Case Study on AECOM North American Account

1. AECOM
U.S. Portfolio
Property: North American Portfolio
Case Study
Transaction Type: Consolidation/Restructure
Industry: Technology
Date Completed: 2000‐2009
Client Situation
In 2000, AECOM retained Studley’s Ness Hamaoui to centralize its U.S. real estate operations which, at the
time, were being handled directly by AECOM’s individual subsidiaries in more than 124 locations throughout
the U.S. and Canada.
Consideration & Analysis
As the single point of contact, it was Mr. Hamaoui’s responsibility to ensure that AECOM’s real estate goals
were in line with the company’s overall operational and financial objectives. After a thorough review of
AECOM and its subsidiaries’ business needs was complete, Mr. Hamaoui implemented a two phase plan that
would provide a step‐by‐step guide through the real estate process.
Phase One focused on the development and execution of a national consolidation/restructure plan. Mr.
Hamaoui’s initial assignment reduced 46 of the global engineering firm’s 124 facilities by more than 50% to 22
and reduced their square footage by 22%.
Phase Two focused on the creation of a standardized real estate process for AECOM and its subsidiaries. A
web‐based lease administration service featuring critical date tracking, consolidation analysis, real estate cost
analysis across regions/business units, lease abstracting and lease administration electronic storage was
introduced. Within twelve (12) months AECOM and its operating companies were utilizing a single platform to
conduct real estate business.
RESULTS
In addition to the savings realized as a direct result of the standardized real estate process and streamlined
lease management system implemented across the U.S., Mr. Hamaoui’s aggressive consolidation and
restructure strategy, a strategy that saw 200+ leases totaling more than 2.1 millions square feet completed
over a five year period, realized more than $11.1 million in savings for AECOM.
777 S. Figueroa St.  30 floor  Los Angeles, CA 90017  213.553.3800
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