In this week’s MWM Broker Spotlight, we’re featuring a bright and talented commercial real estate associate in the Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL) Kansas City office - meet Anné Erickson. Erickson maintains a strong passion in her CRE career by bringing together different ideas, people and companies - all in an effort to benefit her clients.
Erickson grew up in the real estate business watching her family invest in real estate across the KC metro since the day US Route 69 came through their family farm just southwest of Corporate Woods. This experience fascinated Erickson, especially from a business perspective of value generation in owning properties and the development activities that took place thereafter.
RT: Tell us more about you and your career, Anné! What first sparked your interest in commercial real estate?
AE: Early in my career, I worked overseas directing investment research projects on emerging global economies. No matter the country, real estate was a central part of this work and how foreign investors can invest in the construction and real estate sector. Like many who were involved in our family real estate through the years, it is to no one’s surprise that I landed my career in commercial real estate.
RT: What excites you about your day-to-day career?
AE: Being let in ‘under the tent’ with clients and prospects. I focus my business in tenant representation, working with the actual company leasing or purchasing property. My job is to understand what my clients are going through from an operational standpoint to identify commercial real estate solutions that will compliment and impact their business plans. It’s not just about finding them a space; it’s about using real estate as a tool to advance their business. The diversity of getting to know different leaders and business sectors in Kansas City keeps it fresh and exciting to me.
RT: What leads do you look for?
AE: I represent businesses looking for real estate. Our team is the tenant representation leader in Kansas City because of our strengths in occupancy planning and financial analysis. And yes, being a rare female in a male-dominated industry, it’s always fun to work with Kansas City’s incredible women-owned businesses!
RT: Can you share how you keep your skills sharp in this competitive industry?
AE: It is important to focus on what skills are unique to you and your team and become the expert in your focus area. The pandemic has made this even more important as businesses are looking to us to figure out what is next. I specialize in occupancy planning as it impacts employee attraction, retention, morale, and overall business effectiveness with office users. In addition to the basic cost of real estate, there are very substantial monetary impacts related to employee productivity, satisfaction and attrition that have a direct relationship with the work environment.
These topics need to also be addressed and considered in the real estate analysis because a 10% increase in workplace staff productivity or a lowering of employee attrition by 5% often can have far more financial impact on your bottom line than saving $0.50 off your base rent.
RT: What’s your vision and advice for a successful CRE industry moving forward?
AE: We can no longer look to the past to understand how business success will be achieved in the future. Every organization must examine the priority areas of their business and begin to “reimagine’ all aspects of business in the context of the new normal. C-Suite teams who successfully reimagine business today will be tomorrow’s business leaders.
I expect the Kansas City real estate market will rebound likely faster than many larger cities in the US. I believe that will be in part because of our diversified economy which helps insolate us from as much market volatility. As well, given the nature of the COVID environment, many companies today have realized the benefits of having a larger and less dense city to conduct operations.
Employees are redefining work and re-entry on their own terms. Business leaders need to redefine the role of their traditional workplace. Workers need to be confident in their health and wellness before they return.
We understand the vast majority of office employees around the country are looking for a hybrid office/work from home situation post-pandemic. Therefore, the office place will continue to play a substantial role in innovation, collaboration and culture creation.
RT: How can prospects contact you for more information?
Anné Erickson
M: 913-220-3636
D: 913-469-4657
Anne.Erickson@am.jll.com
linkedin.com/in/anne-erickson
7500 College Boulevard, Suite 920