Managing public real estate value: patterns identified in trade-offs between values for Dutch police stations

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Maximising the added value of real estate (RE) for the organisation, has been subject of study of many scholars in the field of Public Real Estate Management (PREM). Through PREM, public organisations such as the Dutch National police, aim to maximise the added value of the RE portfolio consisting of over 1.000 objects. For the Dutch National police, sustainable development of the portfolio has, in the past 15 years, become increasingly important. The growing importance of this RE value can be recognized through its prioritisation relative to other values, such as supporting user activities and attractiveness. And through an increased number of criteria RE managers need to take into account when striving for sustainable development. Both the increase in comprehensiveness and prioritisation of sustainable development, have an effect on the alignment process and specifically which values are traded off for others. Although these trade-offs are decisive for how RE ultimately should enable organisational performance, little is known on how sustainable development has affected the trade-offs being made. Thus, this research provides an insight in the trade-offs between values and whether patterns in trade-offs can be found in the past 15 years, using Dutch police stations as case study. To uncover these effects and patterns, first PREM values are operationalised into a framework of criteria and key performance indicators. This framework is used to measure the performance of Dutch police stations realised in the past 15 years, which allows for a comparison. This comparison reveals the ‘proof of the pudding’: which values were traded off for others? By doing so, this research provides a comprehensive insight into the trade-offs RE managers made while striving to maximise the added value of RE.