Consulting services

Corporate real estate becomes a strategic business lever when organizations use it to drive three outcomes simultaneously: cost optimization that releases capital, sustainable practices that meet regulatory and investor expectations, and workplace experiences that attract and retain talent.

• Cost as capital reallocation: Portfolio optimization does not just reduce occupancy costs — it releases capital that can be reinvested in technology, talent, or growth. JLL's work with a global financial services firm generated $120 million in annual savings by right-sizing its portfolio based on integrated attendance and occupancy data.

• Sustainability as risk management and value creation: Buildings account for roughly 40% of global carbon emissions. Organizations that decarbonize their portfolios reduce regulatory exposure, qualify for green financing, and attract ESG-conscious investors and tenants.

• Workplace as talent strategy: The physical workplace directly influences recruitment, retention, and daily productivity. Organizations that design their workplaces around employee experience gain a measurable competitive advantage in talent markets.

Data analytics and technology are foundational to modern real estate consulting — they enable consultants to replace assumption-based decisions with evidence-based recommendations, model scenarios at portfolio scale, and monitor performance in real time rather than through periodic reviews.

• Portfolio data integration: Effective consulting requires unifying lease data, occupancy data, financial performance, labor market analytics, and market intelligence into a single analytical environment.

• Scenario modeling and simulation: Modern consulting platforms model multiple portfolio scenarios simultaneously — evaluating the financial, operational, and employee experience impact of different consolidation, expansion, or redesign options.

• AI-powered market intelligence: AI accelerates the analysis of market conditions, comparable transactions, labor availability, and operating cost benchmarks — compressing research timelines from weeks to hours.

• Ongoing performance monitoring: Technology transforms consulting from a periodic engagement into a continuous intelligence loop — tracking utilization, lease events, and market shifts in real time.

JLL's consulting team is supported by JLL Falcon, JLL's proprietary AI platform for commercial real estate, and JLL Azara, an AI-driven data analysis application. More than 47,000 JLL professionals use JLL's AI tools to deliver faster, more customized solutions for clients.

Organizations achieve better strategic outcomes and faster execution by engaging one integrated consulting firm rather than assembling multiple specialist advisors — because real estate decisions are interdependent, and fragmented advisory relationships produce fragmented recommendations.

• Integration advantage: A single firm operates from shared data, a unified client understanding, and consistent analytical methods.

• Execution continuity: When the same firm that develops the strategy can also execute it through leasing, project management, and facilities management, the transition is seamless.

• Accountability: A single advisory relationship creates clear accountability for outcomes.

• When specialists may add value: For narrow-scope needs — such as a one-time tax incentive negotiation or jurisdiction-specific regulatory analysis — a specialist may provide deeper expertise. But the strategic framework should remain with the integrated advisor.

JLL's integrated consulting approach connects workplace, location, and portfolio decisions through a shared data foundation, a sequential analytical framework, and coordinated execution — ensuring that each strategic decision accounts for its downstream impact on the other two disciplines.

• Data unification: JLL's consulting team begins by integrating the client's occupancy data, lease portfolio, financial performance, headcount projections, and market intelligence into a single analytical environment.

• People-first strategy development: Before evaluating locations or portfolio composition, JLL examines how people in the organization work — collaboration patterns, space utilization, hybrid behaviors, and employee experience needs.

• Scenario modeling across disciplines: JLL models portfolio scenarios that simultaneously account for workplace requirements, location constraints, and financial outcomes.

• Coordinated execution: When the strategy is approved, JLL's consulting team transitions to execution in partnership with JLL's leasing, project management, and facilities management teams.

JLL's portfolio transformation engagement with a global financial services firm illustrates this model: integrated analysis of attendance, occupancy, lease, and transaction data produced over 300 specific portfolio actions and $120 million in annual savings.

Justify real estate consulting to the CFO or board by presenting a cost-benefit framework that quantifies the savings potential against the consulting investment — and by framing consulting as risk mitigation for the organization's second- or third-largest operating expense.

• Quantified savings opportunity: Benchmark the organization's current occupancy costs against industry standards. For most organizations, occupancy cost reduction of 10–25% is achievable through consulting-driven optimization.

• Fee-to-savings ratio: Consulting fees typically represent 1–3% of total occupancy costs. If a $200k engagement delivers $5 million in annual savings, the ROI is 10x in year one.

• Risk of inaction: Quantify the cost of the status quo: lease expirations approaching without a strategy, underutilized space, ESG non-compliance, and competitive disadvantage in talent markets.

• Non-financial returns: Include employee experience improvements, ESG score enhancement, data infrastructure value, and organizational agility.

Occupier consulting insights improve investment and asset management decisions by providing demand-side intelligence — data on how tenants actually use space, what workplace features they value, and where occupancy trends are shifting — that informs asset positioning, capital allocation, and disposition timing.

• Tenant demand intelligence: Workplace strategy insights reveal what occupiers want: flexible floorplans, technology-enabled collaboration spaces, sustainability certifications, and experience-driven amenities.

• Utilization and occupancy analytics: Portfolio-level occupancy data identifies which assets are underperforming their utilization potential — a leading indicator for lease renewal risk.

• Location attractiveness modeling: Location strategy analytics provide investors with forward-looking indicators of market attractiveness that supplement traditional comparable transaction analysis.

• Capital expenditure prioritization: Consulting insights help investors direct capital improvements toward features that occupier demand data confirms will generate the highest return.

Consulting provides the analytical framework for hold-reposition-exit decisions by integrating market data, occupancy analytics, lease exposure, capital requirements, and strategic alignment into a structured evaluation of each asset's future value to the portfolio.

• Hold analysis: Consulting evaluates whether the asset's current performance and market position justify continued investment — considering lease term, tenant quality, rent trajectory, and capex needs.

• Repositioning assessment: For assets with value-creation potential, consulting analyzes the capital required to reposition, the expected return, and market demand for the repositioned product.

• Exit evaluation: Consulting identifies assets that no longer serve the portfolio strategy and models optimal exit timing based on market conditions, tax implications, and capital recycling priorities.

JLL's Consulting practice brings a unique advantage: its occupier consulting insights complement the financial and market analysis that traditional investment advisors provide, creating a more complete picture of each asset's strategic value.

Commercial real estate consulting services are typically priced under four fee models: project-based fixed fee, monthly retainer, hourly advisory, or a blended model combining fixed and variable components. All consulting compensation is fee-based — not commission-based — ensuring that advisory recommendations are independent of transaction activity.

• Project-based fixed fee: A defined scope of work with a fixed price. Most common for workplace strategy studies, location evaluations, and portfolio optimization projects.

• Monthly retainer: An ongoing advisory relationship with a fixed monthly fee. Common for organizations that need continuous strategic support and portfolio monitoring.

• Hourly advisory: Consulting time billed at agreed hourly rates. Common for targeted advisory needs and engagements where scope evolves based on findings.

• Blended model: A combination of fixed and variable fees — for example, a fixed project fee with hourly billing for additional analysis. Common for complex, multi-phase programs.

Consulting fees typically represent 1–3% of total occupancy costs. JLL structures fees to align with the engagement's objectives and provides transparent fee proposals detailing scope, timeline, team composition, and deliverables.

Organizations should conduct a comprehensive portfolio strategy review annually, with quarterly data check-ins and triggered reassessments when material business events occur.

• Annual strategic review: A full reassessment evaluates whether portfolio strategy remains aligned with business objectives — accounting for headcount changes, market conditions, lease expirations, and competitive dynamics.

• Quarterly data check-ins: Lighter-touch, data-driven reviews identify whether conditions have changed enough to warrant strategy adjustments.

• Triggered reassessments: Material business events — M&A, restructuring, rapid growth, major lease expirations, regulatory shifts — should trigger immediate strategy review.

• Continuous monitoring: For retained advisory relationships, technology-enabled monitoring tracks utilization trends, lease events, and market shifts in real time.