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Written by Brenden Nickels, senior office assistant
While Kraus-Anderson is known for our history in construction management, our multifaceted expertise extends beyond the building process. We also take on the role of property manager for many of the projects we build and develop. Through our dedicated Realty department, KA oversees a portfolio of properties, including notable landmarks like the HQ apartment building and Finnegan’s Brewery on the KA Block in downtown Minneapolis. Additionally, Kraus-Anderson has played a pivotal role in the development and management of prominent destinations such as the Southtown Shopping Center in Bloomington, MN. This integrated approach ensures that from conception to completion, and beyond, Kraus-Anderson remains steadfast in its commitment to delivering exceptional quality and value to its clients and communities alike.
KA began in the real estate business in 1950 when CEO Lloyd Engelsma founded Nicollet Properties, Inc, which leased out buildings to potential tenants. Ultimately, it became known as Kraus-Anderson, Inc. (while KA Minneapolis/St. Bingo onlinePaul handled the construction side), and changed its name to KA Realty in 1978. Originally in downtown Minneapolis with the other KA offices, KA Realty moved to Bloomington in 1995, another building in Bloomington across the street in 1999, and back to downtown Minneapolis in 2017.
In total, the Realty department at KA consists of six property managers, three senior property managers, two assistant property managers, a construction manager, and an administrative assistant. Kraus-Anderson owns about 70 properties, which are a total of 3,886,478 square feet. If you divide this number equally between each of how to play bingothe property managers, they would each be responsible for eight buildings, or 430,000 square feet.
A day in the life of a KA Realty Property Manager!
I interviewed three of KA Realty’s Property Managers: Jeff Oman, Chris Olson, and Shawn Wiski, to get an idea of how the department works:
Hello Jeff, Chris, and Shawn! Thank you for joining us today. Can you give our readers a brief overview of what your days look like at KA Realty?
bingo game: I work as an Assistant Property Manager. I help Senior Property Managers manage a group of properties they’ve been assigned to. We are the first point of contact for tenants, we coordinate work with vendors to service, repair and improve the property, and provide feedback, support, and reporting to leasing and to ownership with regards to the properties.
Chris Olson: We manage the daily operations of buildings, including repair and maintenance, developing, and fostering positive relationships with tenants, leasing activity, and financial management, planning and review.
Shawn Wiski: Kraus-Anderson owns, leases and manages retail, office and residential sites across the entire Twin Cities area, and into greater Minnesota and Wisconsin. Each of the property managers at KA have a separate portfolio of properties that they are responsible for. The property manager’s role is the day-to-day management of these properties ensuring they are safe, inviting, and properly maintained within budgetary guidelines. We manage vendor contracts for such things as snow removal, landscaping, security, fire alarm systems, elevators, and trash collection to name a few. We interface with the KA Maintenance Team, the KA Leasing Brokers, the Realty Accountants, KA Legal and Development.
Is there a lot of variety in the responsibilities from PM to PM?
Oman: Each of the Property Managers has a group of properties called a portfolio that they work on and have responsibility for, so in that way their jobs are very similar. But the properties are different sizes and in many different places, some are retail store spaces, while others are office spaces, and a few have a combination of both type of use. So, the portfolio of properties that each property manager is assigned to is unique.
What makes your job in Realty unique or interesting?
Oman: In general, I feel very connected to the larger community by working on properties that serve a purpose in the areas where they’re located. Some are buildings I’ve driven by for years, and some have an even more personal connection for me. For example, I learned to drive in the parking lot of one of our properties called Midway Marketplace. Another called Kenwood Crossing I used to live close to and rented videos from a Blockbuster Video that was there many years ago.
Olson: I really enjoy managing the assets I am responsible for and getting to know each tenant and learning what makes their unique businesses work. I embrace the responsibility that comes with my decisions impacting a property, and how each decision I make plays into larger goals we set is very interesting.
Wiski: No two days in the life of a property manager are the same and the variety is what keeps it interesting and challenging! We split our time between the office and being out at the properties. We are responsible for handling emergencies that may pop up and being able to react on a moment’s notice. We regularly interact with our tenants whether it be a new tenant move-in, interpreting a lease question, lease renewals, handling a complaint, or simply checking in and saying hello on a property inspection. We have many financial related responsibilities which include creation of the annual property budgets, weekly approval of invoices for expenses, managing accounts receivable, and assisting with the annual expense reconciliations.
What challenges does your job have?
Oman: You cannot anticipate unexpected big problems. A Tenant have may have an issue such as a small roof leak in their space which happens in our climate and that can be handled very quickly and routinely. But something more serious like a sprinkler pipe freezing, bursting, and pouring lots of water out into a building is an emergency that must be responded to immediately even if it’s 4am and the day after Christmas.
Olson: One interesting challenge is spreading my focus to properties in different parts of the Twin Cities and in Wisconsin. Each property has unique needs and with the goal of fostering positive relationships with each tenant, this can at times prove to be logistically interesting.
Do you have any stories of your time here to tell that would be interesting?
Oman: We worked for many months trying to figure out why a Tenant’s space had a bad smell on occasion. We eventually found out the smell was due to the Tenant stabbing a sword into a wall and damaging a plumbing vent pipe. That was an unexpected resolution to the issue!
Wiski: Not sure if this fall into this category, but we love to share that 430 Oak Grove (an apartment building) used to be Prince’s old recording studio. It’s pretty cool walking through there sometimes knowing a legend walked these same halls. A lot of our properties have a unique history to them and it is rewarding to be a piece, even if it’s small, of that history.
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How often are you visiting the properties?
Oman: Property Managers often find themselves with a great deal on their plate. Opportunities always abound, big and small. Ways to improve building operations, reduce costs, and help with leasing. The trick is to continually focus on what’s most important, and what we should do. A great way to get that focus is by spending time at a property.
There are several factors that dictate the amount of time a Property Manager will spend at a property: roof leaks, new tenant construction and move in, lease renewals, and projects happening such as parking lot asphalt work, masonry work, new signage – these are just some of the factors. The Property Manager’s job is to constantly prioritize and juggle many “balls” at the same time. Time spent at the property is also a chance to see what’s happening in and around the building and in the neighborhood, and to build relationships with tenants. Oftentimes the tenants have their own insights into what’s happening at the property, and that can be very valuable, actionable information.
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Property tours also occur at each property mid-summer bingo gamealong with the KARC Leadership Team. This provides an opportunity for Property Managers to share project updates, provide tenant and operational updates, and discuss future capital improvement considerations for future budget cycles. This time together allows for all eyes on our assets and proves key to a consistent approach to managing them.
Other considerations that property manager need to think about?
Oman: The safety of our tenants, their employees, and our tenants’ customers are a major consideration when the ground becomes wet, snow packed, and or slippery. The relationship we have with our snow removal trade partners is key when safety is a top priority. This can mean calling for an extra salt truck run, requesting an unplanned drive lane plow, or placing salt buckets at high traffic locations. Yet, we are careful to not over salt as this can lead to advanced deterioration of block foundations and sidewalks. There proves to be a fine line between safety management and preventative thinking.
So, Property Managers take an even greater interested in snow than your typical Minnesotan. The last two winters made headlines for breaking records, first in 22/23 for how much snow fell (about 107 inches are out properties), then in 23/24 for how little snow fell (an average of about 43.5 inches). In 2022/2023, not only did every snowfall create responsibilities to follow up with plow vendors and field tenant concerns, but it also meant knowing that the budget allocated for snow removal was going to be stretched to the breaking point and beyond.
Now this past season we’ve had completely different challenges to manage through. For example, the mild start to the winter created the opportunity to get just a little more done bingo appwith landscaping or exterior maintenance IF you were willing to gamble that the snow and cold held off. As Property Mangers we are keenly interested to see what the beginning of this next winter brings.
All in a days work
how to play bingothe property managers of KA Realty have shown commitment to what they do, and because of this, it’s no wonder that they can keep tenants satisfied with a 90 percent occupancy level in their shopping centers. It just goes to show you that Realty is another way that Kraus-Anderson “builds strong communities and enduring relationships.”
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