What are building codes and why are they necessary? Building codes are regulations that apply to architects, builders, owners and others involved in a structure’s construction and maintenance. Adopted and enforced by state, local, tribal and territorial entities, they ensure that buildings conform with safety and public health standards. They encompass standards for everything from the arrangement of doors and windows, minimum and maximum room ceiling heights, exit sizes and locations, room sizes and locations and structural integrity to lighting, water, ventilation, fire prevention and control, hazardous material handling, energy efficiency, drainage, occupancy limits, and parking and traffic impacts. Disasters spur action The Great Fire of London in 1666 prompted the first significant attempts to reduce building density and ensure that construction had some degree of fire resistance. Almost two centuries later, the London Building Act of 1855 provided the first systemic national building standard for room height, construction notifications, fireplace and drain placements and other provisions. In the U.S., building codes proliferated in the mid-19th century during heavy Industrial Revolution-inspired population growth in urban centers. Massive fires in Chicago and Baltimore in 1886 and 1904, respectively, along with the San Francisco earthquake in 1906, spurred additional codes and construction changes nationwide. Building codes are heavily influenced by the International Code Council (ICC), an association of building safety professionals whose members work with other interested parties to develop a consensus set of model codes, which are updated every three years. Policy at the local level Regardless of the recommendations the ICC might make, it is “at the state or local level whereby a building code in the US actually becomes law,” with it being common “for the final adoption authority to be left to an individual township,” according to the National Earthquake Hazards Reduction...

It might seem straightforward to require that tenants provide proof of insurance when a lease is signed. However, managing a Certificate of Insurance (COI) for every tenant along with insurance policy endorsements and ensuring continuous coverage can be very challenging. Read on for a deeper dive with tips to successfully overcome challenges for maintaining tenant compliance. Why COIs matter A COI is a document issued by an insurance company that summarizes the insurance policies held by a tenant. It outlines the coverage limits, policy durations and other relevant details. Additional insured and subrogation information is outlined in the policy endorsements. Closely managing COIs is essential for landlords to verify that their tenants maintain adequate insurance coverage to protect against potential risks. COI management challenges throughout the lease lifecycle One of the primary challenges faced by landlords is ensuring the timely receipt and verification of COIs from tenants. Tenants may delay submitting the COIs or fail to provide the required coverage details. This delay can impede lease execution or expose the landlord to increased risks for leases already signed. Landlords often have specific insurance requirements for their commercial properties. These requirements may include minimum coverage limits, additional insured endorsements and specific policy provisions. Ensuring that tenants comply with these requirements can be difficult, as some tenants may struggle to find insurance policies that meet the landlord’s criteria. COI management involves tracking policy expiration dates and ensuring that tenants renew their insurance policies before they lapse. Monitoring policy expirations for multiple tenants can be time-consuming and prone to human error, potentially leaving the landlord exposed to liability if a tenant’s insurance coverage expires. Another challenge landlords face is the possibility of tenants providing COIs with inadequate coverage or insufficient policy limits. In such cases, the landlord...

Realcomm’s August two-part webinar series, Celebrating Women and the Diverse Voices in CRE, highlighted the talent, thought leadership and unique mindsets that have enhanced commercial and corporate real estate as more women, minorities and diverse thinkers fill executive leadership positions and advanced technology roles as well as facilitate key vendor partnerships. Insights on career paths and navigating challenges In session one, Leadership, Diversity & Evolving Company Cultures, the executive-level women panelists talked about how workplace culture reflects the values of company leadership and can shape employee interactions as well as promote motivation and loyalty. With new voices in the leadership space, the panel discussed changes in leadership modeling, evolving workplace challenges, the critical role that mentorship plays and how companies are attracting new talent. A big theme among the panelists’ stories of their personal journeys was about receiving mentorship and support and becoming a mentor themselves to help other people advance and open up opportunities. Further, working with good leaders taught them how to become good leaders. Another common theme was about advocating for yourself. Hope Dunleavy, enterprise managing consultant at RealFoundations, stressed the importance of reaching out, being authentic and sharing your story while also listening to others’ stories. The panel agreed on the importance of creating community for support — such as joining (or creating) a women’s group in your organization, which Kelly Soljacich, senior vice president of LaSalle Investment Management, recommended. Veronica Unnikrishnan, partner and senior vice president of innovation, sales and marketing at 5Q Partners, commented that choosing the right organization and positions that will lift you up “is where the magic happens” and will help you grow and develop your career. Further advice included choosing the best opportunity over the most money is a wise decision in the long...

Already big in the retail sector, mixed-use projects have become increasingly popular for office developers. Mixed-use developments can deliver accelerated lease-up periods as well as command higher rents compared with standalone properties in the same market. And that’s not all. As some commercial property sectors, most notably office buildings and retail properties, continue to face challenges post-pandemic, investors are more and more attracted to mixed-use projects. Market experts say that the experience economy’s influence on the workplace is a key to retaining talent. It’s a trend that forward-thinking office owners and developers are cashing in on by integrating office space into mixed-use environments. Read on to learn more about key attractions of mixed-use, including what investors are looking for. New development drivers In a May 2022 article on wealthmanagement.com, Nihar Shah, vice president of development at Perseus TDC, an affiliate of Transwestern Development Company, spoke about what’s driving new mixed-use projects. According to Shah, “There are several drivers underpinning a boom in mixed-use projects. One of the main ones is the interconnectivity of uses within a larger master plan. Infill locations work in areas that have amenities already in place, but mixed-use developments create a new built environment in areas that were previously not developed or were underutilized…The new uses usually become a win-win for both investors and cities as they create more housing, retail and tax revenue. But in densely populated areas, a location near public transit is often critical to a mixed-use projects’ success.” Higher average office rents Research shows that office rents at mixed-use developments lease up faster and tend to be an average 24.7 percent higher than those in the surrounding submarket. Not surprisingly, large mixed-use projects are under development across the country and many have already broken ground. From...

Convenience is a key factor when providing online solutions to your tenants. But if they have to log into one platform to make a payment, another platform to submit work orders and a third – or fourth – to review documents and share sales data, are you offering them true convenience? What about maximizing convenience for your own staff? CommercialCafe combines the five key features necessary for a truly convenient tenant portal, for both tenants and staff: Payments In addition to reviewing and paying invoices through a secure online portal, tenants can select which open charges they are paying. Your accounting team no longer has to guess where payments are being applied and saves time not processing physical checks. Work orders Tenants can submit service requests, including photos, and, upon completion of work, provide feedback via automated survey. Technicians receive work orders automatically on their mobile phones, decreasing response times and miscommunication. Notifications Automated SMS, push notifications and emails streamline and enhance communications, whether notifying tenants about available lease documentation to view or sharing details about property events. COI management Prospective and current tenants can upload insurance certificates, allowing property teams to view documentation that ensures property requirements are met and tenants are compliant. Sales data Retail tenants can upload sales figures and documentation that support the percentage rent calculations carried out by accounting teams, increase time savings and accuracy. In addition to these features, CommercialCafe offers another layer of convenience through its seamless integration with other Yardi solutions, including Yardi Voyager, Lease Manager, Facility Manager and the Procure to Pay suite. To learn more about the full benefits of CommercialCafe, join a webinar...

How are you overseeing maintenance operations, managing service requests from tenants, tracking work orders with technicians and extending the health of equipment in your buildings? If you’re not using automation, you’re working too hard and spending too much money. It’s also easy for important things like timely repairs and inspections to fall through the cracks. You can optimize building performance and tenant experience by using facility management software to automate preventive maintenance, property inspections and work order management. Following are best practices to help commercial operators maintain peak building performance and gain portfolio-wide oversight. Tip #1 Automate service requests through a tenant portal. Reduce manual tasks for your staff and increase convenience for your tenants with online work order requests and automated scheduling. Improve communication via email and SMS messaging and ensure tenants are satisfied with your maintenance performance. Reduce man hours needed to manually field requests from email or by phone Simplify the feedback loop through follow-up tenant surveys and promote satisfaction Tip #2 Automate notifications for incoming work orders and set rules around completion. Auto-assign work orders to technicians so they can get started quickly with all the details they need. Track work to completion and eliminate time-consuming manual processes including paperwork and phone calls. You can easily track pending requests, alerts and exceptions. Shorten work order cycles by improving communication between maintenance staff and tenants Help improve tenant satisfaction by preventing requests from falling through the cracks Tip #3 Schedule preventive maintenance and inspections without paperwork. Save time by scheduling recurring property maintenance and standardizing inspection routines. Satisfy all types of inspection requirements including annual, regulatory and due diligence. Use workflows with flexible templates to ensure that inspections cover every detail, every time. Save money and man hours by extending the...

Making sure all parties understand and follow the “right to quiet enjoyment” by resolving or preventing complaints about excessive noise can help keep satisfied occupants, a good reputation and filled commercial and residential properties. “Normal” noise includes talking, cooking and cleaning a property. Anything else, such as loud music, shouting, unruly visitors or dogs barking dogs past a certain time (usually 10 p.m.) and decibel threshold, has the potential to “lower the standards of the entire rental property and leave a landlord open to complaints from neighbors off the property, or file small claims for tolerating a nuisance,” along with spurring affected residents to seek court orders allowing them to leave without paying rent, says California legal firm Fast Eviction Service. With regard to commercial buildings, a gym that leases space in an office building, for example, could produce an unpleasant surprise for neighboring workers. “The onus is on the person leasing the space to do their homework before signing,” says Aercoustics, an acoustics, noise reduction and vibration control engineering firm in Mississauga, Canada. With the right preparation, noise issues can be managed. Steps that property managers can take to prevent or resolve unusual, excessive or unnecessary noise on a property include: Researching your city’s noise-related bylaws. Incorporating a noise clause into leases that defines the right to quiet enjoyment (an implied right in all 50 U.S. states), types of noise, noise limits, quiet hours and the consequences of lease violations. Making the subject of noise complaints aware of the problem and offering the opportunity to resolve them. Purchasing a decibel meter, which is inexpensive and provides an objective means to settle noise complaint disputes. Being aware of lightweight floors that enable sound to easily travel among rooms and levels in commercial spaces. Consulting...

We have reported on pet-friendly policies for multifamily properties, senior living communities and coworking spaces. So how about traditional offices? Are attitudes about pets in the workplace evolving? As recently as 2015, about 8% of U.S. businesses had pet-friendly policies. While only about 15% of employers let employees bring pets to work six years later, according to a survey by Southern California mobile pet groomer Barkbus, more employers are open to the idea. With 23 million U.S. households having adopted pets during the COVID-19 pandemic, “employees are prioritizing pets in their choices of where to work—and this affects employers’ willingness to allow pets onsite,” Forbes asserts. Employers such as Google, Ben & Jerry’s, Tito’s Vodka, Cliff Bar & Company and Atlantic Health System have established onsite pet-friendly policies. Some companies offer insurance, care stipends, onsite dog parks, time off for adoption or bereavement as part of their benefits package. A potential competitive advantage A 2021 study by job-seeker resource LiveCenter found that 94% of people were supportive of having pets in the workplace. Tolerance extends beyond cats and dogs to significant (although somewhat lesser) support for fish, birds, rodents, amphibians and reptiles. As a result, there are “increasing numbers of workplaces where you can take your pet to work and reap the benefits of pet ownership no matter what your work schedule,” Forbes reported in February 2022. And, adds personal finance information resource FinanceBuzz, “pet-friendly companies may even have a leg up over competitors: pets in the workplace can decrease employee stress levels and improve trust and communication between co-workers, which increases productivity.” Feasibility checklist Obviously having pets isn’t possible or desirable in every location, such as construction sites or workplaces restricted by lease and health regulations. But companies considering adopting pet-friendly policies might consider...

“When will it happen?” That question often arises in discussions of employees returning to the office when COVID-19 fully subsides. But as the third anniversary of the pandemic’s onset approaches, that question might be superseded by two others: “Do employers want their employees to return?” and “Do employees want to return?” A Gallup survey in June 2022 that indicated 60% of fully remote workers would be “extremely likely” to look for other opportunities if their employer decided not to offer remote work at least some of the time. Meanwhile, some employers have made it clear that they want employees back for the career-building, mentorship and institutional knowledge creation that in-person interaction facilitates. Others want to make use of their investments in campuses and facilities. Also, in the case of the securities industry and others, it’s easier to execute compliance, legal, risk, audit and regulatory obligations onsite rather than remotely. “During these times of the pandemic, sense of belonging has been broken. The workplace enables that sense of belonging,” says Gia Ganesh, vice president of people and culture at Florence Healthcare, a clinical trial software provider in Atlanta. But many employees have grown accustomed to working from home, with family obligations, high gas prices, automobile maintenance and lingering COVID cases all weighing against spending 40 hours weekly in the office, even factoring in the socialization opportunities. “Employees really want flexibility and choice over where, when and how to work. They don’t want to be told: ‘You need to be here on these days.’ They want to be able to choose,” Ryan Luby, associate partner at McKinsey & Company, told CNN. Hybrid work as an alternative Fifty-two percent of respondents to a CBRE survey in June 2022 intend to reduce their office space over the next...

Shopping malls, which McKinsey has defined as “the heart and soul of communities, the foundation of retail economies and a social sanctuary for teenagers everywhere,” have been under severe pressure from the proliferation of e-commerce and other forces. Although shutdowns and consumer reluctance to shop in person reduced average mall foot traffic by 90% at the pandemic’s outset, COVID-19 isn’t wholly to blame for the decline; it merely accelerated trends already in place. In 2014, McKinsey asserted the traditional mall as being “at a critical inflection point,” with “a storm of global trends coming together at the same time to cause malls to change the role they play in people’s lives.” In the subsequent years, “the single biggest factor in the decline of foot traffic at shopping malls has been the rise of online shopping,” says business content platform MarketScale. A record 12,200 U.S. stores closed in 2020 and about 125 consumer goods and retail companies filed for bankruptcy that year, on top of almost 6,000 stores that closed in 2019. Though suburban foot traffic has nearly returned to 2019 levels, foot traffic at urban shopping centers and malls remains 16% below pre-pandemic levels. Traditional mall anchor tenants like Neiman Marcus and J.C. Penney declared bankruptcy recently and reduced their store presence, while gas prices, COVID-19 variant surges and supply chain issues further complicated the issue. But while the challenges are undeniable, don’t count the mall out as a preferred shopping venue just yet. Retail foot traffic rose 61% during Black Friday 2021 compared to the previous year, according to JLL, while average foot traffic was up 27% in January 2022 over January 2021. DigitalSignageToday reports that “industry experts believe the mall is ready for a comeback. It will look different, though, and leverage technology...

According to Naseem Wenzel, Executive Director and Head of Real Estate Assets at Lionpoint Group, “ESG is coming fast and furious, which leaves investment managers, real estate owners and operators and service providers in a position of either being reactive or proactive.” What position is your company in? In OSCRE’s May 25 Innovation Forum, ESG: Insights to Assess Your Readiness, the panel, moderated by Wenzel, discussed what’s needed to move the industry forward. The speakers represented “a mix of perspectives from change leaders in the industry” including Chris Devine, head of client analytics, Cushman & Wakefield, Rick Ferrino, senior VP technology, Blackstone and Soheil Pourhashemi, senior VP business technology, Brookfield Properties. When asked individually about their company’s approach to ESG, the panelists touched on creating long term strategies, dealing with resource issues including staffing and training to focus on ESG and the overall need to automate data collection, analytics and reporting. The speakers agreed that evolving practices and focusing on how data flows — including real-time reporting from assets, are important initiatives. With regard to governance, the panel discussed measuring and normalizing data, creating data standards and developing organizational maturity. One speaker commented that ESG practices are integral to building a resilient business and creating value for investors. ESG is also a critical aspect of capital fundraising. For service providers, the focus is on the occupier side and how to get data standards in place, with information flowing from investors to occupiers. All the panelists agreed that automating data collection and reporting is key. Survey responses on ESG readiness   In OSCRE’s recap of the session, the audience’s answers to the polling questions included these key takeaways: 53% of respondents described their organization’s level of preparedness as just getting started and 0% reported that...

As workers migrate back to their offices, they’ll enter an environment that’s dramatically more accepting of nontraditional working arrangements than before the pandemic. Most industry observers agree that openness to flexible work arrangements among employers will be the norm. A survey by video messaging platform Loom that found that 90% of workers and managers are happier with the increased freedom they now have to work from home. LinkedIn reports that 1 in 67 U.S. jobs offered a remote work option in March 2020; today, that number is about 1 in 7. Here are a few of the trends workers might encounter when – or if – they return to the office: Hybrid here to stay. Harvard Business Review reported in January that more than 90% of employers plan to adopt a hybrid working model in 2022. “In the U.S., employees expect flexibility within their job as much as they expect a 401(k). Employers that don’t offer flexibility will see increased turnover as employees move to roles that offer a value proposition that better aligns with their desires,” according to HBR contributors Brian Kropp and Emily Rose McRae of the Gartner HR Practice. “There’s no one-size-fits-all approach: Experiment with ‘Team Tuesdays’ or in-person office hours between 12 p.m. and 2 p.m., two days a week. Consider quarterly off-sites that bring far-flung teammates together regularly,” suggests Microsoft in its Work Trend Index 2022 survey report.Growth in AI and automation. The World Economic Forum predicts that artificial intelligence and automation will spark the creation of 97 million new jobs by 2025. AI will affect many existing jobs as well, by automating managerial tasks such as approving expense reports and monitoring direct reports’ completion of tasks and letting workers focus on areas requiring creativity, imagination and high-level strategy....

Yardi has launched Elevate Revenue, a CRE solution stack that streamlines the entire deal lifecycle from lead to lease. Specifically intended for owners, asset managers and leasing teams, the all-in-one solution was designed in collaboration with commercial experts and industry leaders. The end-to-end portfolio management suite, supported by decades of real estate research and software development knowledge, optimizes the deal workflow through powerful automation, enhanced team collaboration and extensive insights. Providing unmatched portfolio visibility, Elevate Revenue seamlessly integrates marketing, leasing system and commission management tools into one centralized platform. With Edge Marketing, real estate professionals can effortlessly market listings and generate verified leads through Yardi’s rapidly growing CommercialEdge Listing Network. From there, Deal Manager further streamlines leasing operations by enabling users to smoothly manage prospects and oversee each stage of the deal flow, while automatically comparing deal economics to approved budgets and prior leases. Additionally, to simplify the legal process and easily track legal documents, the Elevate suite includes Deal Manager Legal Module, an intuitive tool that allows users to automatically generate standard lease agreements directly in the application. And it doesn’t stop there. CommissionTrac, Yardi’s commission management tool, efficiently rounds out the leasing process by automatically tracking and paying the commissions of both in-house and third-party brokers. Elevate Revenue is fully integrated with Yardi Voyager thanks to Yardi’s built-in CRM — this smooth connection ensures maximum portfolio and deal pipeline oversight in real-time. Voyager clients can sync properties, spaces and availability across their portfolio. Listings are automatically published based on lease expiration dates or automatically unpublished once a tenant is activated for a specific space in Voyager. In October, Macerich — an owner, operator and developer of retail and mixed-use destinations throughout the U.S. — leveraged Deal Manager and Edge Marketing solutions to...

It’s never too late to give an existing structure a greener lease on life. Retrofits offer commercial building managers an opportunity to improve efficiency and drive cost savings. If you’re just getting started, the four retrofit methods below are a great starting point for sustainable practices. Observe, benchmark and improve your energy consumption. Monthly bills are not enough to accurately determine the efficiency of a commercial site. Retrofits connected to the internet of things (IoT) provide real-time insights into energy consumption. Explore usage based on subleased portions or the entire building. What’s best, you can implement IoT retrofits at a speed that matches your budget. Commercial managers often begin with submeters. Submetering offers insights into building performance while facilitating average savings of 2-5%. Implement supportive technology such as energy benchmarking to help you meet compliance regulations for ESG platforms like ENERGY STAR®. Promote water efficiency regardless of your location. Dry, arid regions have long prioritized end-user water conservation. Interest has grown nationwide: efficiency offers economic benefits to all managers regardless of the site’s location. Retrofits for cooling towers and chillers are a great place to implement efficiency measures. Such retrofits will have the most notable impact since they can consume tens of thousands of gallons each day. Smaller projects, such as fixtures, may follow. Streamline HVAC operations to reduce waste and increase comfort. The efficiencies of HVAC systems decline naturally over time. Promoting optimal operation and occupant comfort requires consistent maintenance and smart controls. Networked controllers and cloud-based management software enable you to monitor and manage usage. Smart thermostats and monitoring technology can offer up to 30% energy savings while slashing future maintenance costs. Improve indoor air quality (IAQ). Americans spend about 90% of their time inside. Indoor air contains a higher concentration of...

We compiled predictions from expert observers to get a sense of what’s in store for the real estate industry in 2022. Excerpts follow. Foreseeing a ‘whirlwind housing market’ Pandemic-ignited home-buying, driven by supply shortage and low mortgage rates, shows no signs of slowing down. “We expect a whirlwind 2022 for the housing market,” says Danielle Hale, chief economist for Realtor.com, with home sales increasing 6.6% and home prices 2.9% above 2021 highs despite a small uptick in inventory. While affordability, rising interest rates, and supply and labor shortages will continue to pose challenges, “home buyers should find the coming months to be more advantageous than any time in 2021. While sellers remain in a very strong position, price stabilization and the continuation of competitive interest rates may bring some welcome relief to buyers in the new year,” notes Nick Bailey, president of RE/MAX LLC. Home living tops investment U.S. real estate remains among the most attractive and largest asset classes for investors and families alike. “For the second year, homeowners have told us that their main reason for taking on projects around the home is to better meet their needs. Before the pandemic, return on investment was the primary motivation. This is a huge shift and something we know will continue throughout 2022, especially as people continue to spend more time at home,” says Robert Morgenstern, principal of New York City-based Canvas Property Group. Tech amps up Property management technology’s capabilities and use will continue to grow for reasons of convenience and social distancing. “With the right data collection tools and overall acceptance by industry professionals, real estate will greatly benefit from the increased use of technology in 2022,” according to Paul Ryll, owner of Oscar Mike Mobile Appraisers of Greenville, S.C. And with...

Non-fungible tokens, or NFTs, may have been attracting headlines for the eye-watering sums splashed on digital artworks and virtual land. But behind the hype is a digital key that can help the real estate industry create better experiences in their buildings, foster engaged communities and, ultimately, unlock new value. Mars House, a digital home designed by Toronto-based artist Krista Kim, sold for more than half a million dollars in 2021, changing the way we think about virtual real estate. By the end of the year, a virtual plot of land in online world Decentraland had sold, using an NFT, for a record $2.4 million worth of cryptocurrency. A lot of folks in the real estate sector have made the mental leap and are looking at how NFTs can support fractional ownership and debt financing. But to my mind, what’s even more exciting is the role of NFTs in the future of the workplace. A “non-fungible token,” as the name suggests, is a unique digital item stored on a digital ledger called a blockchain. Ownership of an NFT is easy to certify and transfer, which is why they are being used to tokenise unique items like art, collectibles and real estate. But NFTs can be a bridge between the digital and physical worlds. NFTs can be used as tickets or membership cards, giving people access to events, experiences, products or discounts. Imagine attaching an NFT to each service in a building? Think treadmills in the office gym, entry to Friday night drinks on the rooftop terrace, discounted movie tickets at concierge or yoga class reservations. Each unique NFT can connect a smart building to smart contracts to provide smart services. This idea may sound revolutionary, but it is simply another evolution of the office. The...