After experiencing a 30 to 50 percent decline in business relocation and expansion projects due to the COVID-19 pandemic, site selector Andy Shapiro said companies are now returning to their long-term plans for relocating or expanding their business models.
The managing director of Biggins Lacy Shapiro & Co. discussed the future of corporate and industrial manufacturing location decisions, and gave insight into the Dallas region’s success and advantages from his firm’s lens in the San Francisco Bay Area in a DRC virtual meeting in June. Shapiro, who leads location advisory for the firm, said it’s now evident the pause in projects was a temporary and short-term decision by companies as they worked through realigning their staff and business models due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“I’m seeing a fairly full plate and quite a bit of activity that was postponed coming back alive,” Shapiro said.
This article also contains interviews with:
- Mike Berry, President of Hillwood
- Shane Shepard, Economic Development Director for the City of Lancaster
- Ray Perryman, Perryman Group
- Lee M. Wagner, Partner of Corporate Real Estate Services for Site Selection Group
- Joel Pustmueller, Managing Director of Brokerage for JLL
- Beth Bowman, President and CEO of Irving Economic Development Corporation
- Jason Ford, Certified Economic Developer and Vice President of Frisco EDC
- Jeff Ellerman, Vice President of CBRE
Read the rest of the article in the Spring-Summer edition of the DFW Real Estate Review.