B.C.’s largest property managers have increased their office real estate portfolios at the expense of retail spaces.
They reported a meagre 0.08% increase (80,475 square feet) in the amount of property managed in 2018 compared with 2017, according to data from Business in Vancouver’s Biggest Commercial Property Managers in B.C. list (page 16).
This was significantly less than the one-year change in 2015, when they increased their commercial real estate management portfolio 5.75% (5.6 million square feet).
While the increase in total property holdings was minor between 2017 and 2018, the amount of office property managed increased significantly: 10.6% to 24.52 million square feet from 22.16 million. This increase came at the expense of retail property, the largest category managed by the province’s biggest property management firms (33.8%).
Retail space managed by the largest firms fell 3.6% to 35.94 million square feet in 2018 from 37.28 million square feet in 2017. The decline offset 56.9% of the gains made in the square footage of office property managed.
While the top five property management firms in the province have experienced the same stagnant growth as the rest of the companies on the list, many have reported large five-year increases in the amount of property managed. Warrington PCI Management posted the largest increase of the top five firms. It more than doubled its portfolio of properties managed, growing 136.33% to 7.69 million square feet in 2018 from 3.25 million square feet in 2014.
B.C.’s largest property management company, Bentall Kennedy (Canada) LP, was the only member of the top five to reduce its portfolio since 2014. Its holdings fell 30% to 10.66 million square feet in 2018 from 15.24 million square feet in 2014. •
