Trammell Crow joins 2 rivals in Net venture

Trammell Crow Co. of Dallas is teaming up with two other commercial real estate giants to develop an Internet business.<br><br>Crow Co., CB Richard Ellis and Jones Lang LaSalle - which usually are competitors

Friday, April 28th 2000, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

Trammell Crow Co. of Dallas is teaming up with two other commercial real estate giants to develop an Internet business.

Crow Co., CB Richard Ellis and Jones Lang LaSalle - which usually are competitors in the commercial real estate arena - will use the new effort to put client support services, goods and services procurement and business-to-consumer interactions on the Internet.

"Over the last few months, we have jointly focused on taking control of our future by looking to create the industry's leading Web-based platform that will set the standard for delivery of real estate services," said Stuart L. Scott, chairman and chief executive officer of Jones Lang LaSalle Inc.

"Together, we hope to increase the pace of implementation and dramatically accelerate the benefits to everyone involved."

The new e-commerce operation will be set up as a separate business that is jointly owned by the three commercial real estate companies.

It will provide services for all types of commercial real estate, including office, retail and industrial properties.

Crow Co., CB Richard Ellis and Jones, Lang, LaSalle dominate the traditional commercial real estate sector in the United States.

The companies hope their new alliance will give them a leg up on their competitors.

"Our companies collectively spend in excess of $5 billion for goods and services required for the more than 1.2 billion square feet of combined property that we manage in North America," said Trammell Crow chief executive officer George Lippe.

"This alliance will work to leverage the scale of our portfolios and to develop a system that improves overall real estate services costs and delivery for all of our clients," Mr. Lippe said.

Crow Co. is the nation's largest commercial real estate company, with 170 offices in North America overseeing 520 million square feet of commercial property.

Los Angeles-based CB Richard Ellis is one of the nation's largest commercial property brokers and manages about 340 million square feet of property.

And Jones, Lang, LaSalle operates out of headquarters in Chicago and London with offices in 100 markets and 36 countries.

The Internet alliance of these commercial real estate companies is similar to e-commerce partnerships formed by large residential real estate firms.

Several of the country's largest home builders - including Centex Corp., D.R. Horton Inc., Lennar Corp., Pulte Corp. and Kaufman & Broad Home Corp. - recently announced an Internet joint venture to market thousands of new houses.