Keeping Tenants Happy: Tips From LA's Best Property Managers

Forget the Oscar winners:Property managers are the rock stars of the CRE industry (when they're not trashing hotel rooms because Life of Pi lost for Best Picture). To compete with the Vanity Fair after-party, we're holding our first SoCal Property Management Summit this week and invite you to join us and hear more. You Argo-ing to learn a lot.

Our moderator, Allen Matkins partner Alain R'Bibo, works with the country's leading RE firms. There's definitely an economiccorrelation between how a property is managed and the rents it can generate, he told us yesterday. Some of the topics he plans to explore withour panel: capital improvements that are the most beneficial; where to spend the least amount of money and get the highest return in tenant satisfaction and rents (our vote is fresh brownies); and what tenants are demanding in terms of infrastructure technology. In addition, Alain wants to talk about the importance of interaction with the surrounding community.

As the capital markets free up, Alain's clients are making acquisitions across the country, and he's working closely with their management teams to help coordinate a smooth transition from a building's previous ownership. Case in point: Tishman Speyer, which recently bought the Wilshire Courtyard. The Miracle Mile office complex has abig tenant roster, Alain notes. "The more tenants, the more management-intensive the transition." He and his family are just back from a week in Hawaii. He's got four kids, including boy-and-girl twins.

We also chatted yesterday with Health Care REIT VP of operations, Kevin Kirn (with lovely wife Esther).The company owns and manages a portfolio of 210 MOBs across the country totaling 13M SF. Kevin tells us the REIT is celebrating a recent tenant satisfaction survey that ranked it in the top 5% among landlords in the medical office segment.It's also is making a push into sustainability for its portfolio despite some unique challenges: Buildings frequently operate into the evening and require 24/7 support. Health Care REIT's partnership program with its tenants, Green Arrow, incentivizes them to work with the landlord to reduce their carbon footprints. He also loves international travel; he and Esther recently visited North Thailand.