To put those numbers in perspective, in the spring of 2008, AT&T purchased four contiguous buildings in the area for $275.3 million dollars, or $280.91 per square foot—almost $100 more per square foot than the ACR paid. Due to its location, size, and outfitting, the ACR’s property will certainly maintain its value in the short term and will likely increase in value as the market begins to rebound.
Savings Over Time
The ACR’s new home in Lenox Park is tailor-made for our needs. It has over 35,000 square feet of usable space and can accommodate 103 employees, with our present staff at 75 full-time employees. Our new home includes three levels of office space with adequate space for growth. As we develop our Rheumatology Clinical Registry (RCR) and continue to expand our efforts in education and advocacy, we will have sufficient space in the new building to accommodate necessary staff growth. This ability to add additional RCR staff is key to developing the RCR as a resource that supports the subspecialty, improves practice, and, ultimately, leads to better patient care.
An additional benefit is the presence of two meeting facilities in the new building. Both conference rooms are equipped with wireless Internet connectivity, among other meeting staples. The ACR meeting department has begun the process of standardizing procedures for use of our in-house meeting facilities, and has even planned for the catering needs associated with meetings by including on-site resources to help facilitate food service. Equipped with both basic audio–visual equipment and cutting-edge technology, our meeting rooms will enable us to save by not holding meetings at hotel venues. For each meeting held in-house, we can potentially save on the cost of room rental, catering, audio–visual equipment rental and technicians, etc. In fact, when costs were evaluated for the meetings held in 2008, the per-person cost for a one-day meeting with breakfast, two breaks, and lunch at local venues was approximately $100—more in tier-one cities (New York, Chicago, San Francisco, etc.). Using the ACR meeting space, those costs would be closer to $30 dollars per person. Additionally, with meetings in the “home office,” there will be no ACR staff travel costs.
For volunteers attending meetings, the ACR has negotiated a low room rate at the J.W. Marriott less than a mile from the new headquarters, which should again help the bottom line moving forward. In fact, between January and February 2010, ACR staff has planned 16 meetings using the in-house conference facilities. Another feature that translates to cost savings is the availability of non-office space. Access to in-house to storage has enabled us to move stored files to the ACR building, eliminating monthly fees for off-site storage.
