April 2015
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BOMA 360 Makes the Best Stand Out From the Rest

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BOMA International recognized that the marketplace needed a way to distinguish and measure the quality of management, and created BOMA 360—with the help of some of your fellow BOMA/NY colleagues—to make the best stand out from the rest. Other certifications like LEED and Energy Star® certify excellence in specific areas, but none effectively say: this building operates using best practices at the highest standards of the industry—in all facets of management. Today, BOMA 360 is the only third party, "stamp of approval" that tells tenants, owners and the industry that your building is operating at the highest levels in all management areas.

It’s Proven—Tenants Like It

The comprehensiveness of BOMA 360 (hence the name), sets its buildings apart in the marketplace, and the proof is in what tenants think. BOMA 360 building tenants report higher satisfaction rates overall on the Kingsley surveys, often up to 5 percent more in  areas ranging from overall satisfaction with services for the amount of rent paid, to specifics, such as satisfaction with a building’s security policies and procedures.

Basically, BOMA 360 requires that you document building metrics, practices and accomplishments in six key areas: Building Operations and Maintenance, Life Safety/Security/Risk Preparedness; Training, Environmental/Sustainability, Energy and Tenant Relations/Community Impact. If it sounds a bit like the Pinnacles, it does cover the same areas; the information can easily be re-used or updated, and TOBY winners are given extra points in various categories. The submission is on line, requires far less writing than the Pinnacle or TOBY, and can be filed according to a rolling schedule with several deadlines a year. You must also participate in BOMA International's EER program and benchmark your building using the Energy Star Portfolio Manager.

BOMA International estimates that once the information is gathered, it can take less than a month to upload and complete. Program Director Joel Corley, who can be reached at jcorley@boma.org or (202)326-6358, goes "out of his way" to help anyone working through the submission, says BOMA/NY President Thomas L. Hill, RPA. The certification is valid for three years, with a streamlined re-certification process, and the dividends it pays will far outlast the time it takes to do the work.

Why Go For It?

The bottom line: BOMA 360 is not a one-time win, it’s an on-going certification of the quality of your management—like a JD Power Award or the Michelin 3-star travel measure of excellence—that is indisputable. As such it gives you a leasing advantage that sets you apart from other equally-matched buildings in the race for prime tenants. And as a global ranking, is very useful in the world of New York leasing, the economy’s number 1 destination for international business.

It also has some behind-the-scene learning advantages. Companies who have completed the submission say it’s the most effective way for new employees to learn all dimensions of the asset and its operations.

We always say no one manages like a New Yorker. But New York—the most competitive office market in the world—only ranks ninth in the top 20 cities with BOMA 360-certified buildings, behind Washington, DC, Los Angeles, Chicago, San Francisco, Atlanta, Houston, Dallas and Boston.

That’s no place for New York to be! Get the market edge today and learn more about BOMA 360 by clicking here.