PHOENIX, AZ – As part of its mission to connect professionals from diverse practices, backgrounds and expertise, NAIOP expands its reach in commercial real estate.
Known primarily as the industry group for office and industrial professionals, NAIOP is strengthening its brand by including other property types such as retail, multi-family, mixed-use and medical.
NAIOP Arizona recently sponsored a gathering of key local stakeholders to discuss the rebranding effort and the inclusion of other sectors, some of which have their own industry group.
“There is definitely a growing trend towards interdependence between product types and getting all of the disciplines collaborating will help improve design and functionality of commercial real estate in the future,” said Ed Beeh, Executive Vice President and Market Leader for SRS Real Estate Partners. “I believe it’s a good idea that NAIOP is expanding its reach into these other disciplines.”
Benefits could be the possibility of NAIOP Arizona expanding its awards program (Best of NAIOP) to include retail categories and adding a more robust educational dimension to meet retailer networking needs.
“The importance of the retail sector can be measured by its re-emergence after the Great Recession, focusing on the new ‘urbanism’ of retail, infill development and adaptive reuse strategies,” said Rick Hearn, Vice President of Leasing at Vestar. “This gives NAIOP the opportunity to now become more encompassing to all commercial real estate disciplines.”
Tim Lawless, President of NAIOP Arizona, said the chapter is pleased to now represent a broader swath of the commercial real estate industry.
“We will do our best to expand our programming and public policy advocacy to meet their needs," Lawless said.