Property PR: 20 topics for commercial real estate

A list of newsworthy milestones to share with your A/E/C industry stakeholders and media.

Due to the commercial purpose of real estate development projects, their PR activities tend to be facilitated mostly through B2B channels, where they are directed to both internal and external stakeholders. With office space the internal audience includes tenant firms and their office managers. In terms of retail and hospitality, the internal audience is store tenants and customers. The external audiences differ very much depending on the scope of development, typically including prospective tenants, potential investors, municipal authorities, local residents, the media and broader stakeholder interests.

It is fairly obvious to outline the general communication objectives for a real estate asset, these are: property image building, attracting potential tenants, maintaining current tenants and positioning the building’s value on the market.

Therefore, the communication pretexts most often witnessed in commercial real estate media are usually related to milestones experienced in a typical property investment life-cycle.

Before construction

1. Planning/zoning and environmental issues
2. Architecture office selection and design renderings
3. Building permits obtained
4. General constructor firm selected
5. Exclusive real estate leasing agent selected
6. First anchor tenants and lease agreements signed

Construction

1. Cornerstone ceremony, beginning of construction
2. Mid-construction brief including project’s interesting technical details
3. New tenants attracted and agreements signed
4. Sustainable interim certification (BREEAM, LEED)
5. Topping out ceremony
6. Investments around the development (infrastructure, roads)

Completed

1. Grand opening ceremony
2. Building/design/developer awards and nominations
3. New tenants and building’s occupancy rate
4. Refurbishments and recommercialization process
5. Impact on neighbouring urban space improvement
6. Potential property sale briefings
7. Due dilligence process with new investor
8. Successful sale of the property

Fornebu district in Oslo, Norway

The topics listed above refer only to most common practice in property PR communication. In order create a more comprehensive list, it would be necessary to take into account more information about a specified project, the scope of development and its context. One would also need to consider its detailed conditions and profile to address its particular impact on the market as well as surrounding landscape. Finally, a carefully thought-through plan for crisis and issues management is a vital step in a well prepared PR strategy for commercial real estate asset.

Wojtek Gurak is an Alumni of MSc International Public Relations at the Manchester Metropolitan University and PR & Communication at Sheffield Hallam University supporting architecture publicity and commercial property clients while working in Advanced PR. A tireless traveller whenever possible, he journeys in architecture, exploring contemporary buildings and urban landscapes.