CBRE and Brookfield Properties have expanded their Brookfield Properties Operated by CBRE strategic partnership from the United States into Canada.

The two global real estate businesses will deliver the property management services – including building operations, property accounting and procurement services – across the vast majority of Brookfield’s Canadian office portfolio in Toronto and Calgary.

Brookfield's website lists 19 office properties in its Canadian portfolio, 12 in Toronto and seven in Calgary.

The partnership in Canada marks the first expansion of CBRE’s new CBRE Investor Portfolio Management offering outside the U.S. This group caters to property owners seeking property management services through: improved operational consistency; cost-effectiveness; and portfolio-level approaches to sustainability, data collection and management, accounting, customer experience, lease administration and building technology.

“This partnership will see CBRE leverage the power of scale to create efficiencies and optimize property performance, staking our claim to industry leadership in complex property management,” CBRE Canada president and chief executive officer Jon Ramscar said in a media release. 

“Our innovative partnership approach will define CBRE's property management proposition in Canada, set industry standards and unlock future opportunities for exceptional office property management at the portfolio level.”

Early U.S. results have been positive

The partnership announced on Jan. 17 that Brookfield will be the cornerstone client of CBRE’s Investor Portfolio Management business, which now oversees the Toronto-headquartered company’s 65-million-square-foot office portfolio across the U.S.

“The strategic partnership we launched with CBRE in the U.S. in January, designed to maintain our premier tenant experience while generating operational efficiencies and enabling us to focus on asset management and strategy, has been very successful,” Bobby Swennes, president of Brookfield’s North American office business, said in the release. 

“We are confident expanding the partnership to our Canadian office operations will yield similar benefits for our Canadian tenants, our investors and our overall business goals.”

Craig Hudleston, global chief operating officer and head of investor portfolio management, oversees CBRE’s Investor Portfolio Management business unit. 

Lisa Bevacqua, senior managing director of Investor Portfolio Management, serves as the dedicated account lead for the Brookfield Properties Operated by CBRE North American portfolio. 

The Brookfield Properties Operated by CBRE leadership team will work closely with Molly Westbrook, who provides executive oversight for property management in Canada.

Brookfield’s office portfolio

Brookfield’s global office portfolio includes more than 340 properties encompassing over 150 million square feet. 

Approximately 15 million square feet of that is in Canada and includes: 2 Bloor East, 2 Queen East, 9 Temperance Street, Brookfield Place - 22 Front Street, Brookfield Place - Bay Wellington Tower, Brookfield Place - Heritage Building, Exchange Tower, First Canadian Place, Northbridge Place, Scotiabank North Tower - Bay Adelaide Centre, Bay Adelaide Centre East Tower and Bay Adelaide Centre West Tower in Toronto; and Brookfield Place Calgary, Fifth Avenue Place, Royal Bank Building, Suncor Energy Centre, Bankers Court, Bankers Hall East and Bankers Hall West in Calgary.

CBRE is the world’s largest commercial real estate services and investment firm based on 2023 revenue. It has more than 130,000 employees serving clients in more than 100 countries. CBRE employs 2,200 people in 22 locations from coast to coast in Canada.