Across the entire real estate portfolio JLL helped the company apply use studies, occupancy planning, facility management tools and workplace strategy to better plan for current and future occupancy and building equipment needs. The work encompassed developing seating plans for the hybrid work model, and implementing a workspace reservation system at key properties. JLL also helped the company reduce its own emissions and utility costs, while tracking the recycling and reuse of discarded furniture, copper, cables and other items.

“This utility company adopted a forward-looking, holistic approach to right-sizing its portfolio with a close look at the real-world needs of employees and customers,” said Jim Hines, Director of Project Management, JLL. “As a result, the organization was able to reduce its occupancy costs significantly while supporting customer service and employee satisfaction.”

Ultimately, the utility company was able to shrink its footprint by 1.74 million square feet across 75 sites, and annual cost avoidance of $36 million. The utility company also achieved an additional $2+million in initial cost savings, and generated $3.5 million in cash from property sales, resulting in a total project value of $42 million. In addition, the smaller footprint removes more than 500 employee cars from NorCal roads.

“The optimized real estate portfolio has reduced utility company’s operating costs by millions of dollars annually and is helping advance its net zero goals,” said Joy Naseath, Account Director and Executive Vice President, JLL. “And, its 15 million-plus NorCal customers benefit because the portfolio savings are passed on in the form of reduced electric bills.”

JLL is currently working with the utility company to implement the third part of the plan—service center consolidation. As of June 2024, JLL continues to analyze and identify sites for consolidation while also acquiring sites and facilities to help the company build a streamlined, state-of-the-art portfolio of customer service centers.