Commercial Property Management:
New roles, New opportunities

Commer­cial prop­er­ty trans­for­ma­tion is being shaped by a weak econ­o­my, chang­ing work models, ESG regu­la­tions and the grow­ing use of AI. For compa­nies in the commer­cial real estate sector, these chal­lenges also open up oppor­tu­ni­ties to rethink busi­ness models, lead­er­ship roles and service portfolios.

How can commer­cial prop­er­ty compa­nies address the chal­lenges posed by a weak econ­o­my, the trans­for­ma­tion of the world of work and ESG regulations? 

A study by Biele­feld Univer­si­ty of Applied Sciences and the Euro­pean Train­ing Centre for the Hous­ing and Real Estate Indus­try (EBZ)¹  provides valu­able guid­ance. The focus is on chang­ing role models for both employ­ees and managers. In Valdivia Lead­er­ship Impulse, we present the key find­ings of the study – along­side a real-world exam­ple: much like compa­ny-owned flats, the trend towards commer­cial court­yards demon­strates how histor­i­cal models are being revi­talised through inno­v­a­tive thinking.

Chal­lenges and oppor­tu­ni­ties – drivers of transformation 

Compa­nies in the commer­cial prop­er­ty sector are current­ly facing a series of profound changes:

• Digi­tal­i­sa­tion and ESG regu­la­tions are exert­ing signif­i­cant pres­sure to inno­vate, affect­ing both new builds and exist­ing stock.
• Changes in the world of work, retail and start-ups are creat­ing new needs and oppor­tu­ni­ties, but also uncer­tain­ties for plan­ning and investment.
• The ongo­ing econom­ic down­turn and the gener­al­ly gloomy econom­ic climate are not only affect­ing the sector itself. Unlike in the resi­den­tial prop­er­ty sector, they are also impact­ing tenants who oper­ate as prof­it-driven businesses.

On a posi­tive note, the EBZ study high­lights that factors such as glob­al­i­sa­tion, the new work culture and the use of AI also offer poten­tial for value creation and increased efficiency.

More data, more service – busi­ness models for the future

To iden­ti­fy viable start­ing points, the study first exam­ines the changes emerg­ing in the busi­ness models of the compa­nies surveyed. Core elements such as in , invest­ment, construc­tion, broker­age, support and manage­ment remain in place. Howev­er, the focus is shift­ing more strong­ly towards a future-orient­ed approach:

• Digi­tal­i­sa­tion, data-driven approach­es and AI will form the basis for commer­cial prop­er­ty compa­nies’ oper­a­tions in the future.
• Invest­ments in both new builds and the refur­bish­ment of exist­ing prop­er­ties are focused on multi­func­tion­al, flex­i­ble-use, digi­talised and ESG-compli­ant properties.
• Compa­nies are seek­ing a broad­er revenue base by adapt­ing their asset struc­ture and expand­ing into addi­tion­al busi­ness areas such as effi­cient prop­er­ty manage­ment and supple­men­tary services.

Linked to the third point is a strength­en­ing of customer focus and an expan­sion of advi­so­ry services for investors and tenants.

Substi­tu­tion or expan­sion – roles are shifting

In the main section of the study, the authors analyse which roles or tasks

1. can be replaced by digi­tal­i­sa­tion and, in partic­u­lar, AI,
2. indi­cate a need for development,
3. should be expand­ed and modi­fied on the exist­ing basis,
4. or will emerge or become neces­sary as a result of the transformation.

Roles in Group A with poten­tial for substi­tu­tion are gener­al­ly down­stream analyt­i­cal or admin­is­tra­tive tasks, such as market analy­ses and overviews or the prepa­ra­tion of compa­ny data for report­ing. Employ­ees work­ing in these areas will have their work­load reduced and can be trained and deployed for new tasks, such as those high­light­ed in Groups C and D.

Tasks in Group C are primar­i­ly those for which employ­ees should acquire addi­tion­al skills. These include strate­gic think­ing, customer focus, consult­ing skills, data liter­a­cy, ESG trans­for­ma­tion, project manage­ment, and busi­ness and econom­ics. Managers are there­fore encour­aged to foster their employ­ees’ growth poten­tial and deploy them in such a way that they them­selves can dele­gate respon­si­bil­i­ty and focus on high­er-level tasks.

Lead­er­ship with a new horizon

Tradi­tion­al lead­er­ship roles such as corpo­rate manage­ment, invest­ment, asset manage­ment, finance, legal, HR and public rela­tions are initial­ly found in Group B. Although the major­i­ty of these roles will remain, the study partic­i­pants believe they will under­go signif­i­cant change. Digi­tal­i­sa­tion is having a direct impact on managers – for exam­ple, in the form of the abil­i­ty to apply AI or to use and eval­u­ate data. In addi­tion, there is a grow­ing need for poly­math­ic lead­er­ship, i.e. a broad, acad­e­m­ic skill set combined with inter­na­tion­al, cross-sector expe­ri­ence and an informed approach to the culture of a hybrid, digi­talised work­ing world.

New roles in management

Managers and employ­ees alike face partic­u­lar chal­lenges in the future-orient­ed roles of Group D. These involve – in some cases funda­men­tal­ly – new tasks relat­ing to plan­ning, facil­i­ta­tion and imple­men­ta­tion. The EBZ study cites a number of specif­ic exam­ples which, depend­ing on the nature of the busi­ness, may also suggest new posi­tions at manage­ment level:

• Devel­op­ment and market­ing of a service port­fo­lio, over­seen, for exam­ple, by a Chief Inno­va­tion Offi­cer (CINO)² ,
• joint devel­op­ment of a digi­tal­i­sa­tion foun­da­tion through data science, ERP, digi­tal­i­sa­tion and AI manage­ment under the lead­er­ship of a Chief AI & Data Offi­cer (CAIDO)² ,
• an ESG manage­ment func­tion that brings togeth­er ESG exper­tise, imple­men­ta­tion and reporting,
• prop­er­ty-relat­ed strat­e­gy consul­tan­cy with an asset focus, which supports other compa­nies in devel­op­ing their own prop­er­ty strat­e­gy, find­ing suit­able prop­er­ties and deriv­ing services.

With this trans­for­ma­tive devel­op­ment, the impor­tance and respon­si­bil­i­ties of human resources manage­ment are also increas­ing. More demand­ing recruit­ment and the high demand for skills devel­op­ment mean that roles such as a Chief People and Culture Offi­cer (CPCO) or Chief Team Trans­for­ma­tion Offi­cer (CTTO) will “play key roles in organ­i­sa­tion­al devel­op­ment in the future”.

The estate agent as a bridge-builder

An exam­ple in AIZ Immo­bilien­magazin³illus­trates what inno­v­a­tive busi­ness devel­op­ment for commer­cial prop­er­ty compa­nies can look like in prac­tice: commer­cial court­yards are increas­ing­ly evolv­ing “from niche prop­er­ties to stable invest­ments”. They “combine urban prox­im­i­ty, small-scale use and ESG-compli­ant build­ing concepts”. This form of prop­er­ty, which has exist­ed in prin­ci­ple since the Middle Ages, is enjoy­ing grow­ing demand.

The author describes the new role of the estate agent in this devel­op­ment as that of a “bridge-builder between owners and devel­op­ers”. This implies a new type of broker­age: “less tradi­tion­al prop­er­ty search, more curat­ed advice. Crucial factors are needs analy­ses, clus­ter knowl­edge and tech­ni­cal exper­tise.” In doing so, he accu­rate­ly describes the conclu­sions of the EBZ study: a forward-look­ing lead­er­ship role devel­ops new ideas and capa­bil­i­ties with­in the compa­ny and scales them up into an inno­v­a­tive service offering.

Conclu­sion

Today, compa­nies in the commer­cial prop­er­ty sector see oppor­tu­ni­ties for trans­for­ma­tion amidst many chal­lenges, such as digi­tal­i­sa­tion or a chang­ing work culture – provid­ed they under­stand that a reassess­ment of their tasks and process­es, right down to their busi­ness model, is neces­sary. Those who think ‘outside the box’ can harness the momen­tum of change as a driver of success through addi­tion­al exper­tise and inno­v­a­tive services. Replac­ing tasks that can be auto­mat­ed frees up capac­i­ty for this; new roles in corpo­rate manage­ment facil­i­tate the trans­for­ma­tion by offer­ing cross-func­tion­al and cross-silo perspectives.

Sources

1. Dr Sascha Armu­tat, Rüdi­ger Grebe, “Strate­gies, Oper­at­ing Models and Work­forces of Commer­cial Real Estate Compa­nies in Tran­si­tion – Guide­lines for Future-Orient­ed Work­force Struc­tures”, Biele­feld Univer­si­ty of Applied Sciences / EBZ – Euro­pean Train­ing Centre for the Hous­ing and Real Estate Indus­try, March 2025
2. “Towards the C‑Suite 2035”, Robert Half Board Room Navi­ga­tor, 2025
3. Jakob Peters, “Commer­cial estates as a future market for broker­age”, AIZ – The Prop­er­ty Maga­zine, Novem­ber 2025

(Image source: istockphotos.com)