NAREIT Panels Offers Guidance for Operational Change

What does it take to make a successful operational change in the REIT business? Whether that change is the result of a merger, the decision to become a REIT to begin with, the result of a shift in focus or a similar major move, there are key moves to keep in mind, advised the panel of heavy hitters that spoke during lunch at NAREIT's Institutional Investor Forum today.

Guided by moderator John Kriz, managing director of real estate finance at Moody's Investors Service, they offered the following advice:

Be patient. Change takes time.

Consider the talents of your senior management team and whether they are being used to their best advantage. This, coupled with providing training where needed, can also help with succession planning. But when change is taking place, don't discount the value of bringing in some new blood to reenergize the company and be a catalyst for change.

Seek the advice and counsel of your board of directors. But also think about the makeup of the board. Does it include a mix of talent that can benefit your company? Also, in a merger, integrating the board to include members of the company being acquired may help the transition.

Of the three parts of changing course, strategy is overrated, execution is underrated and infrastructure (and technology) is the most important.

The panel included Tim Callahan, president & CEO of Trizec Properties; John Goff, vice chairman & CEO of Crescent Real Estate Equities Co.; Rick Holley, president & CEO of Plum Creek Timber Co.; Ronald Rubin, chairman & CEO of Pennsylvania Real Estate Investment Trust; Glenn Rufrano, CEO of New Plan Excel Realty Trust; and Thomas Toomey, president & CEO of United Dominion Realty Trust.