Part 5 of an SCT series lending insight into the year ahead
When COVID-19 became the big story in March, cross-collaboration between Trademark’s corporate property management, marketing, leasing and other teams went from optional to necessary, says vice president of property management Maranda Auzenne. “There was no opportunity for silos anymore.”
Trademark’s Maranda Auzenne
Communicating by text, email, cellphone and teleconference, Trademark’s teams huddled frequently to formulate a rapid response. They canceled events, closed the company’s enclosed shopping centers and its headquarters, hired additional cleaning staff, instituted new sanitation protocols and posted social distancing and safety best practices at all outdoor centers, such as Market Street at The Woodlands north of Houston, pictured at top.
Property teams also needed to reopen tenants safely but without sacrificing enjoyable customer experiences, she says. “The shift that we made mentally was to think of the entire property as usable real estate.” Doing so created new possibilities: Restaurants could extend their outdoor seating onto sidewalks, movie theaters could screen blockbusters in parking lots and local and national retailers could use curbsides for retail to go. “We’ve had yoga classes in our green spaces before, but this was the first time we allowed them on the tops of our parking structures,” Auzenne noted.
Under normal circumstances, a property manager might introduce ideas or changes methodically. As Auzenne sees it, Trademark’s property teams internalized a faster and more collaborative approach in response to the challenges of 2020. “Everyone had this sense of urgency,” she said. “We heard the phrase ‘speed to implementation’ so much. From my perspective, we emerged from that challenge feeling more innovative, agile and empowered. I’m certain that we’ll continue down that road.”
Read more from SCT’s 2021 look ahead series
The restaurant sector is planning for a comeback
Plan for omnichannel; don’t wait for certainty on 2021 shopping behavior
Too soon to plan for the end of COVID, so what will a healthy center look like?
Which chains will be expanding
E-commerce will face a reality check just like brick-and-mortar
By Joel Groover
Contributor, Commerce + Communities Today