RICS Rallies Private Sector for Army Reserve

LOS ANGELES—RICS, an international standards body focused on the property sector, is rallying private companies to help the government manage its assets. The reaction comes after Army Reserve facilities chief James Balocki asked the private sector to help the government manage its assets at the recent RICS Summit of the Americas on April 24.

“RICS' mission is 'to advance and enforce standards in land, property and the built environment, and to promote the usefulness of the profession for the public good,'” Neil Shah, Americas managing director for RICS, tells GlobeSt.com. “In serving that mission and our public interest charter, it is imperative that we work with professionals and stakeholders of private and public sector assets to drive more efficient and productive use of those assets.  The government's improved use of its assets can serve as a model for all users to drive more efficient uses of real estate.”

According to Shah, RICS will help the effort in many ways, including commissioning research on management of public assets, organization of events and seminars to open a dialogue and debate about the issue and the development of public sector guidance. “Our first order of business is to build a roundtable with public and private sector leaders,” says Shah. “The roundtable participants will help develop the guidance to promote more effective asset management and help create the environment for private sector firms to have a stake in the process.  We expect that the guidance will take the better part of the next 12 months. We expect that the guidance with existing PPP research we've already done will create the content to support recognition of RICS in the public sector asset management space.”

According to Balocki, the Army Reserve has already seen a response from the private sector, but hopes that more organizations will reach out as RICS spreads the word. “The private sector will serve an important role in helping manage risk, serve as a partner to the public sector and also as a service provider to the government,” says Shah.