On March 6, I was invited to speak at the 2015 CORFAC International Spring Conference in Miami, Florida. The 100+ attendees heard topics ranging from technology, the economy, best practices and building relationships – with emphasis on the change that is taking place in the real estate industry.
My topic was talking about “how to succeed in business by helping others succeed”, and how that philosophy has allowed us to build a successful business from a one person operation. Now, more than ever, it’s crucial to work together – nationally and internationally – in order to create best practices for our clients and share those ideas with our business partners.
Conferences are all about connecting and creating opportunities and that’s just what we did with our colleagues from CORFAC in Monterrey, México. Monterrey is the capital and largest city of the northeastern state of Nuevo León in Mexico, with a population of about 1.1 million. The city is anchor to the third-largest metropolitan area in Mexico and is ranked as the ninth-largest city in the nation. Monterrey serves as a commercial centre in the north of the country and is the base of many significant international corporations. It has a big industrial and manufacturing base and it’s a great opportunity for our industrial team that deals with manufacturers looking to augment their production offshore to consider our colleagues in Monterrey to help build their business. Conversely, our colleagues from Monterrey are connected to many of the Korean and Japanese automakers and manufacturers and this could be a great opportunity to bring new tenants to Winnipeg that wouldn’t otherwise be coming directly from Japan, Korea and Southeast Asia (their first stop may in fact be Mexico). Nurturing the relationship with our Mexican counterparts is a win-win, and it will be exciting to watch the new opportunities it brings about.
I also met our colleagues from France and our colleagues from London. I learned a lot about investment opportunities that will likely be of interest to our pension fund clients as well as family offices. Our investment clients always seek opportunities and insight.
It was great to see everyone culminating in CORFAC’s “Cor$tars” referral award ceremony, and congrats to all those that won.
We see a lot of inbound industrial and office tenants coming into our market and the timing was right for our firm to align itself with a well-respected international network like CORFAC International, particularly since we have added significantly to our office and industrial capacity to complement our dominant retail presence in Manitoba.
CORFAC International has affiliates in Australia, Germany, Greece, India, Ireland, Italy, Russia and throughout North America.
The conference was the perfect setting to take the time to understand the importance of members working together and to improve networking through national and international deals.
About CORFAC International
Founded in 1989, CORFAC International (Corporate Facility Advisors) is comprised of privately held entrepreneurial firms with expertise in office, industrial and retail real estate leasing and investment sales, multifamily property acquisitions and dispositions, property management and corporate services. In association with FIABCI (the International Real Estate Federation) and global affiliates, CORFAC International offers commercial real estate services with market reach in 65 countries worldwide. In recent years, CORFAC firms have averaged over 8,500 completed transactions annually totaling more than 600 million square feet worth an excess of $5.2 billion for their customers. For more information on the CORFAC network, call 224.257.4400 or visit www.corfac.com.
At Shindico, we constantly strive to offer our clients innovative and effective business solutions with superior service that sets us apart. Because we succeed by helping you succeed.
Sandy Shindleman, CCIM, SIOR, CIPS, FRICS
President and CEO
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