"Our industry's challenge is to communicate fully with government authorities relative to threats we receive, to assess our vulnerabilities, and to develop protective measures, including risk mitigation and response plans, that are effective and practical," Real Estate Roundtable president and COO Jeffrey D. DeBoer says in a statement from the ceremony. "At the same time, we must be mindful of the costs, both economic and societal, relative to the intended benefits. We believe all of these important goals will be advanced by the Real Estate ISAC that the partnership supports."

The terrorism intelligence entity will offer a bilateral flow of information between the two groups for their mutual benefit. "The federal government will help building owners and operators make better sense of the warnings and alerts they issue," Cary Brazeman, a spokesman for the Real Estate ISAC, tells GlobeSt.com. "And we in the industry will report to them on incidents and threats we receive to help the government discern potential indicators and patterns of threats, and to help us in response planning." Brazeman adds that the endeavor is expected to be up and running by late spring, at which time the group will debut its website.