B&C logo

"Bartram & Cochran has become more than a consultant – they have become a trusted part of our team, as committed to our success as we are."

Back to current B&C News
B&C News 2009

Ronald P. Zappile Affiliates with Bartram & Cochran
Hartford, Connecticut, July 14, 2009
Ronald P. Zappile has affiliated with the real estate consulting firm of Bartram & Cochran. The announcement was made by Maura Cochran, company Chairman and CEO. "Ron Zappile is one of the nation's top corporate real estate executives, " Cochran said, "and he brings tremendous experience and an impressive track record to the firm."

Ron has joined Bartram & Cochran following more than 30 years with United Technologies Corporation where he served in a variety of executive roles, most recently as UTC’s Director of Global Real Estate Operations and as President, UT Realty, Inc. (UTR), a wholly owned subsidiary of UTC.

While at UTC, Ron designed and implemented the centralized management of UTC’s global real estate portfolio, which as a Fortune 50 corporation, is comprised of some 108 million square feet of space in nearly 5,000 locations. Under Ron’s management, the real estate organization at UTC was widely recognized as a best-in-class organization by his peers, professional associations and within UTC itself. Since 2001, UTR completed over 7,000 real estate transactions globally through an international network of alliance partners. Ron oversaw the disposition and adaptive reuse of more than 25 million square feet of industrial, office and manufacturing space globally. Prior to his headquarters role, Ron was with the UTC subsidiary Otis Elevator Co. where he formed part of an executive team to reconfigure numerous financial, manufacturing and engineering operations in North America and Asia. While based in Singapore, Ron established new facilities in Malaysia, India, Korea, China and Japan in response to rapid regional growth.

In particular, Ron will be working to enhance the firm's corporate real estate strategy and real estate organizational assessments (including diagnostics, and metrics) and the design and structuring of outsourced real estate alliance partner arrangements. According to Cochran, "Bringing together Ron’s corporate experience with B&C's extensive corporate experience creates a powerful combination for our clients as they deliberate and look to implement best practices in corporate real estate process, structure and strategy."

Ron has lectured on corporate real estate, authored articles and was featured in Real Estate Leader magazine. He was one of three real estate executives of the year recognized in the UK. Additionally, he served on the board of CoreNet Global and he has been involved with economic development efforts locally.

According to Ms. Cochran, the complexity and consequences of the real estate decisions faced by our clients demand that we are able to provide first-rate, accelerated, and absolutely effective solutions. With Ron on the team, we are confident that we have even further enhanced these capabilities.

Bartram & Cochran is a real estate consulting firm. Among its clients are corporations, financial institutions, commercial real estate developers, institutions, property owners and investors, law firms, municipalities and not-for-profit institutions. Bartram & Cochran, now in its twenty-eight year of operation, is based in Hartford, Connecticut.

B&C Joins Bench Core Board
Hartford, Connecticut, July 17, 2009
Bartram & Cochran announced that it has formalized its relationship as a founding member of the board of advisors to Bench Core, Inc. a company offering an innovative and thorough approach to corporate real estate benchmarking. The four member board includes Bartram & Cochran affiliate Ron Zappile, Sandy Apgar, former head of the global real estate practice at Boston Consulting Group and Joel Ratekin, chair of CoreNet Global's workplace community and head or Ratekin Consulting. On a subscription basis, Bench Core provides comparable and actionable management information that serves corporate real estate executives and senior executive management as they seek to implement process efficiencies, best-in-class portfolio strategies, and work place strategies that support a corporation's overall financial and operational goals. According to Claudie Fanning, a founding partner of Bench Core, "We are delighted to have Ron Zappile on board as advisors. His experience and counsel will continue to serve us well as we refine our corporate real estate benchmarking products for some of the leading corporations in the world." Bench Core expects to formally launch its service offerings in September, 2009.

B&C Expands Practice to Purchasing and Sourcing Functions
Hartford, Connecticut, June 29, 2009
Bartram & Cochran has expanded its practices areas to include a procurement advisory practice designed to help organizations achieve rapid assessments and accelerated results in their purchasing and sourcing functions. The firm will help clients save money, acquire the right products and services, and make sure that the procurement strategy is aligned with the organization’s strategy. Some of the best talent in the field of procurement are now affiliated with Bartram & Cochran. Specific commodity categories include, among others, facilities management, print, information technology, general office supplies and equipment, office furniture, and general services such as security and food service.

Levy Publishes Monograph
New York, July 1, 2009
Bartram & Cochran affiliated consultant Gerald Levy's newest monograph: Structuring Real Estate Arbitration Clauses: A Neutral’s Perspective, has been adopted for use by the University of California/State Bar of California Program's Seminar entitled "Mazirow on Valuation and Appraisal Issues in Arbitrating Real Estate Disputes." The Practising Law Institute has adopted the same text for its Handbook for the Seminar entitled "Negotiating Commercial Leases: Avoiding Unnecessary Costs, Risks and Liability in Commercial Leasing". In a different format similar material is to appear as a new chapter in the frequently updated legal treatise.

Click for a Word file of the complete monograph, (A Neutral’s Perspective)
.

Holland moderates panel at CoreNet Global Eastern Regional Meeting at Harvard
Cambridge, Massachusetts, June 15, 2009
Peter Holland, partner at Hartford-based Bartram & Cochran organized and moderated a panel at Harvard University on June 16 as part of CoreNet Global's 2009 Eastern Regional Symposium. The panel presented on the topic of due diligence for commercial real estate tenants in difficult economic conditions. On the expert panel were Barbara Hampton, of Jamestown Advisors, Rob Nahigian of Auburndale Realty Company and David Glissman, Esq. from the law firm of MacDermid, Glissman and Reynolds. The panel provided practical guidance to an audience comprised of corporate real estate executives and the presentations focused on strategies and tactics in the event current economic conditions prevent a landlord from meeting its obligations. The event, organized by the eastern regional chapters of CoreNet Global, focused on the opportunities and risks associated with corporate tenancies in a real estate market that is all too often characterized by troubled mortgages, the lack of refinancing and negative operating income.

Click for a Word file of the CNG presentation materials
.

Holland moderates roundtable on Corporate Real Estate for Real Estate Issues
Hartford, Connecticut, January 20, 2009
Bartram & Cochran published an interview with corporate real estate experts in the most recent edition of Real Estate Issues, the journal of the Counselors of Real Estate. Holland discussed current trends in the field of corporate real estate with Michele Flynn, CRE, founder and president of Expense Management Solutions, Martha O'Mara, CRE, managing director of Corporate Portfolio Analytics, Barbara Hampton, founding partner of Jamestown Advisors and Von (Buck) W. Moody III, CRE senior vice president at Wachovia. The interview details a new role for real estate executives as they increasingly become strategic leaders responsible for implementing work place solutions to advance corporate goals and objectives.

Click for a PDF of the complete Corporate Roundtable article.

Bill Cochran has been appointed to the board of Duncaster, a life care community in Bloomfield, CT and serves on the finance committee

Select Recent Assignments

  • B&C chosen as fiduciary by a pension fund for the potential partial sale of a $440 million mixed-use asset.

  • B&C chosen for litigation support and expert witness work for a high-profile sealed case.

  • B&C completed study for Middlesex Mutual for the potential development of surplus acreage at its corporate campus in Middletown, CT.

  • B&C was retained by ITT Educational Services to assist them in the opening new locations in Connecticut.

  • B&C was retained by the owners to list and sell a prime 26 acre parcel of land at 1024 Farmington Avenue, Farmington, CT.

  • B&C completed study for a Connecticut monastery for the highest and best uses for its surplus acreage and is assisting in the implementation of the plan.

  • B&C completed study for the University of Hartford's Asylum Avenue Campus (the former Hartford College for Women Campus) in Hartford, and is assisting in the implementation of the plan.

  • B&C was retained by a developer in Stonington, CT to provide support for the planning and approval process by analyzing the economic impact of various development alternatives.

  • B&C was retained as sub-consultant to Fitzgerald & Halliday on the economic impact of modifications to Route 7 in Fairfield County, CT.

  • B&C was retained by the City of Brockton, Massachusetts to assist in the creation of an economic revitalization plan for its central business district.

  • B&C was retained by Jackson Corrugated Company to review development opportunities for surplus land.

Top