Commercial real estate professionals across Canada gathered in the ballroom at the iconic Fairmont Le Château Frontenac in Québec City for the Building Owners and Managers Association (BOMA) of Canada National Awards gala on September 17, 2015.
The evening was celebrated in conjunction with the twenty-fifth anniversary of BOMA’s national conference and exhibition BOMEX 2015.
BOMA Québec hosted this year’s event, which honoured Peter MacHardy, former BOMA Chair and vice-president of national commercial property management at GWL Realty Advisors Inc., with the 2015 BOMA Canada Chairman’s Award.
MacHardy’s storied career in operations and property management began 46 years ago in Montreal when he took a job as an apprentice electrician at Place Bonaventure, a Great West Life owned asset. After joining Eaton’s department store three years later, he was asked to work for the retail management team.
“His passion, however, as those of us who know him will undoubtedly agree, was for operations and not retail management,” Randal Forebelius, chair of BOMA Canada said to the gala crowd. “Luckily for us, and perhaps not so lucky for Eaton’s, he declined the offer.”
Instead, MacHardy spent 16 years at the retailer working in various roles, including overseeing the construction of several stores across Quebec. Ten years later, he was promoted to senior property manager and general manager of operations for Canderel, and was later offered a director’s position with GWL Realty Advisors where he spent 14 years before retiring in 2014. During his career, he spent time and energy fostering the talent of his employees, whom he views as a company’s true assets.
Throughout the ceremony, a total of 15 awards were handed out, recognizing industry achievements in regions such as Toronto, Quebec, Edmonton, Manitoba and Nova Scotia.
The Outstanding Building of the Year (TOBY) awards recognize quality commercial real estate buildings and excellence in building and industry management. Colliers International Canada earned a TOBY for managing the Mississauga Executive Centre 4, located on Robert Speck Parkway.
GWL Realty Advisors Inc. also garnered a TOBY for Commerce Court, a more than one-million square-foot building on King Street West in Toronto. Bentall Kennedy (Canada) LP and Oxford Properties Group earned TOBYs for Toronto-based buildings: 6880 Financial Drive in Mississauga; and heritage property 111 Richmond Street West, respectively. Crombie REIT’s CIBC building in Halifax, Nova Scotia also took home the coveted award.
Other TOBY’s went to iA Financial Group for managing iA Financial Group Head Office, a corporate facility in Quebec City; Morguard Investments Limited for Centre de la Cite Pointe-Claire in Point-Claire, Quebec; Industrielle Alliance’s renovated Le 2020 Robert-Bourassa in Montreal; and, lastly, Polo Park Shopping Centre, a retail building managed by The Cadillac Fairview Corporation Ltd.
Pinnacle awards, which celebrate organizations and industry service providers, were handed out to two recipients. In the customer service category, Oxford Properties Group’s Royal Bank Plaza on Bay Street in Toronto won, while Emergency Response Portal (ERP) Corp. in Ottawa received the award in the innovation category. ERP is a new Canadian service, helping property managers to better support municipal emergency services by granting them ‘eyes-on-scene’ during an emergency.
BOMA Canada presented four Earth awards honouring resource preservation and environmentally sound commercial building management. Montreal General Hospital/McGill University Health Centre (MUHC), located in Montreal and managed by the same hospital and university, was one recipient.
FPI Cominar’s Centropolis in Laval, Quebec, an outdoor retail complex, and ATB Place, an office building in Edmonton, Alberta; which is BOMA BEST Gold certified, has a green roof and is managed by Triovest Realty Advisors Inc., both won Earth awards.
Red River College’s Heavy Equipment Transportation Centre is the fourth Earth award winner. The industrial office building in Winnipeg is one of the largest industrial training facilities in Manitoba.
The night also marked the inaugural presentation of the BOMI Canada Vyetta Sunderland Scholarship Award, given to a student who is in pursuit of advancing his or her property management career or entering the property management field.
The $2,000 scholarship was awarded to Daniel Neaves a project consultant and facilities management coordinator with the London Health Science Centre – Victoria Hospital in London, Ontario.
Some category winners of the 2015 BOMA Canada National Awards may be eligible to compete in the BOMA International Awards, which will be presented at the BOMA International Every Building Conference and Expo awards gala taking place on June 28, 2016 in Washington, D.C.
Industry members were invited to join the Association next year in Regina, Saskatchewan for BOMEX 2016.
Here’s a complete list of the 2015 BOMA Canada National Awards winners.
