Property management firms are proving to have an important impact on driving value and the success of an asset. One example of the growing importance of property managers is Catalina Landing. Colony Northstar purchased the struggling 280,00-square-foot office property in August 2015, and hired Rising Realty Partners to develop and execute a strategy to turn the property around. Leveraging the firm's third-party property management Asset Enhancement Program and 5×5 Telecom, Rising was able to increase rents by 20%—the highest rates in Downtown Long Beach—renewed or expanded leases with 19 tenants and signed substantial new leases with Sprint, the California State University Chancellor's Office, and Barrett Business Systems. To find out more, we sat down with Marc Gittleman, EVP at Rising Realty Partners and chair-elect of BOMA-GLA, for an exclusive interview.

GlobeSt.com: How has Catalina Landing evolved since Rising was hired as a property manager?

Marc Gittleman: Catalina Landing is now one of the premier office destinations in Downtown Long Beach. Asking rents at the property have increased more than 20 percent since Rising's Asset Enhancement Program™ commenced in 2015. The campus now commands the highest asking rates within the Downtown Long Beach submarket. Since Colony engaged Rising, 19 existing tenants have either renewed or expanded their leases. Additionally, three prominent new tenants have moved to the building: Sprint, the California State University Chancellor's Office, and Barrett Business Systems. Rising also created significantly more value for Colony by activating 29,000sf of previously un-leasable space and converting it into, what is now, the most desirable office offering in the campus.