Properties Magazine – Managing a Move
Safeguard Properties’ recent move to their new Valley View, OH location?is the focus of an article in Properties Magazine, Northeast Ohio’s monthly realty, construction and architecture magazine.
Managing a Move
Safeguard Properties relocates to updated, expanded Valley View office building
By Diane DiPiero
An exercise facility, a full-service cafeteria, even a half-basketball court outside: These are among the amenities that Safeguard Properties offers its employees at the company?s new headquarters in Valley View. The facility also features a state-of-the-art technology room and a 20,000-square-foot vertical addition to accommodate future growth.
Safeguard Properties began in 1990 as a regional company with a handful of employees. Today, there are about 775 people providing all aspects of property management services ? including property preservation, REO services, insurance loss inspections, title services, property inspections, valuations and hazard claims services ? to customers in all 50 states, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. Safeguard is currently the largest privately held field services company in the country.
Significant recent growth prompted Safeguard to consider a move from its cramped Brooklyn Heights headquarters. ?We wanted our own building, and we wanted something that would feel homey to us,? says Alan Jaffa, Safeguard?s chief operating officer.
Safeguard worked with Greenberg Real Estate Advisors of Solon to find a property that met its distinct needs: parking for roughly 600 vehicles; enough interior space to accommodate a large staff, including about 400 people in the call center; and room for expansion.
Greenberg Real Estate Advisors found a 76,000-square-foot property in Valley View with a large amount of parking and room to add more. ?Soon after they found the property, we got Randy Smith [of Davison, Smith, Certo Architects] involved to make fit-out plans so we could be sure it would work for Safeguard,? explains Kerry Chelm, president of Chelm Properties, a partner in Greenberg Real Estate Advisors.
To read the rest of this article, download the January 2010 issue of Properties Magazine now. [January 2010; download PDF; 7.3 mb]
