Lincoln Property Co. has named a new director of property management. Afton Trail joins the firm as director of property management for the desert region, and in the new role, she will oversee 10 million square feet of office, industrial and retail space. The desert west territory includes Arizona, Nevada, Utah and New Mexico.
"I have always loved building things, taking something and making it bigger and better," Trail tells GlobeSt.com. "LPC is recognized as a superior development and investment firm, but is overlooked in the third-party management world—despite the fact that 50 percent of our current portfolio is managed for others. Many institutional owners are hungry for options in the property management space, and I felt that my national relationships with clients and local relationships with employees would be a great fit. From a personal perspective, my career began in Phoenix and I have an affinity for the people and places in the Southwest."
As part of the new role, Trail will expand the portfolio and identify new opportunities. "First, we have to continue to beat the drum about our expertise, to remind the region that we are not just an owner/manager," she says. "It is true that Lincoln's Desert West region just had its best year ever in terms of new development, sales volume and leasing volume, but we also have great case studies of our successes as a third-party manager for equally high-profile projects, and we want people to know about them."
Lincoln is looking to grow the portfolio largely as part of a request for management services from its clients. "We have many investment and development clients that have expressed a need for management services, so expanding our relationships through this service offering makes sense," says Trail. "Additionally, as everyone knows, property management is a very stable revenue producer. It doesn't have the volatility of, say, brokerage or development. Consequently, focusing on this line of business is a smart business decision and allows us to provide a full-service offering to existing and new clients. The Southwest is the perfect region in which to expand, with Arizona generally ranked as one of the best places in the country for job growth and Nevada and Utah also consistently recognized as major growth states."
In identifying new opportunities, Trail will look for the same quality product that Lincoln has developed as part of its portfolio. "Our goal is to continue to target the same quality of product on the property management side, bring our unique owner's perspective to our service offering and help our clients differentiate themselves from the competition," says Trail. "We are applying that strategy on a regional scale and look forward to expanding our successes in Arizona to both Utah and Nevada."
To start, Trail plans to educate the market about the benefits of third-party property management. "This includes clients, brokers and prospective employees. We have a unique, focused platform that has resulted in great things for our clients," she says. "Our growth over the last few years has been substantial, but the message needs to be qualified so that the market sees us as a third-party provider.
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Kelsi Maree Borland
