Finding the right tenant coordination partner is crucial to the success of a retail center or mixed-use urban development project. Multi-tenant property owners and developers appreciate the convenience and efficiency of full-service tenant coordination teams. From tailored project approaches to pre-opening checklists, a full-service tenant coordination team offers an all-under-one-roof approach, ensuring productivity and collaboration between all parties involved throughout every phase of a project. In short, a tenant coordination team’s job is to make your job easier. Use the guide below to help evaluate the best partner to coordinate the opening of your mixed-use development project.
1. Are they also builders?
Tenant coordination teams who are also builders bring a wealth of experience in all facets of a project, including landlord work. These full-service teams add value because they have extensive building expertise, from planning and permitting to scheduling and coordinating inspections. Builders are especially well-versed in keeping a schedule on track. Beginning in the pre-development phase, your tenant coordination team should focus heavily on planning to ensure potential schedule impacts are identified and solved before the first swing of a hammer. Conversely, a partner with little to no building experience may overlook certain schedule implications, such as long-lead time materials or logistical setbacks, and auto-pilot through the project in execution mode.
Another advantage of a team with building experience is their ability to review drawings, make notes for the architect and designer, and guide tenants on what they can and cannot do based on the drawings and building criteria. Careful consideration of these details can save both time and money in the long-run.
2. Are they logistical coordination experts?
Several important factors must remain top-of-mind throughout construction, but perhaps the most important is the coordination of logistics since tenant coordination projects often involve many concurrent moving parts. In crowded retail centers and mixed-use developments, precious loading dock space can be hard to come by. A tenant coordination team with logistical expertise can coordinate schedules to ensure everyone vying for dock access is able to keep their project schedule intact.
Other important factors include end-user satisfaction and diligent documentation. As many tenant coordination projects occur in occupied spaces, teams must ensure the building appears ready for end users and not like an active construction site. This means keeping the site clean and properly sectioning off work areas to minimize hazards and disruptions to either customers or other tenants that are moving in.
Common barriers to a successful tenant coordination project include a lack of organization and documentation. Through daily reports, daily photo logs, weekly summaries, and more, a tenant coordination partner can offer clients the opportunity to track project progress in real-time.
As construction nears completion, a tenant coordination team can coordinate schedules and government compliance while capitalizing upon established relationships to facilitate the inspections process and obtain each tenant’s Certificate of Occupancy in a timely manner. An experienced tenant coordination team will have established relationships with the various parties involved in the project to make the inspection and closeout process move quickly and efficiently.
3. Will they perform as an extension of you?
As the eyes and ears of your project, a tenant coordinator should become an extension of your team and represent you as such by offering suggestions to save you both time and money. Anticipating problems, delivering solutions, and providing transparency in all communications are tell-tale signs of a trustworthy, long-term tenant coordination partner. With this trust in place, your tenant coordination team can handle everything on-site while you direct your attention to other tasks.
Extensive knowledge of the industry equips a full-service tenant coordination team with the resources to act on behalf of the client. These teams provide value by offering the proper systems, reports, and customizable documents that give developers instant access to project data. The use of sophisticated project management technology and tracking systems give developers a level of transparency into the coordination of tenants, clarity of invoices, and cleanliness of the job sites.
With these materials in place, developers can trust the team to get the job done right and according to schedule. When a tenant coordination partner acts as an extension of the owner, developers save significant per diem costs, because they do not need to position their team onsite. Instead, developers can focus their resources and efforts on other more pressing components of the project.
Finding the right TC partner
Ultimately, you should select a dependable tenant coordination partner that is able to make the tenant move-in process as smooth as possible. Thoughtful consideration of your tenant coordination partner will lead any project to a successful completion.
Contact Ron Henry, senior vice president, at rhenry@sachse.net to learn how Sachse Construction’s team of dedicated, full-service tenant coordination professionals can help you reach your project goals.
About Sachse Construction
Sachse Construction is a premier commercial construction management and tenant coordination firm recognized as one of the most trusted and respected construction partners in North America. Headquartered in Detroit, Sachse Construction has been serving tenant coordination clients for over 12 years across all 50 states and Puerto Rico. Committed to doing the right thing and pursuing excellence by constantly raising the bar, Sachse utilizes unparalleled industry experience and enthusiasm to deliver innovative projects and solutions for every partner, every time. For more information, visit www.sachseconstruction.com.
