Key takeaways
What property managers can take from Brad’s career
- Lead with integrity, curiosity, and ambition. Brad’s advice is to take on a little more career than you’re comfortable with when the chance comes.
- Never underestimate your people. Once you’ve given good people the tools they need, step back and let them run, and they will usually exceed your expectations.
- Asset management covers the full life cycle. Brad’s best definition comes from Abu Dhabi: identify the site, find its best use, build it, stabilize it, enhance it, and eventually exit.
- Match your time horizon to the owner. Value-add investors want shorter-term upgrades and leasing, while pension and family owners want steady cash flow over the long haul.
- Sustainability pays. Some of the Calgary buildings Brad’s team manages have operating costs at the low end of their competitive set because the owner invested in efficiency early.
About the guest
BM
Brad Merchant
Senior Vice President, Asset Management, Triovest, now part of Colliers
Brad leads asset management at Triovest, now part of Colliers. He moved from retail store management into commercial real estate with Cambridge Shopping Centres, spent about 12 years with Oxford Properties, and then six years in the UAE, including leading retail and mixed-use asset management at Aldar Properties in Abu Dhabi. He joined Triovest in Calgary in January 2020.
Episode summary
In this episode
Jared Sarbit talks with Brad Merchant, Senior Vice President of Asset Management at Triovest, which was recently acquired by Colliers. Brad started his career running department stores, moved into shopping centre management with Cambridge, and spent 12 years with Oxford Properties before six years working in Dubai and Abu Dhabi.
Brad shares what he learned leading asset management for about 10 million square feet of retail and mixed-use space at Aldar Properties, including the scale and ambition of projects in the UAE. He explains his approach to building teams, how he balances short-term results with long-term strategy, and what the Colliers acquisition means for Triovest’s clients and people.
He also gives his view on opportunities in office, retail, industrial, multi-family, self storage, and seniors housing, how ESG is shaping investment decisions, and what he looks for in a cleaning partner.
Chapters
- 0:00Episode preview
- 1:26Introducing Brad Merchant
- 1:46Who Triovest is
- 4:53From retail stores to commercial real estate
- 11:04Why Cambridge moved managers between markets
- 13:24Integrity, curiosity, and ambition
- 17:01Building teams that work well together
- 19:22Lessons from Dubai and Abu Dhabi
- 27:03Balancing short-term and long-term goals
- 29:09Triovest joins Colliers
- 33:01Where the opportunities are by asset class
- 37:24Office conversions in Calgary
- 38:50ESG and asset management decisions
- 44:47Trends shaping the future, including AI
- 47:07Advice for new property managers
- 49:35What he looks for in a cleaning partner
- 51:30The property he would love to manage
- 53:04Book recommendation: Playing to Win
Jump to a chapter (18)
- 0:00Episode preview
- 1:26Introducing Brad Merchant
- 1:46Who Triovest is
- 4:53From retail stores to commercial real estate
- 11:04Why Cambridge moved managers between markets
- 13:24Integrity, curiosity, and ambition
- 17:01Building teams that work well together
- 19:22Lessons from Dubai and Abu Dhabi
- 27:03Balancing short-term and long-term goals
- 29:09Triovest joins Colliers
- 33:01Where the opportunities are by asset class
- 37:24Office conversions in Calgary
- 38:50ESG and asset management decisions
- 44:47Trends shaping the future, including AI
- 47:07Advice for new property managers
- 49:35What he looks for in a cleaning partner
- 51:30The property he would love to manage
- 53:04Book recommendation: Playing to Win
From the conversation
Transcript excerpts
Take on a little more career than you’re comfortable with.
Brad MerchantPlay from 15:56
Relationships are built on trust. So, you know… nobody wants to deal with somebody where you have to check and see if you’ve still got your wallet when you’re done the conversation.
Brad MerchantPlay from 16:44
Start focusing on that network today because again it’s a relationship business.
Brad MerchantPlay from 48:47
Looking for a cleaning partner you can rely on?
We’ll walk your building with you and send a written cleaning scope and price. Free, no obligation.
Read the conversation
Full episode transcript
Show transcript
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FAQ
Questions about this episode
What is Triovest?
Triovest is a Canadian commercial real estate firm that Brad Merchant describes as vertically integrated, managing the full investment life cycle from acquisition and development to asset management, property management, leasing, and accounting. Colliers acquired Triovest in 2025.
What does full life cycle asset management mean?
Brad describes it as cradle to grave: identify a site, determine its highest and best use, build it, stabilize it, enhance it, and eventually exit. He saw this model most clearly while working at Aldar Properties in Abu Dhabi.
What does Brad Merchant look for in a cleaning partner?
He views cleaning as a partnership. He looks for consistency, responsiveness, accessible points of contact, and integrity, so his team knows who to call and can rely on them when things go wrong.
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