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ARV GUPTA

SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT
CADILLAC FAIRVIEW

Arv Gupta is Senior Vice President of National Operations at Cadillac Fairview
(CF), one of the largest owners, operators and developers of best-in-class
office, retail and mixed-use properties in North America. The real estate port-
folio also includes investments in retail, mixed-use and industrial real estate in
Brazil, Colombia and Mexico. The Canadian portfolio includes over 38 million
square feet of leasable space at 67 properties, including landmark develop-
ments, such as Toronto-Dominion Centre, CF Toronto Eaton Centre, CF Pacific
Centre, CF Chinook Centre, Tour Deloitte and CF Carrefour Laval.

Tell us a little about your role within your organization.

In this role, as a landlord and operator, I’m responsible for delivering to our cli-
ents’ expectations in the most effective and efficient manner possible. While
each of our properties is responsible for this on a daily basis, it is challenging
for them to be able to leverage the scale of our entire portfolio. To enhance
operational efficiency, I lead a Shared Services group that supports our prop-
erties by providing ‘centers of expertise’ and ‘centers of scale’. This means
that properties can rely on experts in areas such as Energy Management,
Cyber Security, and Sustainability, among others. In addition, by centralizing
select functions such as the Client Contact Centre and Procurement and
Vendor Management functions, we can further leverage our national scale to
bolster efficiency opportunities.

While the focus of Shared Services is more on day to day efficiencies, I also
lead a Business Transformation team that is more forward-looking in trying
to understand evolving client expectations, and leading practices to deliver
them in the most effective and efficient manner. This team has a fairly broad
mandate to identify the most relevant technology and process improvement
opportunities and implement them consistently across all our properties.

What were the major technology projects you started or completed
last year?

Our major initiatives are generally focused on business process changes
that drive an enhanced client experience, or improved cost efficiency. The
common thread in our current initiatives has been to leverage technology to
access data, which is then used to drive these renewed business processes.

In 2017, we launched a centralized National Service Centre (NSC) to support
an improved client experience. Our retail and office clients connect with our
NSC team, by phone or online, when they have any issues or concerns. If
required, the NSC will electronically dispatch technicians or other personnel
to address the client’s issue. The clients can also follow the progress of their
service request through an online portal. By following the service request from
the time that the client calls us, through to the time the work order is closed,
we can ensure that all parties through the process can be held accountable to
PHOTO COURTESY OF CADILLAC FAIRVIEW appropriate service levels. We can also set red flags or alerts when a service
level is breached to ensure appropriate escalation and resolution. Managing

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