Plante Moran Realpoint (PMR), formerly Plante Moran Cresa, oversees all the real estate needs of its affiliate Plante Moran, one of the nation’s largest accounting and consulting firms. Plante Moran’s approach to office space is to use it to attract and retain talent and increase productivity while remaining cost effective.
Plante Moran, which has 3,100 staff across 26 locations, has shrunk its footprint over the past 10 years from 300 square feet per person to 220 square feet. PMR helped Plante Moran accomplish this effectively by optimizing its space for the four ways staff work: focusing (“heads-down” work); collaborating (working with more than one person); learning (learning by listening to others); and socializing (working in an informal setting with others).
Chicago office consolidation
Following a merger, PMR was tasked to cost-effectively consolidate two offices in Chicago, which appeared cost-prohibitive because both firms had approximately four years remaining on their leases.
Understanding the benefits of combining staff as soon as possible, PMR leveraged a termination option to exit a large portion of one space early and negotiated a lease renewal with significant savings for an expansion totaling 87,000 square feet. Plante Moran used this opportunity to implement a new, optimized space configuration, resulting in more collaborative space and a 25% decrease in the total square footage per staff. Project managers at PMR coordinated and oversaw the office buildout.
Plante Moran’s new office space includes a beautiful multipurpose area for events, a large gated outdoor area, more natural light throughout the space, spacious common areas, lots of open meeting areas, and treehouse-like private offices.
Southfield office modernization
PMR continued to work with Plante Moran to optimize its offices in Southfield, helping implement a free addressing workstation initiative and adding more collaborative, social, and learnings spaces when consolidating its staff Southfield into the Southfield Town Center office. These changes reducing the footprint of the previous building by 40%, generating saving that Plante Moran used to upgrade the level of build out and furnishings. This new space is flexible to accommodate future growth and is near more amenities.
