Nearly ten years ago, the University of Pennsylvania announced that it would outsource its facilities and real-estate operations to Trammell Crow Higher Education Services, Inc. The agreement included management of school facilities--155 buildings over 269 acres on the West Philadelphia campus. It also included construction management and oversight of the university's real-estate portfolio. Although Penn was experiencing major problems in the area of facilities management, the October 1997 announcement jolted Penn faculty, staff, and students, while others outside the university watched to see if the initiative would succeed or fail. The contract, however, was reduced in scope in March 2000, when operations and maintenance components reverted back to the University of Pennsylvania while Trammell Crow continued to manage the capital project and real-estate components. Then, in 2002, the agreement with Trammell Crow was completely terminated and the university took back the responsibility for management of its capital projects, as well as the property management of real-estate holdings. Here, the author reports the impact of the outsourcing arrangement and the changes made by Trammell Crow at Penn and its facilities operation.