EG hosted a roundtable discussion looking at the ways in which property managers are driving change. The panel also explored some of the difficulties they face, and the ways in which technology, automation and digital communication can provide a platform for ongoing success
Many roles in real estate have shifted over recent years – but arguably few have seen a change in perception and importance equal to that of the property manager.
“When I started out 30-plus years ago, the property manager was traditionally a grey-suited man who sat in the office, issued the rent demands and did the occasional licence to assign,” says Alexandra Finlayson, a partner at property consultancy Vail Williams.
“The property manager today is collaborative. They know the tenants by name; they know the contractors. They’re on-site, tech-savvy and – most of all – approachable. They need to be able to talk to the CEO, the CFO and the tenants coming in.”
Property management has shifted significantly, and so the individuals tasked with delivering it have changed, too.
Once focused on the functional and operational aspects of running, maintaining and monetising a portfolio, now property managers are charged with responsibilities for a far wider variety of business performance metrics. And as businesses look to return to offices and other workplaces after the coronavirus pandemic, the critical issue of tenant safety will ensure that property management remains in the spotlight.
“The biggest change I’ve seen in property management over the past two-and-a-half to three years is the change of emphasis from the physical property itself to the customer,” says Colin O’Reilly, sales director for investor solutions at MRI Software, which makes investment management software for the real estate industry.
“Traditionally, a property manager would focus on commercial property management – corporate real estate. Now a property manager’s role is far more complex, because there are elements of all of the disciplines in those different sectors required. The challenge is for property managers to learn new skills, and also enhance all the soft skills that sit above that. It’s a challenging time for property management.”
Reassuring returning tenants
With debate over the future of the office continuing, property managers face a raft of tests as they work to ensure that tenants eager to return to the workplace are able to – and that they feel safe and secure when they do.
“Some of our businesses have said they’re not coming back until next year; others have been in all the way through – the buildings aren’t reopening, they’re just getting busier,” says Finlayson. “The poor old property manager is having to deal with everybody – we’re trying to talk to all occupiers and all landlords because collaboration is key.”
AXA Investment Managers is preparing to open the doors of 22 Bishopsgate, the City of London’s tallest building. The first occupiers, including AXA itself, expect to move in early next year.
The building’s design was already centred on wellbeing, says AXA IM head of leasing James Goldsmith, and companies moving in should find that any of their concerns about the way a post-pandemic office should be managed will already have been addressed. But he also believes that people will be wary of too much change.
“I remember seeing all the stuff on social media when Covid-19 first happened about what the office would look like – people were doing these pictures of cellular offices, yellow and black tape everywhere,” Goldsmith says.
“It struck me as an overreaction. If that’s what the office is going to look like, I don’t think people are going to want to go into it. It’s almost a dystopian view of what the office is. Clearly, people do want to come back in, and I think our response is proportionate, collaborative and self-governing. It’s about common sense.”
The challenge is for property managers to learn new skills, and also enhance all the soft skills that sit above that. It’s a challenging time for property management
Colin O’Reilly, MRI Software
Collect, protect, connect
Rethinking the role and responsibilities of property management in this new era is calling for new talents and new tech.
“Changes were happening – Covid-19 has accelerated that,” says MRI Software’s O’Reilly. “When we look at technology, you can do it from two aspects. One is technology in the built environment – the use now of sensors to monitor occupancy of particular rooms, the ability to use or repurpose the more traditional footfall technology to people-count.
“The second aspect is about the more traditional finance, accounting and property management information that MRI is well known for. What all that leads to is the provision of data. The area we work on is being able to give data to the property manager – right to their fingertips – whether they’re in the office or whether they’re remote, visiting other buildings.”
The skill set that a property manager needs is shifting, too. The pace of change here is challenging, says Charlotte Crawley, culture and experience director at Navana Property Group, who adds that there is “a real danger in terms of the property manager that they’re having to become such a multi-skilled, multi-talented individual, and we’re expecting far too much from them”.
Crawley points to the need for systems specialists and data analysts who can “collect, protect and connect” the increasing channels of information being gathered across the average real estate portfolio. She also highlights a heightened focus on customer experience throughout the life cycle of an asset – a property manager who can engage a developer from the start of an “end-to-end journey”.
AXA’s Goldsmith knows the importance well. “For me, the most important decision we made [on 22 Bishopsgate] was when we appointed our head of 22, Danny Lemon, who is running the building,” he says. “We did that at the beginning of 2018 and wanted him there right at the beginning and to build a team around him.”
That team now has a dozen or so members, Goldsmith adds, including individuals from “Claridge’s, the Royal Navy, the nuclear industry, PR, an accountant – people with transferable skills”. Notably, he says, none have a traditional real estate background.
“The commercial context for that is that, historically, the value of a building was driven by the length of the lease, the headline rent – you’d try to lease up buildings to as few people and for as long a lease as possible,” he says.
“Now, the value in a building is its adaptability and its ability to be marketable to as wide a diversity of occupier as possible. These are very different metrics now that deliver value, which is why property management has become so important.”
The panel
- Charlotte Crawley, culture and experience director, Navana Property Group
- Alexandra Finlayson, partner, Vail Williams
- James Goldsmith, head of leasing, AXA Investment Managers
- Colin O’Reilly, sales director – investor solutions, MRI Software
To send feedback, e-mail tim.burke@egi.co.uk or tweet @_tim_burke or @estatesgazette
