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from Sue Anderson, RPA, President, BOMA/Suburban Chicago

BOMA combines business and issues

BOMA’s Winter Business Meeting and National Issues Conference were combined this year in Washington DC. At the Business Meeting sessions were held on Safety and Preparedness, Leadership Training, Careers in Real Estate, Social Media Strategy – yes BOMA is on Facebook, Linked-in, You Tube and Twitter!!

But my two favorite sessions were on the new release of The BOMA Standard of Floor Measurement and the launching of the new 360 Performance Program.

The BOMA Standard of Floor Measurement now includes two methods of measuring. Method A is the same as outlined in the original 1996 version. Method B, the single load factor, allows for a single load factor for all floors of a building. The new office standard is downloadable and features hyperlinks and full color illustrations.

The 360 Performance Program is a new Best In Practices tool. It is an on-line self-assessment of building operations and management. There are certain criteria such a Standard Operating Manual, which will be available for purchase mid February. Although just launched a few short months ago, there are currently 50 buildings that have earned the designation and a possible 40 more in progress.

The last two days were the National Issues Conference where six professionals from our local BOMA/Suburban Chicago went to Capitol Hill and met with Illinois representatives on various issues concerning the Real Estate Industry, such as Energy & Environmental Incentives, Building Codes, The Credit Crunch, etc.

Leasehold Depreciation is just one of the many very important issues. The law changed on January 1^st from a 15-year schedule to a 39-year schedule. The House passed a tax “extenders” bill, however, the bill also included a tax increase on carried interest as an offset, which means it is taxed as ordinary income (as high as 35%) vs. long term capital gains rate at 15%.

Real Estate is a long-term investment. Pensions funds, charities, and universities are typical investors in real estate. Returns to investors will diminish. Fewer deals will be done and the results could mean lower tax revenues. Activity in the commercial real estate world will diminish.

We met with Judy Biggert and two of her aides who were extremely friendly and knowledgeable. We shared information with them and they in return requested information from BOMA.

Let’s keep the message going!

PHOTO: BOMA/Suburban members met with Representatives Judy Biggert (R-Dist. 13). Pictured above, from the left, are Lance Knez, Sue Anderson, Rep. Judy Biggert, and Deborah Pyznarski.

from Steve Hrbek, RPA, Vice President, BOMA/Suburban Chicago

BOMA: Influencing outcomes

Wikipedia defines advocacy as "the pursuit of influencing outcomes -- including public policy and resource allocation decisions within political, economic, and social systems and institutions -- that directly affect people's current lives. (Cohen, 2001)" Advocacy is one of the core offerings that BOMA International provides to its members.

BOMA has full time staff to make sure that our advocacy issues are not only formulated properly, but are also brought as BOMA's message to our legislators. Led by Karen Penafiel, vice president of BOMA International, the staff continuously monitors any potential legislation that would affect our industry and speaks to legislators about these issues. At the recent Winter Business Meetings/ National Issues Conference in Washington D.C., I got a good overall view of each of the advocacy groups that BOMA International has. Here is an outline of what each one does and how each one affects each and every BOMA member.

BOMAPAC Counsel – BOMAPAC is BOMA International’s federal fundraising vehicle. It raises funds from individual BOMA members then gives those funds as contributions to members of the U.S. House of Representatives and U.S. Senate for who have shown strong support for commercial real estate issues. Last year, BOMAPAC gave over $50,000 in funds to 22 members of both the House and Senate.

Industry Defense Fund – This group funds various programs on a national, regional or local basis for the good of our commercial real estate industry. Recently, this fund paid for a study that shows how much our industry adds to the Gross National Product. This report is an excellent way to show each of our Representatives and Senators how important the commercial real estate industry is to the U.S. Economy.

State Government Affairs – led by James Cox of the BOMA International staff, assists locals and their efforts in getting regulations and laws passed in favor of commercial real estate.

The Energy and Environment Committee – handles anything involving energy and environment issues, including legislation toward those issues and making policies and recommendations for members to follow.

Building Codes – headed by Ron Burton, vice president of BOMA International, looks at all codes and regulatory issues, including the BOMA Floor Measurement Standard. The recent concern is a “national” building code that includes energy efficiency standards that may be too difficult to reach.

Government Affairs Committee – is a group made up of voting members of the chairs and vice chairs of the various advocacy committees. This group votes and approves the various real estate issues that BOMA members and BOMA staff that are the most important issues for our legislators to be aware and take action.

Every year, BOMA International invites the general membership to participate in the lobbying efforts and participate in the National Issues Conference. This year, it was held in conjunction with the Winter Business Meeting. The BOMA Advocacy staff, Karen Penafiel, Jason Todd and James Cox, gave us an overview of the issues that BOMA International and its committees believe are the ones that we should be taking as our message to Congress. After that training, we actually go to the representatives' offices with our message.

I have been very fortunate to attend the past three National Issues Conferences and am pleased to report that these meetings are very productive and many of our representatives see our issues and will do their best to assist us.

I would invite you to participate in advocacy issues for 2010. There are many ways to do this. First, plan to attend next year’s National Issues Conference. It is truly a great way to experience your government in action. Second, keep informed on all of the advocacy issues by following them on www.boma.org. Finally, plan to donate your personal money to BOMAPAC. These funds will help keep our word out in front of our legislators.

PHOTO: Steve Hrbek, left, discusses Leasehold Depreciation with Representative Bill Foster (D-14th).

from Lance Knez, RPA, Chairman, Government Affairs Committee, BOMA/Suburban Chicago

BOMA: Overcoming Gridlock in DC

When we set off from O’Hare Airport to Washington DC on February 2, 2010, we weren’t sure what we would find. The area recently was blanketed with snow, so we were concerned that the transportation system would be as gridlocked as the legislative system.

Though there was a lot of snow on the ground, we were pleased that our plane landed on time and the conference was only a short cab ride away. We arrived at the Hyatt Regency Washington on Capitol Hill and checked in immediately. As in prior years, our agenda for that day called for some training by BOMA International staff, a couple of presentations by House and Senator members, and then an entertaining panel discussion about the dos and don’ts of meeting with House and Senate members and staff.

The biggest impression of the first day was the extreme competence of the BOMA International team in preparing its property managers to head to Capitol Hill. We received a very organized set of materials that clearly outlined important issues from BOMA’s perspective.

The next day called for a few presentations in the morning and then meetings with House/Senate members and/or staff. Typically, the actual House/Senate members are too busy to meet with us so we sit down for a few minutes with their staff members. Part of our training by BOMA is that we should not be surprised by meeting with staff members due to the voting and travel schedules of the House/Senate members. With that said, we were able to meet in person the following day with Peter Roskam and Judy Biggert, longtime supporters of the real estate industry.

I was left with mixed emotions at the end of our second day. All of the House/Senate staff members were punctual and very professional. They were good listeners and understanding of our concerns. However, it dawned on me that we presented many of the same issues as in prior years. In other words, though we smoothly proceeded through our schedule and felt good about communicating our message, the gridlock in our Capitol was illustrated by the fact that we were talking to many of the same people about many of the same issues as in prior trips to Washington DC.

As a result, I think that we only can expect some marginal changes based on our efforts in Washington DC this trip and BOMA International’s ongoing efforts. It’s clear that the legislative fight to benefit the real estate industry is a marathon and not a sprint. With many other competing interests to consider, our ongoing participation in the process is critical in maintaining fair treatment of building owners and managers. Please consider joining the Government Affairs Committee if you are interested in supporting our cause.

from Deborah Pyznarski, RPA, Secretary-Treasurer, BOMA/Suburban Chicago

Changing the climate of our industry

Turmoil in our industry, increasing vacancies, decreasing budgets and everyone being expected to do more with less. Is there anything we can do to assist in changing the climate of our industry? The answer is Yes. We must take our message to Capital Hill and that is exactly what 6 of us did to start the month of February off.

With an industry that is unrecognized and misunderstood in Washington it is critical that all of us continue to remain educated on the issues affecting our industry and owners. Do you know what H.R. 2454; S 1733; S 1462 states for? I am willing to bet that you don’t and your owners probably are unaware of what those state for – add the bill name and chances are some of you might know a little about it – H.R. 245 – American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009; S 1462 – American Clean Energy Leadership Act of 2009 and S 1733 – Clean Energy Jobs and America Power Act. – still not sure – this is commonly known in our industry as "Cap and Trade." Do you know the effects of Cap and Trade on our industry and therefore your ability to perform your job? Most of us don’t; however, our advocacy group in Washington, D.C. does and they take time out of their busy schedule to train us how we can assist in bringing our message to Capitao Hill. Our representatives in Washington D.C. need to hear from us about issues important to us. Remember, the commercial industry is often grouped with the residential industry and as all of you know, we are very different!

This year we have several key issues we took to the Hill

Energy Efficiency Incentive Programs
Carried Interest Tax Treatment
Federalization of Building Codes
Commercial Real Estate Credit Crisis
Leasehold Depreciation Period

First and foremost on our minds was the pending Commercial Real Estate Credit Crisis. There is an average of $300 billion dollars in commercial real estate loans maturing EVERY year for the 10 years. There are not ample funds available to meet this ongoing demand for credit and this will have a sufficient impact on our ability to do our jobs. There is no easy answer to solving this problem but we must work with our leaders in DC to begin to address this crisis to prevent a significant amount of defaults on maturing loans. If this is not addressed the U.S. economy could face another setback in its recovery. In 2009, the office building industry contributed $118.4 billion to the U.S. economy.

Based on our meetings with Rep. Judy Biggert's office, Rep. Mark Kirk's office and Sen. Richard Durbin's office, I have been able to share with my owners that it looks favorable that the Carried Interest Tax Treatment will not occur at this time and it is possible that the tax extender that provides for 15 years depreciation as opposed to 39 years may be extended again.

We must remember that politics and policies start at the state level. The BOMA/Suburban Office does follow pending bills in Springfield and may call upon our membership to complete a Call to Action for pending issues. The Government Affairs Committee meets quarterly to discuss local, state and federal policies which affect our industry. I encourage you to get involved and protect our future as Building Managers and Owners.

from John Lambrecht, RPA, Immediate Past President, BOMA/Suburban Chicago

Out with the old and in with the new – or not ...

Having attended more BOMA International meetings and business sessions then I can count, I’ve certainly seen plenty of change. That’s the one thing that stuck with me the most about our recent trip to DC for the Winter Business Meeting and National Issues Conference.

I look around the rooms and see new leaders everywhere. New executive teams from all the locals, new International board members, new vendor partner representatives, and yes, even new BOMA Suburban Chicago leaders. Does that mean that the old leaders are gone? Not a chance. They are still very much involved.

There’s the belief that change is always associated with something ending and something else beginning. But is that always the case?

Not with BOMA. At BOMA it’s different. At BOMA it’s about real Teamwork.

People move around a little, but they’re still there and will always be there. They don’t just drop in and drop out. The things that drive people to be involved in the beginning don’t go away. In fact, they get stronger. They get stronger and our teams simply get larger. Change is good and new people bring new ideas to the table which is critical to any organization.

This does support the need to always have new involvement in the association. I can’t emphasize enough the value as well as the satisfaction of being part of such a great organization. There is always opportunity to be involved whether it’s serving on a committee, or being part of a task force and we always encourage entering for a TOBY, or even the New BOMA 360.

We hope to see more of you at the upcoming luncheons and other activities throughout the year. Be part of the new. Be part of the team. Be part of BOMA!