CREJ - page 75

September 16-October 6, 2015 —
COLORADO REAL ESTATE JOURNAL
— Page 3B
Spotlight
ow do you truly
measure the value
of membership in an
organization? This
is an important question,
because as building managers
it is our job to intelligently
figure out how to maximize
our dollars spent. If you don’t
truly know the value of your
organization, it is impossible
to make that intelligent deci-
sion on which group to join.
BOMA is one organization
that offers true value to indi-
viduals as well as owners in
the commercial real estate
field. It provides advocacy
on behalf of building owners
on a local, state and federal
level. It provides training
and education to profession-
als, which allows us to take
our careers to the next level.
It also provides networking
that increases the tools in our
toolbox to solve problems and
maximize value.
Advocacy
Advocacy is the most impor-
tant function of Denver Metro
BOMA. We back that up by
putting a large part of our
annual budget toward advo-
cacy. Did you know that it
is our largest single expense
other than payroll and rent?
While we do have some
great events, the fact is that
if you added together all of
the out-of-pocket net expenses
for our events, it is less than
what we spend on advocacy
each year. There is no other
association that is as focused
on protecting our assets and
our industry.
BOMA is on the front
line for all sorts of different
issues. These issues affect
every aspect of our build-
ings and operations. We have
partnered with the Governor’s
office, Denver and other juris-
dictions’ fire departments,
building departments and
other regulatory agencies to
ensure that building own-
ers have a voice. We review
legislation and code changes
to calculate what the pos-
sible impacts would be on
our industry. BOMA’s lobby-
ing efforts have been largely
successful and have saved
property owners millions of
dollars. A few key examples
follow.
• BOMA is the only
Colorado commercial real
estate organization working
on local issues and is cur-
rently working with the city
of Denver on amendments
to the 2015 International
(ICC) codes as well as various
issues related to permitting.
• BOMA successfully repre-
sented building owners in the
2012-14 Xcel Multi-Year Rate
Plan electric rate case settle-
ment and, because of this,
owners are seeing a decrease
in their rates of approximate-
ly 1.5 percent starting Aug. 1
and continuing through July
31, 2016.
• BOMA
also inter-
vened in the
recent elec-
tric rate case
• Savings
of over $3.50
per square
foot in direct
costs and
long-term
revenues to
commercial
real estate
because
BOMA
worked to
eliminate or
modify overly stringent and
costly codes and standards
requirements in the 2015
group of ICC Model Codes.
BOMA is now working on the
2018 model codes.
• On July 21, 2015, the U.S.
Senate Finance Committee
approved legislation that
would extend 52 expired tax
provisions for an additional
two years (for tax years 2015
and 2016). Included in the
“tax extenders” package is the
15-year depreciation schedule
for leasehold improvements.
BOMA continues to push for
as early an extension as pos-
sible to help provide economic
certainty to the industry.
Education
Another focus of Denver
Metro BOMA is professional
development. We accomplish
this by providing several dif-
ferent educational options
to professionals in the com-
mercial real estate industry.
The options are wide rang-
ing from designation-based
courses to single topic classes.
Lastly, BOMA formed several
different specialty groups
that focus on specific issues
affecting property managers,
including medical office build-
ings.
The bread and butter of
BOMA’s educational offer-
ings are the BOMI (Building
Owners and Managers
Institute International) des-
ignations for property man-
agers, facility managers and
engineering professionals.
There are five different des-
ignations that can be earned
through BOMI International.
This year we are pleased
to announce the BOMI HP
Program was added to our
offerings. These designations
are internationally renowned
and set the standard for over-
all operational knowledge and
thoroughness. Denver Metro
BOMA also offers topic-spe-
cific seminars to help advance
our industry. Right now we
are offering an educational
series on LEED EBOM and
in September there is a semi-
nar on state water discharge
revised requirements.
Networking
Denver Metro BOMA is an
organization of more than
400 professionals all focused
on the commercial real estate
industry. Besides the educa-
tional sessions, BOMA pro-
vides several different oppor-
tunities to network with our
peers throughout the year.
We have monthly luncheons,
a trade show, golf tourna-
ment, summer party, various
happy hours and the presti-
gious TOBY (The Outstanding
Buildings of the Year) Awards
Celebration coming up on
Nov. 6.
Getting to know others in
the industry increases your
resources and knowledge.
Our service providers can
give expert advice on repairs
and upgrades. Our own-
ers and managers can help
with trends in the market
and solutions to problems.
Overall, by having such a
large group of industry specif-
ic members, we can assist in
ensuring that your property
is running efficiently and you
are positioning it properly.
It would be difficult to find
another organization that
offers as much as Denver
Metro BOMA for the cost.
Without our great group of
members, none of the above
is possible. It is impossible for
us to continue all of the work
we do without having such a
robust group of buildings and
professionals. We appreciate
everything you have done in
the past and look forward to
continuing to work with you
in 2016.
H
Hunter Marr,
RPA, FMA,
LEED AP O+M
Unico Properties,
2015 BOMA
President
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