The Leader - May/June 2008 - (Page 49)

“ Another key reason (for the focus on Downtown San Francisco) was the bank’s desire to consolidate thousands of employees in a location that offered direct access to public transit and the quality associated with Class A office space and working environments. ” The one immediate difference almost anyone would notice about Wells Fargo’s CRE organization is its large size for an internal corporate team as compared to many of today’s ‘lean and mean’ CRE departments. While many large corporations have only a few people remaining inside who work on CRE every day, the Wells Fargo CRE team numbers 600 people internally. Nelson says it’s a reflection of the high level of quality, experience and confidence inside the bank’s CRE operation, which is viewed by the C-Suite and Board as a strategic asset. So it’s safe to say, Nelson has a seat at the table, starting with his boss, Executive Vice President Don Dana, and extending to a Board, which has a like-minded view of how real estate can be leveraged to add value and create savings. “The Board and our senior management understand the math behind our real estate decisions,” Dana points out. (See related sidebar.) As part of the decision-making process that Nelson and his internal CRE group supports, Wells Fargo began to increase the emphasis on its downtown San Francisco presence about five years ago. One reason was its long-running history there and a renewed commitment to extend its presence in the central business district (CBD). Another key reason was the bank’s desire to consolidate thousands of employees in a location that offered direct access to public transit and the quality associated with Class A office space and working environments. Both were factors in the long-term effort to find and keep talented people inside Wells Fargo, as Nelson, who also teaches Real Estate Finance and Urban Development at his alma mater UC Berkeley, acknowledges. corenet GloBal as a career resource Part of Nelson’s success is found in the CoreNet Global network of professionals who benefit from sharing their experiences and solutions. In fact, he’s a winner of the Northern California Chapter’s CRE of the Year Award. Nelson’s equity in the network is extensive, dating back to the pre-CoreNet Global IDRC era, when he served at the board level. His CoreNet Global knowledge-sharing contact list is a who’s who of industry luminaries. Randy Smith, Parkash Ajuha, John Igoe, Roger Gage, Frank Robinson, Skip Law, Klaus Kramer, Luigi Sciabarrasi, Jeff Elie, Sarah Abrams and Mark Gorman are among the many top practitioners based in and outside of Northern California who’ve helped or influenced Nelson along the way. “I’ve met some of my best friends through CoreNet Global. We still get together.” tH e le aDe r 49 MaY / j u n e 2008

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of The Leader - May/June 2008

The Leader - May/June 2008 Leadership Contents Message from the CEO Real Estate in the News Green Real Estate Work Without Boundries Building Flexibility Into the Business Strategy Multi-Generational Work-Force Design Work Force Longevity Analysis Wells Fargo's David Nelson Pennsylvania's Michael Rossman Globalization 2.0 Site Selection Consultant Directory The New York Report: A Core of Traditional and State-of-the-Art Opportunities Discovery Forum Findings Industry Tracker Young Leader Career Development Effective Leadership Economic Development in the News A Look Ahead In Our Next Issue Calendar of Seminars Index of Advertisers Executive Development Spotlight

The Leader - May/June 2008

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