Since the appointment of a new executive director in August 2016, Prosper Portland has restructured its real estate department and hired three key staff members with the skills and experience required to manage the real estate portfolio to achieve its strategic objectives. In support of the transition toward a portfolio-based approach, Prosper Portland has taken numerous steps to create the infrastructure necessary to manage assets in a manner that is consistent with its strategic, financial and equity goals.

In the last twelve months, the real estate team took on the following steps to evaluate and implement effective asset management infrastructure:

1. 1. In early 2017, staff evaluated the software used to perform property management activities and determined the need for new software. They engaged in market research throughout the spring, solicited a new software vendor through a competitive Request for Proposal (RFP) process in June, and signed a contract with Yardi Systems at the end of October. Full implementation of Yardi Voyager 7S with the Advanced Budgeting and Forecasting module (Yardi) is projected by the end of the fiscal year. The new software will allow staff to perform higher-level analyses, automate functions to reduce user error, increase efficiency, and generate customized reports for leadership, all of which will result in better decision making and fiscal stewardship.
   2. Staff undertook a wholesale review of the agency’s real estate policies and procedures, including real property management, acquisition, disposition, and valuation, to ensure that they reflect not only the strategic, equity and financial sustainability plans but also that they represent acceptable market and community standards. Staff will present revised policies and procedures to the Board of Commissioners for approval in 2018. Once approved, revised policies will be the basis on which existing and future assets will be formally evaluated.
   3. Staff established a portfolio target return working with the Financial Sustainability Committee (FSC) in Fiscal Year 2016/2017. This return has been refined over the past year based on feedback from individual FSC members and, more recently, the new Development and Investment Department director and managers. With the implementation of Yardi, the portfolio return will be tracked and reported to Prosper Portland leadership and the Board on a regular basis.
   4. Staff has also identified process improvement opportunities with respect to budgeting and forecasting and has been working with the accounting department to redesign the process for real estate budget tracking and property management. The result will be practices which align with market standards, more detailed accounting and clearly defined metrics against which staff can assess performance.

By the end of Fiscal Year 2017/18, the above evaluation and procedure improvements will be implemented through individual property plans. Each property plan will act as a roadmap for that property and will outline basic data (asset class, year acquired, square footage, etc.), set its strategic purpose (as dictated by URA action plan, strategic plan, etc.), and document financial return expectations, capital budgeting priorities and leasing strategy.