Many property developments in Thailand, especially in Bangkok where high-rise buildings are concentrated, have suffered higher operating costs than other buildings of similar quality and age.
While property management is one of the major factors influencing efficiency of the building operation and subsequently operating costs, how the building is designed to allow for efficient property management counts for a lot.
For this reason, developers should incorporate property management plan early at the design and/or construction stage, according to property services firm JLL.
"With ever increasing land prices and rising construction and post-completion operating costs, developers must ensure that their future development offers not only high quality of construction and space design but also efficiency of the building operation," says Dexter Norville, a co-head of property and asset management at JLL.
"Property management planning has now become an essential part of any high-value property development project in Thailand. Depending on the actual stage of the project, the planning can involve feasibility assessments and operating budget modelling all the way through to the overall operating strategies.
"The main objective is to maximise operational efficiency and occupier satisfaction, and minimise costs and risks," Mr Norville adds.
Efficiency
Many buildings feature astonishing architectural exterior and interior designs. However, some of these designs do not allow for highest efficiency in terms of building operation or space utilisation and in some cases can make the property management/maintenance costlier and/or expose the building at higher risks.
Such hurdles can be avoided if property management is taken into consideration at every stage of project development.
Some buildings were designed to feature unnecessarily extra-large common areas, leading to excessive operating costs.
Positioning facilities in lower levels can allow for more rentable area in the higher levels that typically fetches higher rents.
If a building is designed to achieve a WELL or LEED certification, it is indispensable to assign a property manager with sustainability management capability to ensure that the building is operated to meet the WELL or LEED requirements upon completion.
User friendliness
A user-friendly building typically refers to a building that is designed and constructed and operates to have a favourable impact on wellbeing and satisfaction of its users.
"Occupiers' wellbeing is a big-picture topic. At the recent International conference on urbanisation and tall buildings held in Dubai, occupiers' wellbeing was one of the main discussion points from many different attendees and presentations. Architects, interior designers, proptech companies and real estate service providers all indicated the necessity for better understanding in this area as it is ultimately the tenants and occupiers who provide the revenue streams for buildings," says Mr Norville.
"When it comes to building users' well-being and satisfaction, property management is one of the elements that play a key role. Strategic management and streamlined procedures can be planned ahead to help developers achieve this objective," he adds.
A changing trend
There was a time when property management was quite low on the list of priorities of developers. But in the past few years, the mindset has now changed, with property managers getting involved as a part of the development team for a number of prime property development projects such as One Bangkok, The ParQ, Samyan Mitrtown and Silom Square.
"Obviously an in-depth knowledge of property management operations, tenant behaviour, operating strategies and actual operating costs for different classes of assets is a clear benefit to any development as it contributes to quicker and more accurate designs around overall space planning and utilisation, utility benchmarking, security and risk management design considerations, car parking layouts, amenities and delivery areas -- all key essential components of any building," Mr Norville concludes.
