SAN DIEGO—Asset and property management each provide different services for owners, but they can work together to drive value for a commercial property. Trigild recently took over property- and asset-management services for nearly 700,000 square feet of industrial and commercial property valued at $130 million, including the Genesee Executive Plaza in the Golden Triangle area of San Diego; Aero Business Center, a San Diego office/industrial complex; and the Atrium at Empire Lakes in Rancho Cucamonga, CA. We spoke exclusively with Brian Morelan, Trigild's COO, about the similarities and differences between asset and property management and how they can work in concert to drive property values.

GlobeSt.com: What are the core differences between traditional property management and asset management?

Morelan: Traditional property management revolved around the day-to-day operations of a property and may include collection of revenues, customer service, property maintenance, operational accounting, reporting on performance, tenant inquiries and local market knowledge. Property managers are essentially the drivers of the racecar and ensure a property is run efficiently and effectively.

On the other hand, acting as the owner's representative, asset managers are keenly focused on strategic planning and generally deal with the financial aspects of a property, monitoring ongoing performance in relationship to the original pro forma. They also, depending on the type of property and ownership's goals, are heavily involved in investor relations, large capital repositioning and leasing. Areas of specialization in asset management revolve around capital structuring, value-add programs and legal and liability issues. Additionally, good asset managers understand the industry and evolving market trends—and how a property can capitalize on these.

GlobeSt.com: What's the importance of each of these services for owners?

Morelan: For multiple reasons, it is essential for owners to have a qualified property manager to provide top-notch customer service, maintain the property, work with the best vendors, be involved in the local market and ultimately keep costs down and quality up. Property managers are also critical because they provide transparency via operational reporting, collections and financial reporting.

Asset managers play a fundamental role by developing an overall strategic plan and monitoring the property's performance throughout its life cycle. In this capacity, they carefully monitor market trends, deftly adjust to needs and understand the use of capital—either for value add or what could be dictated by property cash flow.

Ultimately, an asset manager monitors how the money is used and understands industry performance standards for the property, while a property manager provides the “boots on the ground” hands-on operations.

GlobeSt.com: How can asset and property managers drive value?

Morelan: While their roles are distinct, both have common goals. Each can drive value by understanding the goals of the owner, understanding and exceeding operational norms, knowing the overall market and being aware of potential value-add options to bolster revenue. Also, by keeping abreast of advancements in technology, both can help operate a property more efficiently on many levels.

Both property and asset managers should understand that working as a team provides more value in the long run. Quite simply, a property will operate more efficiently when property and asset managers work together and understand each other's goals. Working together, asset and property managers should communicate and monitor goals and strategies, clearly understand what performance indicators to monitor and what the operating information is conveying and, more importantly, know how to change actions in the field to affect performance. The bottom line: As a team, property and asset managers should set standards and benchmarks and then consistently monitor performance.

GlobeSt.com: What is Trigild doing that is unique in the management arena?

Morelan: Based on our experience with many different types of properties and clients, we assign an asset manager to every property-management assignment. In this role, we provide a comprehensive strategic overview and solutions such as broker management, strategic capital plans, leasing strategies, capital outlay and property positioning for institutional clients. For private-equity clients, we provide a strategic plan and then concentrate on placing capital quickly, with services such as property-tax appeals, sales analysis performance monitoring and investor reporting.

With the understanding that our clients may have 20 to 50 properties per asset manager, we provide value by offering options and solutions to multiple challenges. As a result, they become more effective and efficient by choosing options vs. developing them.

Basically, we provide options based on our knowledge and flexibility in the management structure—with institutional-quality services and an ownership mentality in which we can provide a combination of asset and property management depending on the client's needs. This approach to standard property management is unusual and highly effective.

GlobeSt.com: How can asset and property managers work together to effectively and efficiently run a property?

Morelan: By understanding each other's goals, creating an environment where questions and ideas are freely exchanged, as well as consistent monitoring on all levels, both property and asset managers can drive value for owners. In our experience, the most successful deals are done when the asset manager and property manager clearly understand each other's goals and roles—and complement one another.

Instant Insights /

Driving Value Via Asset and Property Management

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