Any way you slice it, whether it be Chicago deep dish or thin crust, Stream Director of Office Property Management Brian Keaty is a true Chicagoan through and through. Growing up on the South Side, he’s the youngest of 12 kids, which might seem unusual to most, but not for his Irish-Catholic family and those he was surrounded by as a kid. The close-knit neighborhood of his youth was teeming with city workers, including his dad, who worked for the Park District most of his life. Brian’s been married to his college sweetheart for 27 years, who he met at Eastern Illinois University, and with whom he shares three kids. They settled down two miles away from his old neighborhood, and he still sees his childhood and high school friends regularly, many of whom have also stayed close to their old stomping grounds.
A path well-traveled
“My introduction into commercial real estate was somewhat inevitable,” Brian explained, with multiple brothers having worked on the engineering and management side of the business. So, when an engineering opportunity came along after college, he decided to follow in his brothers’ footsteps. “I just went for it—it seemed like the logical move at the time, and it was a role I grasped very quickly. There are so many facets to engineering that were exciting to me, and you learn something new every day.”
He continued to expand his knowledge, challenging himself to listen and learn as much as he could, working diligently to understand not only the ins and outs of the industry and his own job, but the roles of other team members as well. “I’ve always been someone who’s wanted a seat at the table, to listen and learn from the smartest people in the room, so that one day I could be part of those critical conversations.”
He learned early on that as an engineer, you’re the face of the on-site team. “You’re on the front line for the tenants, always on call, and the one who’s interfacing with them the most. You need to build those relationships and be the person to help when things may not go well. Customer service is so important in this business.”
Over the course of his career, Brian rose from engineer to assistant chief engineer, then chief engineer, then chief of multiple properties, including the John Hancock Center in Chicago.
“I think I became a chief at around 29 or 30. I constantly tried to outwork myself, to keep growing, and to be an asset for wherever I was working and whomever I was working for. I’ve never been afraid to make a decision, and down the line, when I was offered the opportunity to move over from engineering to the management side, I knew it was something I wanted to do.”
Transitioning over to Stream
Having officially joined the firm on September 1st, Brian and his team are already making their mark within the Stream Chicago region, with the recent awarding of the property management and leasing assignment for two prominent West Loop office properties: 151 N. Franklin, a 35-floor, 820,422 SF Class A office building, and 155 N. Wacker, a 46-floor, 1.15 MSF trophy office building. The addition of these two properties brings Stream Chicago’s leasing portfolio to 25 MSF and its management portfolio to 16 MSF, reflecting the firm’s continued growth in the market.
Having worked at both properties for the last five years at his prior company, Brian highlighted how the transition to Stream has been smooth, with solid communication from the beginning. “It’s been a good ramp-up. Change is not always the easiest, but the experience has been positive. From Stream Chicago leadership to the new accounting team and property management team members, along with many others we’ve collaborated with along the way, everyone has helped us get settled in during a very critical time of onboarding.”
With two different properties and teams, collaboration is important in ensuring that the product is going out as one. “We work well together and collaborate a ton. Since many of us already have experience working with each other, that’s a big win. We have new team members, like Lisa Metz, who was recently hired as a Vice President at 155 N. Wacker, and we knew right away that she would fit right in.”
Delivering solutions for clients
When COVID struck, Brian and his team at 151 N. Franklin and 155 N. Wacker devised a response plan, which was the first time ownership saw how two buildings could work as one.
“We did what we could to get people back, but some of that was out of our hands. This was a new ball game for us, where we had to pivot and adjust daily. We relied heavily on each other as a team in a difficult market.”
As of late, 155 N. Wacker, in particular, had a lot of vacancies, with 220,000 SF becoming vacant this year alone. But thankfully, space has been getting leased up, with the building now over 90% leased. “We continually work to meet ownership expectations and challenge ourselves to build programs and activities to improve and enhance the employee experience. Remote and hybrid makes it tough for sure, but we’ve worked hard to design activities that help bring people back to the office, and we hope that our efforts there have played a part in recent lease-up success.”
Emulating commitment to transparency & client-centric service
Brian emphasized that thinking like an owner is a big part of this. “We’re here to protect entities and ownership and ensure tenants want to office at our properties. Gaining new tenants and retaining current tenants is part of that, and we always have to ask ourselves: what do we need to do to ensure these buildings are successful? What we’re doing has major benefits and impacts on ownership, and we have to think about that as if we’re owners ourselves. I believe our team has been doing a great job of it daily.”
He acknowledges that COVID has played a game-changing role over the last four years. “We had more face-to-face interaction pre-COVID, and platforms like Teams and Zoom have altered our industry quite a bit. We want to ensure we’re providing exemplary service and meeting the expectations of our tenants. So, we’ve had to pivot a bit on what that looks like since each tenant is unique. Some folks prefer to meet once a month, while others prefer more often. It’s about understanding their needs, anticipating they may want something different over time, and being able to show them what that is.”
On the compelling & motivating factors of property management
“For me, it’s the challenge. You will be asked to do multiple different things in one day. There’s the financial aspect, where a lot of trust is put in our teams from ownership, the tenant relations aspect, and the technical aspect. You need to have the ability to build relationships with internal teams, vendors, contractors, and clients to gain their trust.”
“I’ve been lucky enough to wear a lot of hats over the years—I’ve managed people, worked for people. There are many challenges to it, but like anything, if you’re looking for something easy, this industry probably isn’t for you.”
And now for something completely different…
What would he be doing if he wasn’t in commercial real estate? “I think I’d be a good detective. Troubleshooting is a big part of engineering, and I think that’s something I’m pretty good at. But I’ve been very thankful for the career I’ve had. There’s great opportunity if you’re willing to take it, and for me, it’s been a fun journey.”
Interested in joining Stream’s Property Management team? Check out our job listings here.
Media Contact
Stream PressRelated Stream Expert
