Q: How did you get your start in the industry?
Salama: After graduating from Stevens Institute of Technology, I went oversees to Dubai to work for an international U.K. construction company Balfour Beatty International. After four years in Dubai, my wife and I moved back the United States, and I spent some time working for HPD a City of New York agency. My next job was for the Empire State Building, where I was hired as a construction manager and eventually promoted to Assistant Director of Operations. I also received my masters and professional engineering license during that time. Since my kids were young and I wanted to spend more time with them, I left ESB and accepted a position in New Jersey, closer to home – although the traffic was just as bad as it is getting to New York City. After two plus years, I went back to work for the Empire State Building as their Director of Operations for nine years before moving on to Monday Properties as their EVP of Operations and Asset Management. I stayed at Monday for eight years before joining CBRE as Deputy Alliance Director for the Amex account. Now I’m here at Capital Properties as SVP and head of Asset Management.
Q: How did you originally get involved in BOMA?
Salama: My boss at ESB, a BOMA member then, suggested I go and discover what the organization was about. I continued to attend Codes and Regs committee meetings and seminars and became more involved in the industry, eventually applying our company’s assets for BOMA awards. We won several Pinnacle Awards, including a local and regional award for ESB and several properties in VA, and an international award for 230 Park Ave.
Q: Do you plan to be involved in BOMA’s Fordham Partnership? Do you plan to take on any interns? Is youth involvement something you’re passionate about?
Salama: I’m very passionate about getting young graduates involved in our business – especially from other backgrounds. If you look at a young engineer today and ask them about property and asset management or BOMA, they’ll look at you with an unfamiliar face. I encourage employers to hire assistant property or facility managers with a background in engineering. I’ve found that engineering background produces very smart and hardworking folks. In the past, I hired several engineering graduates from the University of Delaware and, within a year, they became stars.
Q: You came from a different background - from construction and engineering to the operations and asset management side. Do you think your experience was helpful and contributes to your goals now?
Salama: Absolutely. The engineering background has truly helped me to get where I wanted to be, but also having a background in construction was important. There isn’t one building in the city that’s not doing some sort of construction, whether it’s capital or actual renovation of the building. Having that background, plus understanding the engineering side of it, was tremendous.
Q: What’s the best part about being involved with BOMA?
Salama: All of us are really experienced in what we do. I mean, look at the BOMA officers James Kleeman, Ron Zeccardi and Matt Duthie. We are all in our 50s and have probably been in business for around 30 years. The experience that we bring to BOMA is important to give back. I learned so much through the seminars and meetings when I first joined BOMA, and I want everyone to have that experience. It’s important to me to volunteer and give back everything I can to the younger generation.
