NEWPORT BEACH, CA—Managing diverse projects like Alameda Point requires flexibility and focus in order to oversee and interact with every entity and customer, RiverRock Real Estate Group principal John Combs tells GlobeSt.com. The firm was recently selected by the City of Alameda to provide property-management services at Alameda Point in Alameda, CA.

Alameda Point was once known as Naval Air Station Alameda and was constructed in the late 1930s during World War II. It played an active role in Navy aviation until it was decommissioned in 1997.

RiverRock will provide property management to more than 63 tenants spanning more than 1,500 acres of office, industrial, research and residential real estate. With the appointment of Alameda Point, RiverRock now manages in excess of 28 million square feet throughout California and Arizona.

We spoke with Combs about meeting the challenges of projects with so many different uses.

GlobeSt.com: Alameda Point has so many different product types and such a diverse tenant mix. What are the challenges that come up in managing such an eclectic mix?

Combs: I am not aware of any real estate firm that has expertise in all aspects of a decommissioned base that has been privatized. For example, Alameda Point's scope includes not only the office, retail and industrial properties, but also residential, marina, piers and even an aircraft carrier. In addition, we handle the community and city special events at the project. We have subcontracted to best-in-class specialists in all areas outside of the office, retail and industrial, which we have a core capacity to handle. There are many city agencies that we must collaborate with including the staff person we report to who is between us and the city mayor and City Council. We realize that whatever we are doing, we are representing the City indirectly and must be sure visitors, tenants, vendors and all constituencies have a very positive experience.

GlobeSt.com: How do you meet these challenges?

Combs: We have a team of six on site who are supported by numerous corporate staff off site. The onsite team is led by a very experienced real estate professional who is also a great leader and lives very close to the project. He is a great motivator to the team, and with fresh eyes is reviewing the protocols, activities and demands of the staff and service partners for greater productivity and service levels. Needless to say, we must be flexible and focused in order to oversee and interact with every entity and customer.

Alameda Point is not only going through some very new development activities, but it is also offering more and more to the community, so what we are focused on and how we accomplish our scope of services today will definitely evolve each year as we have seen with other similar property assignments like the Presidio in San Francisco area and Liberty Station in San Diego. The property also receives senior-level involvement from the principal down.

GlobeSt.com: What is your preference on managing diverse projects like this versus managing one property type or category of tenant within a project?

Combs: We have a nice specialization of three great decommissioned bases, even though the scope on each assignment varies greatly. The Presidio is the furthest along in its redevelopment cycle, followed by Liberty Station. We see being experienced at these different cycles and in different geographies as a strength we plan to leverage for additional assignments as long as the core scope is commercial and office product.

GlobeSt.com: What else should our readers know about managing diverse projects?

Combs: The RFPs are long and arduous to complete, and the process for interviewing is very complicated and time consuming. Usually there are more bidders than we would compete against, so unless we have the perfect GM candidate to pitch, we do not pursue the bidding. Typically, the team bidding the property management are not from operations or even real estate and do not totally understand what it is we do. They also usually work with numerous other departments or agencies and have to collaborate on the selection process. Accounting reporting and risk management are big components to work through as well. As with most assignments we take over, we always find tenant-accounting and lease-summary errors, experience operational surprises and complicated—and many times nonexistent—paperwork. That is where we always prove our value.

We spoke with Combs about meeting the challenges of projects with so many different uses.

GlobeSt.com: Alameda Point has so many different product types and such a diverse tenant mix. What are the challenges that come up in managing such an eclectic mix?

GlobeSt.com: How do you meet these challenges?

GlobeSt.com: What is your preference on managing diverse projects like this versus managing one property type or category of tenant within a project?

GlobeSt.com: What else should our readers know about managing diverse projects?

Instant Insights /

On Managing Multi-Use Properties

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