Greenfield Regency

Four years running the daily operations of a serviced-apartment development in Tampoi.

Development

Greenfield Regency — a serviced-apartment development in Tampoi, Johor Bahru

Role

Building Manager, CBRE WTW Property Management Services

Period

2018 – 2022

Greenfield Regency was one of three developments I managed for CBRE WTW, alongside Southkey Mosaic and The Lakefront Southkey. This is the side of property management that never appears as a project: the building simply has to work, every day, for the people living in it.

The daily work

Coordinating maintenance and following up service providers. Handling the technical and non-technical issues that come with a live building — the ones involving residents, contractors, management and stakeholders at the same time. Preparing operational reports and keeping active communication with the JMB, the MC, the developer and my superiors.

Technicians working on a dismantled pump component on the pavement outside an electrical switch room — A pump stripped down outside the switch room. Most plant faults are settled standing over the part with the contractor, not in an email about it.

The vehicle entry barrier at a residential development, with resident signage and a penalty notice on the boom — The vehicle entrance. Access control, the signage on it and the charge for breaking the boom are all part of running a building people live in.

Inspecting a lifted floor tile in an empty function hall — A lifted tile in the function hall, recorded on inspection. Defects in common areas get logged and chased until somebody has actually fixed them.

Why the routine matters

Most of what keeps a building in good condition is small and repetitive — a certificate checked before it expires, a notice board kept current, a contractor chased until the job is actually finished. Done consistently it is the difference between a development that holds its condition and one that slowly loses it.

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