Every person has individual traits, style, character, and personality. Each person has a unique background that informs their actions, defining them in public and private life. And it is the actions of dynamic individuals that give direction to history.
Much the same can be said of companies. Each organization has its own history, culture and goals that give it a unique character. It is through the actions of each of these "individuals" that an industry writes its own history.
September of 2000 marks the fortieth anniversary of the legislation that gave birth to the real estate investment trust. For four decades, individual REITs have come into the public and private markets, each with its own mission and corporate values.
Like the proverbial snowflake, no two REITs are exactly alike. But through their individual actions, a collective history of REITs and publicly traded real estate has been, and continues to be, formed.
Included in this issue is a special timeline insert that traces the history of the REIT and publicly traded real estate industry. We hope that this publication will help to illuminate some of the milestones that have been instrumental in setting the course of our industry's development.
Features
In our profile, we take a look at Shurgard Storage Centers, whose founder, Chuck Barbo, has steered the REIT in new directions, making it a leader in the self-storage sector.
In "The Hunt is On," we examine the new methods companies are using
to recruit and retain the best employees in today's competitive market. And
in "Hitting the Grand Slam," we examine techniques that REITs and
REOCs are using to find and properly compensate the true star performers in
the executive ranks.
In "Manufacturing Dreams," we look at the manufactured housing sector,
where significant improvements in product quality and development strategies
for communities has allowed companies to better tailor their products to the
wide variety of consumers.
Finally, "Spinning Off…" reveals the broad scope of ventures that
individual REITs and REOCs have been exploring for developing high tech spin
offs to exploit technologies beneficial to their core businesses.
Christopher W. Murphy
Editor-in-Chief
