Challenge
The Centers for Families and Children (“The Centers”) was planning for an evolution in its service delivery model and organizational growth. As a result of merging several non-profit social services agencies, The Centers had a consolidated real estate portfolio of 25 sites, comprising over 250,000 sq. ft. throughout Cuyahoga County. The Centers knew that optimizing its complex real estate portfolio, which supports a variety of uses ranging from early learning/childcare centers to behavioral health clinics, would be a primary function of developing the organization’s strategic plan.
Solution
Allegro was engaged to develop a strategic plan for The Centers real estate portfolio. The approach included three distinct phases: first, a current assessment of the organization’s real estate assets and the people that support it; second, a future state assessment that examined organizational real estate needs and the corresponding resources required; and third, a strategy and action plan that would serve as the blueprint for how the organization would manage its real estate assets going forward.
Allegro’s final strategy and action plan included the following components: financial modeling, utilization studies and programming requirements, demographic/spatial analyses with GIS integration, documentation of existing conditions, capital planning, leasing strategy, process improvement recommendations, and organizational restructuring.
In the end, Allegro’s recommended strategy and action plan allowed for The Centers to expand programming, manage projected headcount growth, and preserve the flexibility to adapt to evolving business models, all while reducing the organization’s per employee real estate costs over a five and 10-year time horizon.
