Page 26 - REALCOMM EDGE-Fall 2017-FINAL

Cover Story

RC: What are some of the highlights That said, building operations and
within your organization in the past 12 facilities management isn’t just about
months? keeping the lights on in the building
Huaco: I came to McKesson three years and managing the financial aspect of it;
ago, attracted by the opportunity to it’s also about creating an environment
transform the real estate function and that helps attract and retain employees.
drive value through an enterprise ap- To that end, we have adopted LEED
proach. McKesson is one of the largest and WELL certification standards for
companies in the country that you may our office and industrial buildings, and
not have heard of. It is a healthcare some of the medical buildings. We made
services company that has grown in part a decision to become the employer of
through acquisitions and thus is some- choice in certain markets and to do that
what decentralized. There was a great you should have the right facilities in the
opportunity to develop more enterprise right locations. The first thing we did was
shared services, to drive cost reduction develop a work force strategy, NOT a
and improve the quality of the spaces real estate strategy—that came later. We
we’re in. developed a comprehensive workforce
Strategically, we’ve developed and study to inform us where to find the
adopted a ‘total cost of ownership’ best talent for certain job functions—
approach, leading to an entirely different like accounting/finance, IT functions, or
set of solutions for the management of cybersecurity. We developed functional
the portfolio. What that means is that we centers of excellence in these preferred
are now accountable for
the full life cycle manage-
ment of McKesson’s real

Mike Huaco - McKesson estate assets; our goal is
to use real estate as the
Mike Huaco is the Senior Vice enabler of the business.
President of Corporate Real Estate We have a strategic rela-
at the McKesson Corporation, a tionship with our internal
Fortune 5 company that is one of business partners to
the oldest and largest health care develop facility solutions
companies in the nation, with a that enable their business
substantial global presence. Mike’s and driver greater share-
responsibilities include managing all holder value. markets around the country to source
aspects of the corporate real estate This end-to-end life cycle approach the appropriate talent. This resulted in
function, including transactions, drives greater value, as a building can a migration from multiple high labor
project management, facilities man- be a 30 to 40-year asset. The building cost locations to centralized centers
agement, workplace and strategy. phase is only 20% of an asset’s total cost of excellence or campus hubs. We just
He and his team manage a global of ownership whereby the operations opened a large campus in Irving, Texas,
footprint that includes over 30 mil- can be as much as 80% of the total cost with great fanfare by the governor. It
lion square feet in 3,000+ facilities. of ownership. So obviously we have had is a smart building featuring the latest
a greater focus on building operations, technology, and it will be one of the few
and technology. You can attempt to save WELL certified buildings in Texas, if not
money on the front end that will cost the only one.
you significantly in the long run. There’s
way more money involved in building RC: What was the biggest challenge
operations than anything else I do. The during this process?
requirements of my role have changed. Huaco: The biggest challenge has been
What I’m doing today is very different centralizing of the facilities management
from what I would have been asked to function: maintenance, energy manage-
do ten years ago—this role is not just ment, anything to do with touching a
about real estate management anymore. building. It has allowed us to have scale

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