CREJ - Property Management Quarterly - February 2015
If you look at Daunine Mandarich’s professional bio as a senior real estate manager with CBRE, the extensive list of duties reads similar to many property managers’ responsibilities. However, it’s her approach and attitude, which are hidden between the line items, that helped Mandarich rise through the management ranks. The 38-yearold mother of two oversees more than 685,000 rentable square feet of office property in two buildings in the Union Station District, as well as a six-story parking garage. Her hard work, constant drive for improvement and genuine approach to work, all of which stem from her love of the job, factor into her success. Talk to Mandarich for any length of time and it’s not hard to recognize the passion she feels for her building, 1900 Sixteenth St., which she jokingly refers to as “her baby,” and how she sees her multitenant office building leading the way in sustainability efforts in Colorado. The self-described architecture junkie takes a lot of pride in the building’s uniqueness and innovations. “It’s a David Tryba design, it’s a development from Trammell Crow Co., you have something that’s considered a designer label in this industry and this time,” she said. “Architecture tells a story, and Trammell Crow Co. and David Tryba are building our story in this day and age. It’s an amazing thing to be a part of.” As soon as the building was turned over from the developer five years ago, Mandarich became the property’s senior manager. At that time, the building was essentially just core and shell. She and Roger Bell, CBRE chief building engineer, were the only two people there on a daily basis. “I spent the first two winters wearing layers upon layers,” Mandarich said with a laugh, recalling the time she worked in the building’s core and shell units that were kept at just above freezing before the offices were complete. Her first responsibilities at 1900 Sixteenth St. came with a variety of challenges. She worked on the construction plans, lease forms, building design guidelines, LEED spec requirements, and dealt with building signage, including stop sign placement and pedestrian crosswalks. “I even had to set up the address for the building,” she said. “I did so many really bizarre things that you normally would never do. It was a whole different environment and experience compared to now that it’s occupied.” These types of new challenges are new opportunities in Mandarich’s eyes. “I see it as education that no one can take away from you once you have it,” she said. With that same approach, Mandarich fully embraced the sustainability vision set out by the building ownership, which saw that the core and shell of the tower was built for LEED Gold certification. CBRE’s leasing team and management team, under Mandarich, helped ensured that all 21 of the building tenants are 100 percent LEED certified for commercial interior. In September, the building crossed a major milestone in sustainability, becoming the first multitenant office building in Colorado to gain Platinum LEED certification. The trifecta of LEED certifications set 1900 Sixteenth St. further apart. “We’re the first known in existence globally to have all three distinctions,” she said. In search for this achievement’s recognition, Mandarich has set her eyes on the 2015 prize: Building Owners and Managers Association’s Outstanding Building of the Year Earth Award. “The Earth award is the most interesting to us because we have a huge dedication to sustainability and being green.” Never one to shy away from more work, Mandarich organized a lunch with other property managers who have gone through or judged previous TOBY awards. At the lunch, she made a confession: “I just want to do it, and I just want to win,” she said with a laugh. “I treasure this building. It’s my baby and there’s been such a commitment to this. It deserves the recognition. It’s my job to put it on that stage. We have a story to tell that most people anywhere can’t tell.” The LEED Platinum certification was Mandarich’s team’s goal for 2014. She smiles when talking about what her team will think about the TOBY goal for this year. “I think it’s important to stretch your team outside what one might consider, and do things that are not necessarily expected,” she said. “When the team stretches together, you become a stronger team. We’re building everyone’s resumes together.”
Mandarich manages a team of eight people, with plans to add one more once an on-site manager is hired for the Gates Building. The Gates Building is a second building on the Bentall Kennedy campus Mandarich now manages. Judy Duran, director of CBRE asset services, is Mandarich’s boss. Duran oversees properties for several owners and spends her time among the properties. Mandarich says she enjoys when Duran is at their office. “I appreciate having another set of eyes,” she said. “The more I have Judy, the better it is. The more insight I get, the better the results will be.” Complacency is an enemy that Mandarich is always trying to defeat, be it within her team, her buildings or her professional relationships. After being appointed manager of the Gates Building in April, she quickly went about bringing the building up to her standards. “A portion of the assignment is to synchronize the teams,” she said. “We have weekly staff meetings that alternate buildings and we’re really working to feel the benefit of having both buildings operate together. When the ownership decided to give the building to us, we were delighted because it says we must be doing something right at 1900.” After taking over management, there was a snafu with the fire alarm drill at the new building – namely that the communications plan between the two buildings had not been fully vetted, the on-site manager was not in the building at the time, and Mandarich was unaware the drill was taking place. “We have resolved the issue by getting all of us the same radios,” she said. “We now have that instant gratification of being on the same page at the same time.” While those in place at the time of the drill handled it fine, the drill exposed a weakness that could ding her credibility and that bothered her, she said. “There’s always something that we can do better,” she said. “We’re always evolving, and you learn from your mistakes more than anything else, and we’re all better for it. I love to be the forerunner of stuff we do, but I won’t claim that we’re perfect.” She didn’t stop at buying new radios though. She’s working with the tenant’s safety specialist to go over the fire drill plans. It’s important for her to know all the fire related plans, including evacuation plans, backup plans and training plans, she said. From there, she’s working to make the two buildings’ plans as cohesive and streamlined as possible. Under her leadership, 1900 Sixteenth St. worked with a California-based production company to create a fire and life-safety video that is specific to 1900. Mandarich has budgeted for a similar video to be made for the Gates Building. Once the building completes several successful regular fire drills, she has even more plans. “You’ve got to mix it up, even with something as simple as the annual fire drill,” she said. She plans to eventually incorporate more complex drills at both buildings, such as a blocked stairwell or lobby, to ensure that everyone is still reacting properly and not just going through the motions. “I would do more drills [in a year] if it was more acceptable, but you can really only get away with one.” The safety of those in her buildings is Mandarich’s most important professional priority. “I never want anyone’s life to be in danger,” she said. “If it’s not life or death, the rest is just business.”
“We property managers do so much reprioritizing that I’m often wondering, ‘Did I get enough done?’,” she said. “We don’t get to leave at night feeling like everything is all done. And we don’t know walking in what we’ll deal with that day. I love that part about the job, but it’s hard too. So it’s important to make sure everyone is on the same page with plans. Sometimes you don’t get to start and finish a project when you want.” Property management is all about having plans, she said, and she has a plan for everything, including sustainability, finances, her team and the industry. She also has construction/building plans and project plans, which often depend on the budget. Projects can include the routine cosmetic updates she’s working on now of carpet or lighting replacement to major structural endeavors, such as an outdoor canopy her team built last summer. “This job is so fun because there’s so many different things you get to do,” she said. “It’s fun to have different little projects.” Mandarich has been in the industry for 15 years, after graduating from the Franklin L. Burns School of Real Estate and Construction Management at the University of Denver, following in her father’s and grandfather’s footsteps. “I can confidently exclaim, ‘Real estate is in my blood,’” she said. But Mandarich’s love for her job started earlier than that. She received her first dose of property management from spending time with her grandma, who owns a residential property management company. “As a 6-year-old child, I would play property management in my grandmother’s basement,” she said. “She had a desk, business card Rolodex and desk calendar, and I would perform leasing tours of the rooms in the house.” Mandarich identifies other major priorities, after everyone’s safety, as maintaining a strong, positive relationship with her building owners, managing the individuals on her team and managing deadlines, especially relating to accounting. “You can’t miss those accounting deadlines because they’re a direct reflection of your credibility,” she said. In order to keep the owners happy, Mandarich follows this rule of thumb: “Would I be comfortable introducing my owner to this?” She follows this rule very closely when dealing with her vendors. “Your vendors are an extension of you and your team,” she said. “At the end of the day, are they performing to a level I’d be OK with my owner seeing?” It’s also important to maintain good relationships with her tenants, which, in turn, makes owners happy. During the Platinum LEED certification process, Mandarich’s team hosted a variety of creative events to engage tenants and get them excited for the process. “We wanted to help them see that the awards are for more than just building management,” she said. An entire marketing plan was created to get the tenants involved and excited. During the survey week, which was advertised with emails, posters and announcements, Mandarich also hired a small string band to play in the lobby. “We want to create a memorable moment,” she said. “People remember the way you make them feel, and we want them to feel like management cares.”