Andrew C. Florance Named RE Industry Executive of the Year by the Cornell Real Estate Review
Andrew C. Florance
CoStar Group Founder and CEO
Andrew C. Florance, the Founder, President and Chief Executive Officer of CoStar Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: CSGP), has been named the Real Estate Industry Executive of 2009 by the editors of the Cornell Real Estate Review.
Each year, the editors of the respected real estate journal select an industry leader who they determine has made an enduring impact on the real estate industry. The recognition is the highest honor bestowed by the Cornell University’s Program in Real Estate. Previous honorees include Samuel Zell in 2008, the Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board of Tribune Company and formerly president and CEO of Equity Office Properties Trust, and William Sanders in 2007, the founder, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Security Capital Group.
The Review’s editors said they selected Florance for launching CoStar Group at a time when little or no standardized, independent research was being done in the U.S. commercial real estate industry, and for his work over the past two decades to successfully establish CoStar as the largest independent research organization in commercial real estate. Under his leadership, CoStar has assembled and maintains the largest database of commercial property information available online, offering detailed information on more than 3.3 million office, retail, industrial and multifamily properties throughout the U.S. and U.K. By making this researched and verified property information available online, CoStar has fundamentally changed the way real estate brokers, investors, building owners and other market participants access, analyze and use information on commercial property and markets in their day-to-day business.
“This year, the editors of the Cornell Real Estate Review are pleased to recognize a builder of information systems as the Real Estate Industry Executive of 2009,” said Dr. David L. Funk, Director of Cornell University’s Program in Real Estate. “Through CoStar, Andy has pursued his vision of making standardized, research-verified information on every type of commercial real estate property available at anytime, anywhere, creating a much more efficient way to exchange and analyze property and market information throughout the industry.”
The resulting productivity gains and improved transparency has brought about a fundamental change in the way the industry operates, and CoStar has become the unquestioned market leader in commercial real estate information services, Funk added. The Cornell Real Estate Review editors considered a host of individuals who have impacted the industry, but ultimately they determined that the innovation and entrepreneurial spirit that Florance has demonstrated through CoStar will provide enduring thought leadership and impact, said the Review in announcing the selection.
“It’s a tremendous honor to receive this recognition from the Cornell Real Estate Review,” said Florance. “To be named to the same group that includes such giants of our industry as Sam Zell and Bill Sanders is truly amazing for me personally. I never would have imagined 22 years ago when we set out to make commercial real estate markets work more efficiently that CoStar would become the main source of information used by commercial real estate professionals to research and analyze individual properties and entire markets throughout the U.S. and U.K. We’re very proud that our company has played a key role in bringing about increased productivity and cost-savings among the tens of thousands who access listings and analyze data across CoStar’s information platform.”
While still an undergraduate at Princeton University, Florance first began work on creating the first truly independent, centralized marketplace for commercial property information beginning in Washington, DC. He went on to direct CoStar’s successful expansion from start-up, to its initial public offering in July 1998, and to its market-leading position today as a publicly traded enterprise (Nasdaq: CSGP). With approximately 1,300 people working for the company worldwide, CoStar now serves a client base that includes the commercial real estate industry’s leading brokerage firms and property owners, and an international service platform covering the United States, the United Kingdom and Paris, France.
Florance also has been a leader in raising awareness of energy-efficient and sustainable design and development practices in commercial real estate, using CoStar’s comprehensive property database to analyze and document how green buildings perform in comparison with less energy-efficient commercial property.
In 2008, Florance conceived and co-authored the first comprehensive analysis of leasing and sales activity in energy-efficient office buildings in the United States. The study, which was published in the Journal of Real Estate Portfolio Management, was the first to confirm that, energy-efficient, sustainable buildings operated at higher occupancy levels, achieved higher rents and sold for a higher price per square foot than comparable buildings in the same market. Since the study’s publication, other academic researchers conducted similar studies to review and validate CoStar’s findings.
The American Real Estate Society (ARES) selected the study as the “Best Paper” published in the prestigious academic real estate journal in 2008. The study was also cited as a critical factor in CoStar Group’s selection as the only commercial real estate information services company to win an ENERGY STAR Award for Excellence from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in 2009.
Florance has also received a number of other awards for innovation and industry leadership, including awards for leading CoStar to its ranking among the 50 fastest growing Maryland technology companies by Deloitte & Touche for 10 consecutive years, and CoStar’s selection by Business 2.0 magazine for its list of the 100 fastest-growing public technology companies. In 2007, Florance was named Transwestern’s Public Company Trendsetter of the Year. The Commercial Real Estate Women (CREW) industry group honored Florance with its 15th anniversary award for industry innovation, and in 2000 he was recognized by Ernst & Young with its Entrepreneur of the Year award.
A graduate of Princeton University, Mr. Florance serves on the Board of Trustees for several organizations, including: The St. Andrews School in Middletown, Delaware; Gibson Island Country School in Pasadena, Maryland; and Ford’s Theater in Washington, DC. He is a member of the Sierra Club and serves on the Board of Directors for the American Real Estate Society (ARES), an association of real estate thought leaders whose members include leading global academic and professional researchers dedicated to exploring the critical issues of applied real estate decision-making.
About the Cornell Real Estate Review
The Cornell Real Estate Review is a scholarly journal providing a conduit for scholars, professional practitioners, and students to express ideas, concepts and research findings from all fields related to the real estate profession. The Review, unique as a student edited and managed real estate journal, is similar to a Law Review as the student editorial board referees and edits submissions from scholars and practitioners worldwide. The current Cornell Real Estate Review can be found at www.crer.realestate.cornell.edu.
About the Cornell Real Estate Council
The Cornell Real Estate Council (CREC) is one of the largest university-based network of real estate professionals in the country, a sponsor of the Cornell Program in Real Estate, and open by invitation only to real estate industry leaders. Now entering its fourth decade, the CREC is dedicated to advancing real estate education and outreach, and is the founding sponsor of the Cornell Real Estate Review.
About CoStar Group, Inc.
CoStar Group, Inc. (Nasdaq:CSGP) is the number one provider of information/marketing services to commercial real estate professionals in the United States as well as the United Kingdom. CoStar’s suite of services offers customers access via the Internet to the most comprehensive database of commercial real estate information throughout the U.S. as well as in the United Kingdom and France. Headquartered in Bethesda, MD, CoStar has approximately 1,300 people working for the company worldwide, including the largest professional research organization in the industry. For more information, visit http://www.costar.com.