EMERALD + TO LEAD IN PROPERTY MANAGEMENT

• 15 April 2016
• Property Focus
• 1661 Views

Established in 2016 after six months of trial operations, Emerald+ is aiming to distinguish itself by being the first local real estate agency specialising in professional property and facilities management services.

A partner of the Singapore-based UEMS Facilities Management Group, Emerald+ prides itself on excellent customer services for property management, modern office spaces, meeting rooms, conference room rental, and co-working spaces.

Currently managing numerous commercial buildings in Phnom Penh, including part of the Phnom Penh International University (PPIU) building where its office is located, the agency claims to control a large proportion of the office rental market as well as dealing with condo and land market brokerage services.

Chea Sophalla, the company’s founder and CEO said her 15 years of work experience with telecom infrastructure installation on buildings opened her eyes to the business potential for demand for buildings.

“While there are many asset management companies in Thailand, Singapore, and Hong Kong, there are very few in Cambodia,” she said. “In the future, this could be a problem when more buildings will be erected.”

In its effort to dominate the market, Emerald’s market strategy is based around demonstrating to customers that it is an integrated real estate company with skilled agents who have overseas training and is quality-oriented company, Sophalla told local media.

According to data from the Ministry of Land Management, Urban Planning and Construction, by the end of 2015, 685 buildings of between 5 and 55 floors would have been erected, which are a natural target for property management companies. In 2015 alone, 55 condominium buildings were constructed with a total of 13,423 units.

Simon Griffiths of the global real estate agency CBRE Cambodia, which also specialises in property management, sees the nation’s property management services as being self-regulated since there is no strong regulation combined with a lack of training, experience and knowledge in the industry. This in turn impacts both developers and property management.

“Hopefully, market forces will continue to raise standards and quality in important matters such as fire prevention and health and safety,” he told the Phnom Penh Post in 2014. “Ideally, developers will increasingly view property management as a way to extend competitive advantage to buildings, and not just a way to make short-term profit”.

• Business and Market