Daily Real Estate News  |  September 20, 2005  |   Cendant Ships Modular Offices to Hurricane Areas Cendant Corp.’s Real Estate Services Division, which includes the Coldwell Banker, Century 21, ERA, and Sotheby’s International Realty real estate franchise companies, reported Monday that it's shipping modular office units to its real estate franchisees in Louisiana and Mississippi most affected by Hurricane Katrina. These units are intended to provide temporary replacement offices for franchisees whose offices were “destroyed or rendered unusable” by the storm, according to Mark Panus, vice president of real estate communications for Cendant Real Estate Services Division. Panus estimates that 28 franchise offices in Louisiana and Mississippi have been affected. Each modular unit contains approximately 600 square feet of office space, including a reception area, common work space, two private offices, and restroom facility. The first four modular offices were shipped out Friday and are expected to get to their destinations this week, Panus says. Carlene Alfonso, broker-owner of Coldwell Banker Alfonso Realty Inc., will get three of the units—two in Bay St. Louis and one in Gulfport, Miss. The fourth is being shipped to Century 21 Nicole Lombas & Associates in Galliano, La. Cendant and its real estate brands will pay for delivery, installation, and signage for the affected offices and will cover the rental costs of the units for up to 12 months. Each independently owned franchisee is responsible for securing the necessary local utility and permits. "Obviously, our first concern during this crisis was the personal safety and well-being of our affiliated brokers and their sales associates and employees," Alex Perriello, president and CEO of Cendant's Real Estate Franchise Group, says in a press release issued Monday. "As the Gulf Coast region moves from a rescue and recover to a rebuilding phase, we realized that the best thing we could do to help our most-affected franchisees was to provide them with temporary office space from which they could continue to run their businesses.” The modular office units are the latest in Cendant and its real estate brands’ relief efforts for Hurricane Katrina victims. The company and its affiliates are conducting fund-raising drives and have already made substantial donations to the American Red Cross. Cendant Mobility also has obtained approximately 1,000 housing units and 250 hotel rooms for its corporate, government, and affinity clients who have requested temporary housing to accommodate their displaced employees. —Haley M. Hwang for REALTORŪ Magazine Online