to conserve resources, the U.S. Army Reserve’s facilities chief issued a clarion call for the private sector to help public organizations double down on managing their considerable real estate. In response, RICS, an international standards body focused on the property sector, is bringing the global profession together to drive this vital collaborative effort.
“The U.S. Army Reserve plays a critical role in the nation’s armed forces. And though it makes up 20 percent of the Army’s organized units, the Reserve accounts for only six percent of the Army’s total budget—a model of cost-efficiency and effectiveness,” said James Balocki, the Army Reserve’s Chief of Infrastructure. “We are challenged, though, to find new, highly inventive ways to be even more cost-efficient and cost-effective if we are going to continue to maintain our readiness posture.
“We recognize the private sector, with all of its resourcefulness, solution-oriented culture and can-do attitude, has innovative ideas that will help us attain new efficiencies, greater effectiveness and improved utilization of resources,” Balocki continued. “We’re calling on that sector to once again unlock its creativity and bring a proposal, and our door is wide open! We’re inviting you to come to us with any concepts, theories, solutions, even revolutionary thinking, across all operational areas — policy, contracting, private sector investments, property use, energy security and renewable energy — that will help us reduce costs while also becoming more effective in the capabilities we need to achieve our mission.”
Balocki issued his call at RICS’ Annual Summit of the Americas, a premiere international forum where industry leaders connect to network and discuss best practices, on April 24 in Los Angeles.
RICS is commissioning research to promote the best possible management of public assets. The research will identify best practices across the development, leasing, management and maintenance of government real estate and look to identify and disseminate case studies where states and governments already have success stories.
The real estate and construction industry, across the public and private sectors, has the expertise and creativity to respond to this challenge, said Neil Shah, Americas managing director for RICS. “RICS has a duty to help create market confidence and ultimately save taxpayer dollars by harnessing the brightest and the best of the industry. Whether it is portfolio management, leasing strategy or cost controls, our profession can deliver.”
RICS will be holding a number of leaders’ roundtables over the next eight months in the United States and across the world, building up to a launch of the research in April 2016 at the next RICS Summit of the Americas in Washington, D.C.
