BOMA Conference in Boston - Final Day Recap

Articles provided by BOMA International

Watch our Final Day and TOBY Awards Recap Video

State of the Industry: How to Draw People Back to the Office
Boom. Everything’s different—but everything can be better. Henry Chamberlain, president and COO of BOMA International, shared this optimistic message at the Saturday General Session of the 2021 BOMA International Conference & Expo. He noted that, despite the challenges of the past 18 months, one thing property professionals do better than anyone else is create value.

“This is an inflection point,” Chamberlain said. “We are going to be making lots of different changes. We’re going to be looking at space, we’re going to be looking at technology, we’re going to be looking at lifestyle and how we create those experiences. This is a time for us to learn from each other and get out of our comfort zones.”

Experiences are the key to bringing people back to commercial buildings, Chamberlain explained. People are capable of working from anywhere, but they’ll choose to come back to the office if it offers something they can’t get anywhere else. Studies show that around 30-40% of people are hoping to go back to the office full-time, perhaps working from home one day a week, while about a third will work from home two to three days a week and the remaining 10% will work remotely just about full-time.

“This underscores that you have to be competitive and come up with something that’s a little different to attract folks,” Chamberlain said. “Creating that flexibility, that environment, that experience is what everybody’s going to need to concentrate on.”

The office serves a special purpose, Chamberlain continued. It makes teaming and collaboration easier. It facilitates impromptu conversations and brainstorming. These things can’t easily be replicated at home. People are ready to go back to the office, and thinking creatively about how to draw them back can help them make that leap and return to the office at least a few days a week. Bringing some of the comforts of home into the office can help, Chamberlain said. This could include strategies like:

• Creating a “third place” in the building. People are drawn to “third places” (that is, not the office or home) like local coffee shops so they can work alone with other people around. You can create these third places in your own building with coffee bars and other social amenities.
• Bringing the outdoors in. Biophilic design has been big for a while now, and this mega-trend is here to stay. “We really want a healthier lifestyle,” Chamberlain said. “Think about active design as well. Open up those stairwells.
• Implementing technology creatively. Make sure you have enough bandwidth to support the new technologies you’re implementing, Chamberlain urged. Think about incorporating mobile apps and wearable tech into the way you manage your building, from app-based work orders to augmented and virtual reality tours of spaces. Robots are another tech service you can offer to monitor air quality, security, cleaning and more; they also can create a unique impression.
  

Property professionals are set to crush these new challenges, Chamberlain said: “We do create incredible value. The marketplace is recovering. Jobs are being created. The real estate industry’s going to do great things. “The fact is, our future is incredibly bright, and some really good things are coming down the pike,” Chamberlain said. “I look forward to working with all of you on that.”

Industry Executives Discuss What Lies Ahead for Commercial Real Estate
The Saturday General Session at BOMA 2021 closed with an insightful panel discussion moderated by David Franklin, manager of commercial presales at Yardi, the sponsor of the session. Panelists included Adam Portnoy, president and CEO of The RMR Group; Melanie Colbert, principal of operations at LBA Realty; and Andrew Cooke, senior vice president of operations for the Eastern region at Hines.

Guided by Franklin’s wide-ranging questions, these industry executives discussed the trends they’re seeing firsthand as a result of the pandemic, how they’re keeping their teams motivated, the rise in ESG (environmental, social and governance) investments and proptech (property technology), the growth of the industrial segment and what development looks like now.

Portnoy said that The RMR Group has invested $600 million this year in new office acquisitions across the United States. “We’re making a bet on office,” he said, adding: “Ultimately, I think most companies are going to come back with one to two days a week at home for various reasons like workplace retention and keeping turnover down. So that’s why we’re bullish on office.”

Colbert and Cooke both touched on how, at their properties, tenant experience has been more important than ever, with robust communication and upping the game on amenities. (Along with concert venues and more outdoor spaces, Colbert revealed LBA is installing one of the first pickleball courts in its portfolio.)

One topic of interest for both the panel and the audience during the Q&A was the advent of proptech. “We, as an industry, need to use more data and be data-driven,” Cooke said. But Portnoy cautioned that you don’t want your organization to become a guinea pig for too many of these technologies. “You’ve got to be careful of which technologies you pick,” he said. “I think we’re going to see more [technology], but you’ve got to do it very carefully.”

The executives also revealed that their own workforces are back in their offices, and all three echoed that commercial real estate professionals need to be leaders in this area, as other companies in other industries continue to weigh decisions about returning to the office.

“We have to lead,” Portnoy said. “If we can’t do it, how can we talk to our tenants about getting back into the office?”

Finally, the panelists wanted attendees to know that the pandemic has accelerated many of the trends the commercial real estate industry was already seeing. It’s a challenging time, but an exciting time as well. And past crises, Portnoy said, have taught the industry that better days will be ahead.

“Things revert back to the mean,” he said, “and they revert back faster than you think.”

Click here to read an exclusive conversation with Adam Portnoy.

How Offices Can Nurture Happiness
The COVID-19 pandemic has been tough for commercial real estate, but it has also presented us with a rare opportunity, said Katie Sprague, senior vice president of CallisonRTKL. “The pandemic was kind of a pause,” Sprague explained. “It gave us a chance to stop and think about what work means to us, and that’s a rare thing. We’ve all been going way too fast for too many years.” The pause provided an opportunity for all of us to reflect on our progress and challenges, she said.

Sprague moderated a Saturday morning panel discussion, “Happiness in the Workplace: Why You Need to Care and How to Achieve It Through Design.” The panel featured Amr Soliman, founder and CEO of DMG Mountain View; Ahmed El Moursy, director of innovation for DMG Mountain View; Jenn Lim, CEO and chief happiness officer of Delivering Happiness; and Adrian Semrau, director of management consulting for Vynamic. The panel has been researching happiness in the workplace since 2018 and developed a rating system for it, the Happiness Ecosystem Index.

There are a number of things companies can do to make people happier in the workplace, the panel noted. It starts with living your mission. Especially during the pandemic, too many companies are panicking and focusing solely on the bottom line. But companies that live their mission and share that with their employees and stakeholders are setting themselves up to succeed, Lim said: “Companies realized we need to get back to our team spirit and double down where it matters most. That’s the people we touch.”

Companies that are surviving and thriving during the pandemic are also good at adaptive performance, Semrau explained. Adaptive performance is how well you can diverge from your plan when the situation calls for it. Companies that stuck to their original game plan—no matter what—are struggling. For example, if people were burned out with back-to-back meetings pre-COVID and you’ve simply replaced them with back-to-back Zoom calls, that’s not an improvement, and it speaks to a problem with your company culture. “We’re here to encourage you to think about how your culture shapes adaptive performance through this crisis and the next crisis,” Semrau added.

The ideas of authenticity and empathy also come into play when you’re thinking about designing spaces that people want to come back to and work in, the panel said. You need to create an office space that lives up to your company’s values. For example, Mountain View’s Cairo office has conference rooms that are themed around different company values, such as “family” and “gratitude.” The design of each space follows the theme; the family conference room, for example, looks like a living room.

“The idea of authenticity needs to come into play as we design spaces,” Sprague said. “That begins with human-centric design. Let’s stop and ask the people who use our buildings what it is they want.”

COVID may have been one catalyst for many of these conversations about bringing people back to the office, but it’s not the only issue, Sprague continued: “In fact, it’s a wakeup call,” she said. “It’s a wakeup call to join a revolution in the workplace. We would be honored if you would join our revolution of happiness.”


Match Building Experience with Workplace Culture to Increase Tenant Engagement
What is employee engagement and how does it apply to property managers and building owners? This was explored in the Saturday education session “New Occupant Engagement Tools to Drive Successful Leasing and Renewals,” led by workplace psychologist Phyllis Horner, Ph.D., co-founder and CEO of Great Places and Spaces LLC, and Manfred Zapka, Ph.D., COO of Great Places and Spaces LLC.

Studies have shown that high engagement from employees leads to better productivity, retention and predictability, therefore leading to higher revenue for tenants.

“What is the thing that’s going to give that tenant experience success so that when it comes time to renew, they do that?” Horner asked. “We care about them being successful, because if they are successful, and they have the right amount of space and the engagement of their people, then….they’re going to stick with us.”

Horner cited a quote from an IBM recruitment executive who said that the COVID-19 pandemic has permanently shifted the expectations employees have of their employer. This is a prime opportunity for both the building and the human sides of the workplace to connect—and property managers and building owners should think about partnering with tenant HR or risk management departments when it comes to improving occupant engagement.

From their work at Great Places and Spaces (and drawing on WELL and LEED guidance), Horner and Zapka shared seven building factors and seven workplace cultural elements that are recommended for any occupant engagement survey you create.

Building experience drivers:
Indoor air quality: Safe levels of CO2, viruses filtered out, humidity levels
Light: Natural or equivalent, with personal control, affects productivity
Ventilation: Strong enough for cognitive tasks without being intrusive
Noise: Ability to be free of unwanted noises from coworkers or others
Displays: Displays of safety levels of building health and ability to provide input
Temperature: Controllable by person, within range of normal
Privacy: Ability to have space where others cannot hear or interrupt work

Workplace culture engagement drivers:
External factors: Pay and benefits compared with own worth and job requirements
Respect: Being trusted, treated well, no microaggressions
Belonging: Feeling accepted, connected with shared values
Recognition: Shout-outs, knowing you’re doing well
Culture: Leaders support learning and growth, innovation and creativity
Meaningful: Talents are used for something you believe in
Choice: Work location, assignments, flex schedules, etc.

Horner said that, rather than these two categories being siloed, they can work together to gather relevant data and prioritize what will make tenants happiest and most comfortable.

She shared an example: A bank that Great Places and Spaces worked with had “beautiful collaboration spaces” in corners of the office with natural light, but she rarely saw tenants using them. Why? “If someone walks by,” they told her, “they wonder what you’re doing.” The building elements, whether they’re collaboration corners or grand outdoor spaces, need to match the culture.

In the end, employee engagement means reduced risk for property managers and owners, as well as for the tenants, Horner said. “You can combine employee engagement with the physical sense of the space. We believe that that’s a real value add.”


Creating a Focus on Intentional Hiring to Increase Diversity in the Workplace
When we’re hiring, it’s easy to fall into the trap of hiring for a “culture fit”—that is, someone who reminds us of ourselves. Despite our best intentions, we can unknowingly bias our hiring processes against people from different backgrounds. Fortunately, we can do something about it.

Led by Adele Bayless, vice president and senior general manager for JLL, the Saturday afternoon session “YRU Here? The Search for the Next Diverse Generation in Property Management” first traced the history of exclusion in the U.S., from blockbusting, redlining and restrictive covenants separating neighborhoods among racial and ethnic lines all the way to the present day, where historical wrongs in residential neighborhoods influence who we hire today in commercial real estate.

Not having experience or exposure to people who aren’t like us can lead us to becoming siloed, Bayless explained. That in turn leads to stagnation when it comes to ideas. Diversifying our workforce means new ways of thinking, new ideas and new sources of income. It’s not just the right thing to do—it makes good business sense, too.

Bayless offered thought-provoking takeaways to help property professionals recruit a more diverse pool of applicants for jobs, such as:
•    Have a diverse hiring team.
•    Participate in career days. This is especially important at the high school level, because not everyone gets the opportunity to go to college. Show high schoolers what a career in property management looks like. Hosting groups of students from underperforming schools is also a great way to find “brilliant diamonds waiting for us to shine them,” Bayless said. Today, Zoom makes it easier than ever to do virtual town halls to answer teens’ questions.
•    Partner with like-minded companies. Even competitors can work together on doing a better job with diversity. You may be able to pass on the resume of someone who wasn’t right for your organization, but could be a good fit for another company.
•    Use inclusive job descriptions. Separate minimum prerequisites from preferred qualities. Women especially tend not to apply for jobs unless they check every box in the listing. You can recruit more women if you don’t have as many boxes that need to be checked.
•    Rethink the idea of “culture fit.” “We’re looking for someone like us, right? Someone we can relate to when we’re interviewing,” Bayless said. “Pick someone who doesn’t remind you of you. Pick someone who’s going to complement you, your team or your company. Pick someone who’s going to bring something different to the table because they’re going to have different ideas.”
•    Leverage artificial intelligence to reduce bias. Strip names from resumes to make it easier to screen on skills and attributes rather than racial and gender lines.
•    Consider predictive criteria. The best predictor for success is experience in the workplace, not where someone went to college or their GPA, Bayless said. We also frequently screen people out if they have gaps in their employment, but that unfairly biases the hiring process against people who took care of a sick family member, had a child or moved around due to military service.
Once we make the hiring process fairer to everyone, “you’re going to have new colleagues, new experiences, new ideas,” Bayless said. “Your companies may go in different directions because there’s going to be synergy, life, ideation. We’re going to have that when we have more people in our sphere—and maybe change the world.”


 
The TOBY Winners, Revealed
In a ceremony marked by plentiful Boston-themed jokes, emcees and past BOMA International chairs Rob Brierley, BOMA Fellow, and Brian Harnetiaux, BOMA Fellow, hosted the 2021 BOMA International TOBY Awards, the most prestigious awards program in commercial real estate. A total of 61 buildings from across North America were nominated in 17 TOBY categories.

“The nominees this year are nothing short of revolutionary,” joked Brierley at the beginning of the ceremony, which was sponsored by The Home Depot Pro. “Don’t worry, there are plenty more Boston jokes where that came from,” he added, playing up his role as a Bostonian himself.

Over 1 Million Square Feet: 150 North Riverside, Chicago, managed by CBRE and owned by 150 North Riverside Titleholder, LLC.

500,000-One Million Square Feet: 333 Bush, San Francisco, a BOMA 360-designated building managed by Tishman Speyer and owned by 333 Bush LLC. Glenn Good, pictured above leading his jubilant team to the stage, is general manager with Tishman Speyer.

250,000-499,999 Square Feet: 745 Thurlow, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, a BOMA 360-designated building managed by QuadReal Property Group LP and owned by 2748355 Canada Inc. and 745 Thurlow Street Holdings Inc.

100,000-249,999 Square Feet: 511 EJC, Irving, Texas, managed by Crescent Property Services and owned by Codina Partners.

Under 100,000 Square Feet: 3300 Paramount Parkway, Morrisville, North Carolina, managed by Trinity Partners and owned by Perimeter Park Offices, LP.

These buildings also took home a TOBY Award from BOMA International:

Corporate Facility: Seattle Municipal Tower, Seattle, managed by CBRE and owned by the City of Seattle.

Earth: 353 North Clark, Chicago, a BOMA 360-designated building managed by CBRE and owned by Heitman.

Historical Building: Queen’s Quay Terminal, Toronto, a BOMA 360-designated building managed by Northam Realty Advisors Ltd. and owned by Northam CCPF II Tenco (QQT) Ltd. and 10954594 Canada Inc.

Industrial Building: 1001 North Greenfield Parkway, Garner, North Carolina, managed by Duke Realty and owned by Duke Realty LP.

Medical Office Building: 1128 Hornby, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, a BOMA 360-designated building owned and managed by Wesgroup Properties.

Mixed-Use Building: The Curtis, Philadelphia, owned and managed by Keystone Property Group.

Public Assembly Building: Harold Washington Library Center, Chicago, managed by CBRE and owned by the City of Chicago.

Renovated: 401 Park, Boston, owned and managed by Samuels & Associates.

Retail (Enclosed): 10 Dundas East, Toronto, managed by BentallGreenOak (Canada) LP and owned by 10 Dundas Street Ltd.

Retail (Open-Air): Shops of Oakville South, Oakville, Ontario, Canada, managed by FCR Management Services LP and owned by Shops of Oakville South Inc.

Suburban Office Park Low-Rise: 1-8 Prologis Boulevard, Mississauga, Ontario, Canada, a BOMA 360-designated building managed by Triovest Realty Advisors Inc. and owned by Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan (HOOPP) Realty Inc.

Suburban Office Park Mid-Rise: SouthCreek Corporate Centre, Markham, Ontario, Canada, a BOMA 360-designated building managed by Northam Realty Advisors Ltd. and owned by Northam CCPF Tenco (Commerce Valley Drive) Ltd.


BOMA 360 Performance Program Grows and Expands
The BOMA 360 Performance Program will soon include new criteria around health, wellness and pandemic preparedness, David Dabson, director of asset and property management for Beacon Properties who we first saw above posing in the BOMAPAC photo booth, explained at the TOBY Awards ceremony. The program has grown continually since its introduction in 2009 and now encompasses more than three-quarters of a billion square feet. Two-thirds of the TOBY nominees this year were BOMA 360 designees, and the program is a “critical first step for many buildings with sights set on winning a TOBY Award,” Dabson explained.


Meet the New Chair, Mark Dukes
Shelby Christensen, BOMA International’s 2020-2021 chair and CEO, passed the 2021-2022 title on to Mark Dukes, BOMA Fellow, vice president of Physicians Realty Trust, at last night’s TOBY Awards. “I’m going to need this,” a teary Dukes said, handkerchief in hand, after the crowd rose to their feet to applaud him after another past chair, Brenna Walraven, BOMA Fellow, swore him in.

Dukes is a past president of BOMA/Georgia and was named a BOMA Fellow in 2018. He served a two-year term on BOMA International’s Executive Committee. He also served as the inaugural chair of BOMA’s Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Committee, “something I know is really important to him,” Christensen said.

“I am thrilled, and I am humbled,” Dukes said in his address. “It is such an honor. In this moment, I have to tell you how proud I am of what we’ve done. We did not survive through this craziness, we thrived through this craziness. We have made people’s lives better. We have made buildings and communities and each other safe through all of this.”