2016 Year in Review: Karen Hurd, SVN International Corp.

Name & Title: Karen Hurd, Senior Vice President, National Franchise Sales & Development Company Name: SVN International Corp.  What was your most notable project, deal, transaction or professional achievement in 2016? The continued, rapid expansion and growth of our existing and new offices nationally and globally. Since joining SVN in 2012 we have grown from 140 to 200 offices covering 500 markets.   Some of my recent new office openings are in major and secondary markets across the US in cities like Boston, New York City, Philadelphia, Salt Lake City, DC Metro, Greater Cleveland just to name a few.    One firm in particular from New York City specializing in Institutional Business.will be announced in early 2017. They will be creating more deal opportunities in the Institutional Capital Markets for SVN next year. What project, transaction, market trend or product had the greatest impact on your industry this year? There have been several projects and new initiatives that have made an impact both in our organization and on the industry collectively . One trend which we see that will catch on is related to SVN’s Shared Value Network. This year at our Annual Conference our President and CEO Kevin Maggiacomo announced the formation of the SVN Shared Value Network Commission, a group of thought leaders within the SVN organization charged with developing the SVN Shared Value Network. The SVN Shared Value Network encompasses our ecosystem of clients, colleagues and communities where together we create greater value for all, through openness, inclusiveness and innovation. SVN was founded on the belief that proactively cooperating and collaborating with the global commercial real estate community is not only the right thing to do for our clients, but it is the best way to ensure maximum value for a property. We’ve expanded this ideology to include a Shared Value Network approach across all of our service lines, offices and the communities where our Advisors live and work. One outstanding example of this is our “SVN Live Sales Call". Each week we invite to the call anyone interested in commercial real estate to view our new properties for sale. We believe in sharing fees to give incentives to a wider network of buyers. With an expansive network comes higher visibility and increased demand, resulting in a higher value for clients. We see it happening and have recently conducted an independent study entitled "Cooperation in Commercial Real Estate Drives Results". It demonstrated that deals sold through broker cooperation achieve a 9.6% higher price per square foot on average than deals that are double-ended. How will you be supercharging your productivity in 2017? This year I will be celebrating a successful and productive 5 year tenure with SVN.   When I think about productivity, it always comes down to the people and relationships for me. As a member of the SVN team, we strategize, collaborate, set goals individually and collectively. We refer business, support and empower one another. I have mapped out my 2017 business plan and strategy and I am happy to say that I am ready to roll. SVN is hosting it’s Annual Conference in Tampa, FL February 8-10 and its SVN Advisor Jumpstart in Boston MA the last week of March. There will be plenty of opportunities for deal making, education and getting “supercharged”. This will be a great kick off to 2017 for both SVN and myself. What emerging trends will drive investment and development in 2017? Looking forward, investment supply/demand and interest rates will be the key drivers of activity. We will have to wait and see what this actually reveals for 2017. I have seen a lot about emerging trends from many industry sources. I do know that the “ technology disruption” will continue to impact and change the real estate profession as we have already witnessed. 2016 was the year for secondary and tertiary markets where SVN has strong coverage. In many cases, these markets have been more attractive than some of the gateway cities and have emerged as relative value propositions. We see markets that are hip, urban, walkable, and which offer lower cost of living. They are attracting millennials for all of these reasons and some speculate they offer a better future opportunity and way of life. I maintain that trend this will continue in 2017.