JLL helps digital solutions provider donate office furnishings

Q2, a leading provider of digital transformation solutions for banking and lending, is a mission-driven company that seeks to build stronger, more diverse communities by strengthening their financial institutions. They invest time, resources and passion into causes that matter most and support the communities they serve and call home.

Q2 had reached out to JLL’s Managing Director Will Douglas and Office Tenant Rep Broker Harrison Schumacher, who manage leasing for Q2 in Austin, Texas, and Senior Vice President Tim Grant from JLL’s Silicon Valley office to facilitate and coordinate the sublease of their large office space in San Mateo, CA. Q2 had left the space fully furnished, including all furniture, fixtures and equipment (FF&E), for a future plug-and-play sublease solution. Two weeks before the sublease commenced, the new subtenant requested the office space be cleared out before moving in, including all FF&E across over 5,000 square feet of space.

Everything must go

Tim, who’s also a member of JLL’s global sustainability group, immediately began researching nonprofits who could help pick up and distribute the FF&E.

“We couldn’t let this furniture and equipment go to waste and we didn’t have much time to make it happen,” said Tim. “The responsible solution here was to try to donate as much of it as possible. With a corporate mission to strengthen communities Q2 was on board to find a solution.”

With little time to spare Tim reached out to another client, Pacific Foundation Services, that works with private foundations to plan, execute, and oversee their philanthropic giving and was connected to Thrive Alliance, a coalition that unites the voice and influence of nonprofits to improve the quality of life in San Mateo County.

Through Thrive Alliance, the JLL team helped Q2 gift their office’s large computer monitors and large flat-screen televisions to the Mid-Peninsula Boys & Girls Club to help enhance the learning centers.

The JLL team then turned to donate the bulk of Q2’s office furniture to be repurposed through the Bay Area Furniture Bank, a non-profit that redirects donated furniture to local families in need. The furniture was held for a day by Aligned, a local office liquidator, for compliance reasons. With a zero-waste policy, all remaining items were assured of finding a home and Q2 absorbed all extra costs associated with this plan.

“A central tenant of Q2’s culture is giving back to the communities we call home,” said Q2 President and CEO Matt Flake. “We support initiatives that allow people to thrive and that strengthen their communities. Making sure our office equipment went to the people who needed it most, no matter how tricky the logistics, was very important to us.”

Stronger together

Finding homes for the existing FF&E around the Silicon Valley and giving back to the local community was worth the cost and effort to Q2 and JLL. And from an sustainability perspective, the furniture avoided being landfill environmental waste alongside the three million tons of furniture the EPA estimates businesses discard each year.

“The JLL team navigated every curveball thrown at them and kept us informed throughout this entire process,” said Matt. “Together, Q2 and JLL were able to find a viable solution that not only met our goals but proved to be both beneficial for the community and the environment.”

“After exchanging nearly 100 emails and engaging with multiple parties, pulling this process off in two weeks was no easy feat, but it’s a great example of what brokers, owners and tenants can accomplish together when decommissioning a space,” said Tim. “Our team was fortunate to have the strong partnership of Q2, who collaborated with us every step of the way. When a client’s purpose ties closely with JLL’s purpose of shaping the future of real estate for a better world – amazing things can be accomplished.”