Why Adgar Canada Believes People Make The Difference In A Successful Office Property

After more than 35 years in commercial real estate and the past 19 as CEO of Adgar Canada, Chris Tambakis is challenging a long-accepted industry cliche.

“I happen to think that real estate isn't location, location, location,” he said. “I think real estate is location, capital and people.”

With 27 office properties totaling 3M SF in the Adgar Canada portfolio, Tambakis has had plenty of opportunities to put his idea into practice.

“Our buildings are in great locations that are amenity-rich, central business areas, and we invest capital to maintain and keep them current, both at the back of house as well as the front,” he said. “Equally important, we have great people operating them and providing great service to our tenants. That's the intrinsic value we provide.”

Adgar Canada specializes in “Class-A-minus and Class-B-plus” buildings with tenants ranging from global businesses to local medical practices, Tambakis said.

Bisnow spoke with him about his company’s niche in the Canadian office market and what he believes goes into operating a successful office building.

Bisnow: Class AAA buildings seem to get the lion’s share of attention. What is the appeal of well-run office properties that are not labeled “trophy?”

Tambakis: There is this notion that trophy properties are the only office properties that people are flocking to, and we know that’s not true. There is an office environment for all appetites in the marketplace, and for each person, that means a different thing. One person's “B” is another person's “A.”

Adgar Canada's head office is located in a nine-story, 100K SF building, with three neighboring AAA office towers together totaling about 1.8M SF. So, we are in the same great Toronto location with the same amenities and access to transportation as those buildings, but without the AAA or AA price tag.

A tenant could lease a full floor in one of our buildings, compared to a quarter of a floor in a 45-story trophy building. They also have a different relationship with the ownership than you might in one of the large towers, which can sometimes be fairly anonymous. I make every effort to get to know all of our tenants and view it as a compliment if they feel comfortable reaching out to me directly.

In the end, when you ask people what they really want from their building, they want it to operate efficiently and provide a good physical environment in a location with access to good amenities, services and transit.

Bisnow: You’ve mentioned location and capital, but where do people fit into your formulation?

Tambakis: You could have the most technologically advanced building, but if your people aren't knowledgeable or don't know how to interact with your customers, then you have a problem. 

I’ll give you an example from another industry. When I go to a restaurant, what makes or breaks my experience is not the food or atmosphere. I take it for granted that the place will look good, be clean and the chef knows what they’re doing. It’s interaction with the people in the room — whether they’re a waiter or waitress, maître d' or bartender, they make the experience special. 

I would say the same is true for our buildings. When someone walks in the door, one of the first people they may meet is a member of the building team who greets them and asks how they are. They likely know their name and take pride in their job and the interactions they have.

Our buildings are not large, monolithic structures where people can sometimes be a little more faceless. I know the cleaning staff, and I would suggest that most of the tenants know them, too, because they see them every day, like they see the day porter every day. With larger buildings, you lose some of that community. 

Bisnow: It sounds like a sense of community is important to you. How does Adgar build it? 

Tambakis: In addition to our daily approach to our customers, we provide “experience amenities,” such as quarterly social events. These can be a barbecue, ice cream day or something tied to a holiday or season. Most importantly, we attend them and participate.

We have beehives on many of our buildings’ roofs in partnership with local beekeepers. We harvest the honey and share the products with tenants, employees and local food banks. We also host pop-up events as well as wellness programs.  

Our employees are excellent at running our buildings, and they take pride in doing what they do and getting positive feedback from our tenants. That’s why I think that while AI will be an enabler in our industry, at the end of the day, the human touch is going to become even more important.

I'm often asked by young people what they can do to be the best employee. They’ll often say, “Work fast, work hard and show up on time.” That's all great, but that's just table stakes. It is the attitude you bring to the environment that makes the difference.

Bisnow: Does this attitude contribute to the value you said Adgar provides to tenants? 

Tambakis: Absolutely. If you can deliver the best of you every single day you come to the office, then you are making a difference, not only for yourself but more importantly, for the person who sits next to you or stands next to you in the elevator.

Make it your habit to make that person’s day better, and it will pay dividends to you, your colleagues, your clients and, by definition, the company.

This article was produced in collaboration between Adgar Canada and Studio B. Bisnow news staff was not involved in the production of this content.

Studio B is Bisnow’s in-house content and design studio. To learn more about how Studio B can help your team, reach out to studio@bisnow.com.