Three of the leading US real estate companies have formed an alliance to develop e-commerce initiatives. CB Richard Ellis, Jones Lang LaSalle and Trammell Crow Company say they will be combining their collective experience and service delivery capabilities to benefit their clients in North America.

The initial focus will be on procurement, transactions, support services, and business-to-business and business-to-consumer portals. The first of these initiatives is expected to be announced by the beginning of the summer.

"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, which has headquarters in Chicago and London. "Initially, we are pursuing powerful opportunities in North America that would provide sustainable benefits to our clients, our employees and in turn, our stockholders. Together, we hope to increase the pace of implementation and dramatically accelerate the benefits to everyone involved."

The three companies will have equal ownership in the new venture, which is expected to operate as a separate business with a separate brand. The alliance seeks to use its considerable combined scale to control costs for the companies and their clients.

"Our companies collectively spend in excess of $5.0 billion for goods and services required for the more than 1.2 billion square feet of combined property that we manage in North America," explained George Lippe, President and Chief Executive Officer of Trammell Crow Company. "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."

Richard Byatt