It has long been Keewaydin’s practice to focus on long-term real estate solutions.
In eBenX’s world, where business moves as quickly as information along
a fiber-optic cable, long-term needs could be drastically different from those
of the present. One thing was clear, Keewaydin principal Shannon Reilly knew:
decisions would have to be made based on tomorrow’s business, not today’s.
With Reilly’s help, eBenX’s team began to work through the issues
that would drive the selection of their new site: Lease or buy? One
or two sites? Location? What kind of space and how much?
The
clock began to tick, Reilly went to work. Combing the suburbs west of Minneapolis,
she found properties that would meet eBenX’s space needs. As
Scott Halstead put it, the process of selecting a building was a huge deal. Reilly’s
nearly-continuous negotiations and right-on recommendations helped CEO
John Davis choose the property at 605 Waterford a landmark, really located
just a half-mile or so west of the current space.
eBenX got its Class
A space for essentially Class B/B+ rates, saving at least $800,000 per year over
five years. Reilly negotiated for the more-prestigious upper floors of
the building and for fiberoptic cable to be brought to the building at the owner’s
expense. She even negotiated the right for the eBenX logo to be emblazoned
on top of the landmark building, visible from two major highways. |
