REBNY Honors Commercial Property Employees at 15th Annual Breakfast
Theresa Morzello, CBRE’s managing director for asset services in New York City, was the first woman to win the Commercial Management Executive of the Year Award.
NEW YORK CITY—The Real Estate Board of New York hosted its 15th Annual Commercial Management Leadership Breakfast on Thursday at the New York Hilton Midtown. Boston Properties CEO Owen Thomas provided the keynote address in which he specified trends likely to impact the CRE industry in the near future.
Theresa Morzello, managing director for CBRE’s asset services in New York City, was honored as the Edward A. Riguardi Commercial Management Executive of the Year. In 2010, REBNY had renamed the distinction in honor of Edward A. Riguardi, its first recipient. Riguardi passed away in March 2018. His son, Peter Riguardi, chairman and president of JLL’s New York tri-state region, presented the award to Morzello.
As the first woman to receive the accolade since its inception in 2003, she shared her mother’s advice: “If you really want something just focus on it, have no fear, be deliberate and stay strong.”
REBNY president John H. Banks noted not only was the top award winner a woman but half of this year’s awards honored women. “We are gratified that more women in our industry are being recognized for their outstanding professional accomplishments, and thank all of the honorees for their dedication to our industry,” he said.
The other 2018 winners recognized were as follows:
*Best Engine Room Award: Hines’ 1585 Broadway
*John M. Griffin Community Service Award: Avi Itzikowitz, director of operations, ATCO Properties & Management, Inc.
*On-Site Manager of the Year: Sandra Hahn, VP and general manager, JLL
*Portfolio Manager of the Year: Diane Fields, portfolio manager, Empire State Realty Trust
*Rising Star of the Year: Massiel Santana, property manager, Cushman & Wakefield
*Small Building Engineer of the Year: Michael Johnson, chief engineer, Forest City Ratner Companies’ Tata Innovation Center at Cornell Tech
*Large Building Engineer of the Year: Ron D’Amato, chief engineer, SL Green Realty Corp.’s 1185 Avenue of the Americas
*Security Professional of the Year: Jose De La Cruz, building security/concierge, Waterman Properties
*Porter of the Year: Maria Dedvukaj, forewoman, ABM
Of public companies in the office business, Boston Properties is the largest nationwide, with a $21 billion market cap, said Thomas, in the keynote presentation. The real estate firm invests in properties operating in New York, Boston, Washington, DC, San Francisco and Los Angeles. Seventy-five percent of their assets are in urban areas. This provided a good vantage point for experiencing indicators of where the industry is going.
The first trend Thomas suggested to watch is technology. “Virtually all of the space demand since the global financial crisis has been created by high technology tenants and life science tenants,” he said.
Thomas predicted major changes in transportation. “Ride hailing” services like Lyft and driverless cars are causing major shifts. He imagined in the future people possibly not owning cars but renting them by the hour. This raises questions about parking garages and lots, commuter patterns, building designs and locations. He also pointed to artificial intelligence as a disruptor ending some jobs but creating others. “Where are those jobs going to be located?” Thomas asked. “That’s critical for us.”
He said that in this cycle, across the country, co-working has generated 40 million square feet of net absorption of office space. “We have been a big supporter of co-working. They make our buildings more competitive because they aggregate demand,” said Thomas. “It would be very difficult for us to do a lease with an individual or a small company to provide them with all of the flexibility that they are looking for.” By leasing space to WeWork, Boston Properties accesses the smaller tenant and the entrepreneurial markets. WeWork is now its 16th largest tenant in their portfolio.
Finally, Thomas underscored the sustainability trend. Employees feel that they are working at a more purposeful organization if it has environmental goals, he said. His firm participates in GRESB (Global Real Estate Sustainability Benchmark) surveys. GRESB rates sustainability scores based on data provided by companies. Now, Boston Properties is ranked in the top 5% of 832 companies internationally in its sustainability score.
As Boston Properties serves coastal areas, clients’ awareness of climate change has been heightened. Thomas observed some shareholders only invest in companies which are sustainability leaders. He said on being sustainable, “It’s certainly doing the right thing but also it’s commercially viable.”