Real Estate Advisory Services
Real Estate Strategies Corporation advises CFOs, Management, and Boards at public, private, private equity companies, and tax-exempt organizations, in achieving greater operational and financial excellence and in maximizing enterprise value. Real Estate Strategies Corporation provides advisory, guidance, planning, and execution services to enterprise and middle market corporate occupants. The Firm delivers strategies to matrix and other organizations, whether public, private, or tax-exempt. Its services focus on aligning real estate with growth or right-sizing objectives, in driving operating and financial efficiencies, and in support of complicated and simple business initiatives.
Andrew applies sophisticated real estate expertise and decades of experience in achieving his clients’ business objectives, areas, such as:
- Buy & sell side M&A due diligence and support initiatives, corporate restructures, and business exit strategies
- Business transformation and turnaround strategies
- Complex business and real estate transaction strategy
- Planning and executing facility portfolio rationalization and optimization strategies
- Identifying and capturing liquidity
- Mitigating operating, financial, and real estate risk
- Supporting complex financial and operating objectives
- Transaction restructuring
- Facility acquisitions and dispositions
- Transaction planning, negotiation, and execution
- Subject matter expertise, expert witness testimony, litigation support
Real Estate Strategies Corporation serves companies with multi-function regional or geographically dispersed portfolios or single facilities, including:
- Leased or owned facilities
- Office, distribution, manufacturing, technology, retail facilities, and land
- All industries
- North America and global markets
- No-cost Pro Bono Real Estate Guidance and Services to bona fide US and Canada based charitable organizations
- Real Estate Strategies Corporation provides real estate transaction execution as a means of ensuring the credibility of its recommendations or procures additional service providers via Transaction Services Procurement when our clients’ preferences dictate an alternate approach.
Andrew B. Zezas, Strategist & CEO
Andrew.Zezas@RealStrat.com I 201 906 8964
Andrew B. Zezas is a proven leader, a corporate real estate industry and business influencer, and a client-results-driven executive. Andrew is a well-known subject matter expert, who is frequently called upon to provide insights and experience-based guidance on various real estate and related topics. As founder and CEO of Real Estate Strategies Corporation (“RealStrat”), Andrew leads a team of real estate executives, CFOs, and other highly accomplished individuals in delivering a unique approach to solving the operating, financial, and real estate needs of RealStrat’s clients. For more than three decades, enterprise and middle market company leaders and real estate executives have relied on Andrew to provide business and real estate guidance, create strategy, and lead sophisticated acquisitions and dispositions of occupied corporate facilities regionally, in the Americas, and globally.
Throughout Andrew’s career, he has sourced, secured, led, and completed billions of dollars in transactions for public and private companies in multiple industries around North America, and across multiple property types, including manufacturing, distribution, technology, and office properties. Andrew is licensed for real estate in New Jersey, has previously held licenses in eight other states, has represented the North America real estate interests of companies from 19 countries, and has completed engagements in:
- 46 U.S. states
- 6 Canadian provinces
- 5 countries
Andrew draws on his extensive business and senior executive relationships in identifying emerging commercial real estate trends and successfully cultivating new opportunities on his clients’ behalf.
Andrew has a proven track record in working through matrix organization structures in North America, Europe, and Asia based companies, ensuring continuity, smooth operations, precise reporting, and positive results in complicated and sophisticated real estate transactions. He maintains an extensive executive network comprised of regional and national C-level executives, real estate experts, and others.
Andrew is a celebrated business and real estate leader and a highly skilled and dynamic speaker, regularly leading discussions in small groups and those measured in the hundreds of attendees. In addition to his extensive real estate knowledge and experience, he is frequently tapped by executives to provide career, transition, and other advice. His LinkedIn profile includes approximately 20,000 executive connections. Andrew has honed his written communication skills as Publisher and Senior Editor of CFO Intelligence magazine and other business publications.
Andrew was one of the first-ever co-recipients of the NAIOP NJ Deal of the Year Award. His career experiences include:
- Real Estate Strategies Corporation – Relationship Manager, Strategist, and CEO: 2002 to 2015 and 2022 to present day
- CFO Intelligence – CEO, Founder & Publisher: 2012 to present day
- JLL NJ – Managing Director: 2015 to 2022
- Insignia/ESG NJ – Senior Managing Director: 1988 to 2002
- Cross & Brown Company: 1985 to 1988
- Various industry organizations, awards, and accolades
Andrew has served on boards, in volunteer positions, and has held various certifications and licenses, including:
- Certified Merger & Acquisition Advisor (CM&AA) 2023
- Member Turnaround Management Association (TMA)
- Member Alliance of Merger & Acquisition Advisors (AM&AA)
- Member, Finance Committee, Atlantic Health System (2019 to present)
- Chairman, Build with Purpose (Formerly, Real Estate Advisory & Development Services) – 8 years as a member of the Board of Directors
- Business School Assessment Committee, Montclair State University
- Voluntary Advisory Committee, New Jersey Real Estate Commission
- President, SIOR NJ Chapter
- Licensed New Jersey real estate broker
- Real estate licenses held previously in various states
- Real Estate Instructor, SIOR National and previously certified in various states
- St. Andrew Greek Orthodox Church Board of Trustees
- St. Athanasios Greek Orthodox Church, Treasurer & Board of Trustees
- Participation and support for multiple charitable and not-for-profit organizations
Buy Side M&A Due Diligence & Sell Side Make-Ready Real Estate Services
Real Estate Strategies Corporation provides guidance and services to ensure that its clients’ avail themselves of key value levers, achieve operational and / or financial excellence and efficient facilities resource allocation in buy side M&A, and / or realize enterprise value in sell side deals. Through its Buy Side Due Diligence & Sell Side Make-Ready Real Estate Services, the Firm aligns its services with Managements’ M&A operating and financial objectives by identifying and mitigating hidden real estate and facility risks and by uncovering and capturing opportunities prior to its clients completing business acquisitions or dispositions. In Buy Side engagements, it ensures that clients are aware in advance of the materiality, risk, and opportunity of real estate in achieving their M&A objectives and address operational duplication and value creation alternatives. In Sell Side engagements, the Firm’s assesses its clients’ alternate real estate retention, disposition, and long-term value enhancement alternatives. Clients receive guidance and recommendations, reporting, and service delivery within the very short time frames required of most M&A initiatives. In the alternative, reports can be incorporated as part of deal advisors’ fairness opinions, or in support of fair value accounting, valuations, and other associated documentation. Real Estate Strategies Corporation’s CEO is a member of Alliance of Mergers & Acquisitions Advisors (AM&AA).
Business Transformation & Turnaround Real Estate Services
Whether to transform a reimagined organization to become more agile and achieve new heights or overcome challenging objectives and evolve toward greater successes, some companies must preserve operations under more viable alternate structures, whether accomplished internally by Management, via a UCC Article 9 restructuring, or through other means. In support of such efforts, Real Estate strategies Corporation assesses its clients’ leased and owned stand-alone real estate or geographically dispersed facilities portfolios to identify operating and / or financial inefficiencies, risks, and opportunities that exist in previously completed transactions. The Firm assesses how current facilities may preserve or obstruct its clients’ go-forward operating plans and uncovers and mitigates risks that could thwart successful turnarounds. Real Estate Strategies Corporation’s CEO is a member of Turnaround Management Association (TMA).
To ensure that its clients achieve positive financial and operating results by consolidation, right-sizing, relocation, and / or closure of operations, Real Estate Strategies Corporation executes the restructuring, renegotiation, or termination of existing facility leases, the monetization of owned real estate, the disposition of surplus leased or owned facilities, and the acquisition of alternate facilities. By repositioning desirable leased and owned real estate to best support the goals of turnarounds and on-going operations, the Firm consistently exceeds its clients’ overall business objectives
Transaction Services Procurement & Fractional Real Estate Executive Services
For companies that require a larger service company approach when executing transactions, Real Estate strategies Corporation provides Transaction Services Procurement, as a means of planning, sourcing, engaging, and ensuring compliance on its clients’ behalf. We deploy a defined process of securing the services of large branded real estate service providers and ensuring their compliance. For mid-level companies that require on-going internally focused strategic real estate services, but do not wish to engage a full-time real estate executive, the Firm offers Fractional Real Estate Executive Services.
Portfolio Optimization and De-Risking Services
For companies seeking to capture opportunities in existing leased and owned facilities, mitigate risk, and / or achieve balance in regional or multi-site portfolios of similar or varying functional uses, Real Estate Strategies Corporation provides Portfolio Optimization and De-Risking Services, which includes precise plan development and / or transaction execution, to drive greater operating and financial efficiencies, to promote growth and more profitable performance, to support consolidation, and to enhance other business initiatives
Acquisition, Disposition and Transaction Modification Services
For companies seeking an intelligent approach to planning and executing acquisitions and dispositions of leased or owned facilities of any type, or transaction modification (owned facility monetization, lease restructures, and otherwise), in North American and global markets, to align with business objectives, to accommodate change, and to best support operating, financial, and other goals
Pro Bono Real Estate Guidance & Services
No-cost Pro Bono Real Estate Guidance and Services to bona fide US and Canada based charitable organizations
Subject Matter Expertise and Litigation Support
Real Estate Strategies Corporation provides subject matter expertise, expert witness testimony, litigation support, and opinions of value to companies, legal advisors, and other business service providers