Thomson Elite

The Challenge
Thomson is a world leader in providing integrated information solutions to business and professional customers. In 2003, a division of Thomson, Legal and Regulatory purchased an Albuquerque based legal software development company (Prolaw) along with a similar company (Elite) based in Los Angeles, California. It was the desire of Thomson to merge the two companies in one location that offered the most economic advantages. REA was retained by Cushman and Wakefield to assist in a real estate/occupancy search for this requirement in Albuquerque and began to actively pursue economic incentives from both the City and the State to better position this requirement in New Mexico.

The Solution
After identifying numerous suitable locations for evaluation, we conducted a series of meetings with the City and State to put together a viable incentive package. The real estate component was solved with a 10 year lease for a 45,000 square foot lease in a 65,000 square foot build to suit by Opus Development. In addition to an aggressive lease rate that was negotiated by the team we were able to provide Thomson with absolute expansion rights for the balance of the building. On a simultaneous track, the team worked with 1) Thomson to gather information on the cost of labor and doing business in New Mexico for the purpose of putting together a cost comparison analysis between Albuquerque and Los Angeles and 2) the State of New Mexico to secure our client a substantial contribution from the State of New Mexico in the form of "in-plant" training program for the first round of approximately 125 new hires to staff the new facility and the abatement of personal and property taxes over the next 10 years through the issuance of Industrial Revenue Bonds from the County of Bernalillo.

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