Suntide Commercial Realty has been offering building maintenance services to property management clients for over 30 years. Just this last winter we tripled the size of the department in efforts to provide our services to not only our management clients, but also to other commercial real estate investors and managers in the greater Twin Cities area. From general building maintenance repairs to equipment configuration, all the way to tenant remodel projects, our maintenance team is skilled in a variety of aspects and ready to help investors with all of their property maintenance, repair, and renovation needs.
Project Manager for Capital Improvement Projects
Mitch Robertson, Suntide’s Director of Property Management, was one of the people who first saw the need to expand Suntide’s services. “Our property managers wear a lot of different hats. Often they have to oversee large construction or maintenance projects, such as roof replacements, building a trash enclosure, parking lot overlays, or replacing a sidewalk. The manager then becomes a bit of a contractor, being tasked with creating a scope of work, obtaining multiple bids, negotiating costs, ensuring work is completed to scope and that the job is done on time. All of that needs to be done while still performing their regular day to day property management services.”
Over the last year or so these types of assignments have increased in number and size for Suntide, providing for a bit of a challenge to get it all done within a day’s work for the manager. Enter the need for a Project Manager.
Barb Schuba, CFO/COO and principal of Suntide agrees. “We made the decision to hire a Project Manager so that they could oversee capital improvement projects for our property management clients. Someone who could manage large renovations and replacements, provide a General Contractor’s point of view, and work alongside the property managers as a team, providing a higher level of service to our clients.”
That decision led to the recruitment of Charlie Johnson, Suntide’s Project Manager and Maintenance Supervisor, to come on board. Charlie was a construction manager in Alaska, who moved to Minnesota in the winter of 2024. Charlie was eager to take on the challenge of overseeing project management and maintenance for the Twin CIties market.
Roving Technicians
Suntide Commercial Realty is a full service commercial real estate firm, providing property management, maintenance, accounting, construction, interior design, and brokerage services
Perhaps one of our most important services we provide is our maintenance services. All buildings inevitably need repairs from time to time, and regular scheduled maintenance to keep things running smoothly. Projects are never ending, including changing out light bulbs, replacing fixtures, diagnosing plumbing, adjusting temperatures in tenant suites, and performing regular scheduled maintenance tasks such as HVAC filter replacements or boiler checks.
Suntide’s maintenance technicians are dispersed to various properties around the Twin Cities.
Since Charlie was already overseeing capital improvement jobs, it made sense to also have him supervise the maintenance team. Charlie oversees Suntide’s maintenance techs and disperses them to various properties around the Twin Cities to complete work orders as needed. The goal is to be as efficient as possible by utilizing in-house staff who are familiar with the buildings and Suntide’s processes, avoiding the use of an outside vendor as much as possible.
Available for Short-Term Maintenance Projects
“What we discovered,” says Charlie, “is that construction contractors don’t typically like to take on smaller jobs, jobs that maybe might only take a few days to complete. These rapid turn projects, as I call them, usually have a smaller profit margin so large contractors tend to turn them down. But Suntide isn’t afraid of those small jobs. We see the need, and we want to fill it.”
Everyone on the Suntide maintenance team is a professional with years of experience under their belt. What makes this team unique is that this group is nimble. These teams can be dispatched quickly for all types of maintenance and renovation projects, even those that may take several days to complete.
Teams can be dispatched for all types of maintenance and renovation projects, even those that may take several days to complete.
High Demand for Construction
Construction is in high demand right now, and the need for a special team arose from landlords having difficulty finding a construction crew quickly, especially on a short-term basis.
An example of how Suntide’s special projects team may be used is quick tenant turns. “We all know that time kills deals,” says Barb. “One thing we’ve noticed lately is that when a tenant is ready to sign a lease, they want to take possession of the space quickly. If a space needs to be demised in order to make this happen, many steps need to be considered.” In an example such as this, there are several factors to consider, such as separately metering utilities, HVAC distribution, even sound proofing walls. Proper oversight of the job helps to ensure that all trades and team members are working together to complete the job according to the scope of work, in a timely manner, and with a result that will work for all parties for years to come.
“The fact that we can create a scope of work, provide a competitive bid, complete the project in a timely manner, and deliver the space in a short amount of time is a cost savings for owners,” says Charlie. “There are so many of these mid-sized projects, such as tenant turnover jobs, upgrading cabinetry, renovating a bathroom for ADA compliancy, upgrading a break room or kitchen, etc. You don’t need a full construction team for those types of jobs. You just need a small team that can come in for a few hours or days and get the job done. That’s where we come in.”
For more information on Suntide’s property management or maintenance team, contact Mitch Robertson at 651-603-0321.