News from the Chicago Chapter

Asset, Property and Facility Professionals Working Together

By Jim Vocos, CPM®, Executive Council Vice President
Institute of Real Estate Management
Chicago Chapter 23

From June 6 to June 8, I attended the IREM Regional meetings held in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Our executive council and IAE also attended, and the team participated in educational and orientation sessions featuring keynote presentations and a real estate summit.

The Minnesota Real Estate Journal and IREM hosted the real estate summit, held June 8. At the summit, I found there to be a few underlying messages being conveyed outside of the great material the presenters delivered. 

As the first set of presenters began discussing the topic of “Managing the Property Management Business,” it was clear that the three esteemed professionals -- all who work for different firms -- knew each other well and had admiration for one another. During each presentation, there was mention of each firm working together in some facet of commercial real estate, such as one firm was handling leasing transactions for the other.

There were four different sets of presenters during the four-hour session on Thursday. The presenters worked for firms ranging from very large, to medium, to a “one-man shop” that recently hired its first employee. The range of firms represented added much needed depth and knowledge to the discussion in order to cover the full spectrum of property management perspectives. 

Here are two underlying messages I took away from the summit: 1) The presenters conveyed some of the virtues that IREM holds exemplary. 2) IREM is the association for all property management professionals that serve all asset types, all company sizes, and all members who work together towards a common goal.