32 — October 2026 — Property Management — Owners, Developers & Managers — M id A tlantic Real Estate Journal
www.marej.com
P roperty M anagement
Q&A | What owners should expect from a third-party management partner Accordia’s Christopher Hayes brings an ownership perspective to property management
F
or 20 years, Christopher Hayes has worked in commercial real estate,
integral part of the team that oversees the development, op- erations, and asset and property management of the firm’s vast portfolio across the East Coast. He joined Accordia in 2011 and previously served as the com- pany’s real estate portfolio as managing director. In this Q&A, Hayes dis- cusses third-party property management and what own- ers should expect from their management partner. Q: You’ve spent nearly 20 years in commercial real estate, much of it in prop- erty management. How has
while keeping the owner’s larger objectives in mind. Q: How would you de- scribe Accordia’s approach to third-party property management? CH: I believe in being hands- on. You need to know what’s happening at the property, stay close to the people involved and address issues before they be- come bigger problems. But being hands-on doesn’t just mean reacting to what happens. It also means look- ing ahead. What will the prop- erty need six months or a year from now? Are there expenses
we should be anticipating? Are there tenant concerns we can address early? The best management is proactive. Q: What types of proper- ties does Accordia have experience managing? CH: We have experience across a broad range of commer- cial real estate, including office, medical, retail and mixed-use properties. Today, our manage- ment portfolio includes proper- ties across Northern NJ, as well as industrial Sunbelt properties throughout North and South Carolina, including both shal- low-bay and mid-bay facilities. That range of experience is important because every property has different needs and objectives. We tailor our management strategy to the property and the owner’s goals rather than applying the same formula to every assignment. Q: What should owners ex- pect from a third-party prop- erty management partner? CH: First, communication and responsiveness. Owners should never have to wonder what’s happening at their prop- erties or whether something is being addressed. It all starts with a custom business plan for each individ- ual property, developed around ownership’s goals and expecta- tions. That plan establishes a clear approach to how the prop- erty will be managed and gives our team a roadmap to execute with an ownership mentality. Beyond that, they should expect their management team to bring experience and perspec- tive to the table. If we’re discuss- ing a budget, a vendor contract, a capital improvement or a tenant situation, our job isn’t simply to report what’s happen- ing. It’s to understand the issue, identify the options and give ownership the information they need to make a good decision. Q: Accordia is also an own- er, investor and developer. How does that influence the way you manage properties for clients? CH: We understand what it means to sit on the ownership side of the table because we do it ourselves. That naturally influ - ences the questions we ask and the way we look at a property. Our focus is on maximizing the value of the asset, control- ling costs, making smart capital improvements and supporting tenant retention. When we manage a third-party client, continued on page 38
that experience shaped your approach? Christopher Hayes: I start- ed on the brokerage side sup- porting industrial sales and leasing teams before moving into real estate management, so I’ve had the opportunity to see the business from several different perspectives. What you learn is that the decisions being made every day at a property don’t happen in isolation. They can affect ten- ants, operating costs and ulti- mately the performance of the asset. You have to understand what’s happening on the ground
with much of his career focused on the manage- ment and operation of commercial properties. He has been directly in-
Christopher Hayes
volved in the management of more than 4 million s/f across multiple asset classes. Today, as chief operating of- ficer of Accordia, Hayes is an
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