Camp Dresser & McKee Inc.
Cambridge, MA
180,000 SF
CresaPartners Boston
Client Objectives
Established in 1947 in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Camp Dresser & McKee Inc. (CDM) has grown into a leading global consulting, engineering, construction, and operations firm with more than 4,500 employees worldwide. In 2006, CDM engaged CresaPartners to investigate alternatives to relocate its corporate headquarters within Eastern Massachusetts. The overall goal was to reduce its significant rental obligations while maintaining a healthy and convenient work environment suitable to its employees. The client challenged CresaPartners to find a cost effective solution that would achieve its goals of maintaining happy employees while reducing its overall real estate costs.
Result
CresaPartners worked with an internal client team which was comprised of members from real estate, operations, finance, and engineering. In order to properly address the trade-off between rental costs and employee retention, multiple submarkets had to be considered along with CDM’s current facility. There was also serious consideration of splitting the corporate headquarters into two regions equidistant north and south of Boston. After soliciting proposals from multiple landlords in each short-list submarket, CresaPartners analyzed all the relevant qualitative and quantitative factors, working with the internal team to account for differences in landlord up-fit allowances, tax rates for the various municipalities, overall building management, operating costs and control, commuting patterns, public transportation access, and lease concessions. CresaPartners was then able to create significant leverage with CDM’s current landlord, resulting in over $18 million reductions from the landlord’s original proposal. Additionally, CresaPartners negotiated significant below-market parking rates for the term of the lease and other contractual language that allowed CDM to stay in its current location with significant cost reductions and enhanced control of its headquarters when compared with its original lease transaction.