The Canadian commercial real estate industry gathered in downtown Regina, Saskatchewan last night to celebrate the Building Owners and Managers Association (BOMA) of Canada National Awards.
The gala evening topped off the twenty-sixth anniversary of BOMEX—the association’s annual conference and exhibition. BOMA Regina hosted this year’s event, which was held downtown at the Delta Regina.
The Outstanding Building of the Year (TOBY) awards were presented in recognition of quality commercial real estate buildings and excellence in industry and building management. Judging is based on a number of factors ranging from tenant relations and community impact to energy conservation. Entrants must be BOMA BEST certified. This year, ten TOBYs were presented to four buildings in Alberta and six in Ontario.
The Cadillac Fairview Corporation was feted with two TOBYs, one for managing the CF Toronto Eaton Centre and one for the Platinum BOMA BEST-certified Toronto-Dominion Centre, a more than one-million square-foot building in downtown Toronto.
The third Toronto-based building to earn a TOBY was 155 University Avenue, managed by GWL Realty Advisors. The Kennedy Matheson Industrial Complex, located in Mississauga and managed by Menkes Property Management Services, also won this top award.
Dream Office Management Corporation won for managing London City Centre in London, Ontario, while Bentall Kennedy earned a TOBY for 3115 Harvester Road, located in Burlington, Ontario.
Four other TOBYs honoured buildings in Alberta. Bentall Kennedy was feted with two more awards for managing Calgary’s Intact Place and East Calgary Health Centre. Edmonton’s Air Terminal Building, a corporate facility managed by Edmonton Airports and Triffo Hall, a historical building in Edmonton, managed by the University of Alberta, also won TOBY awards.
Pinnacle awards, which celebrate organizations and industry service providers, were handed out to three recipients. In the Above & Beyond category, Paladin Security Group in Edmonton, Alberta earned this award, due to the efforts of one of its employees Mark Bakos. Oxford Properties Group’s One University Avenue in Toronto won in the Customer Service category, while Triovest Realty Advisors Inc. and Refined Risk in Toronto received the award in the Innovation category. In 2014, Triovest partnered with Refined Risk to co-develop and implement an innovative sustainability management system, which can be used by any real estate asset and property manager to identify and mitigate environmental and sustainability risk and drive positive change.
BOMA Canada also presented four Earth awards honouring resource preservation and environmentally sound commercial building management. Recipients included London Life RAM Centre, a light industrial building in London, Ontario, managed by GWL Realty Advisors Inc. and London Life Insurance Company. Carré Queen Mary, a multi-unit residential building in Montreal, managed by First Capital Realty Management Services LP, also won.
Rockland Centre in Ville Mont-Royal, Quebec, an upscale mall managed by FPI Cominar and 25 York Street, a 30-floor office tower in Toronto, managed by Menkes Property Management Services, also won Earth awards. Both buildings are Platinum BOMA BEST certified.
After 17 awards were handed out across three categories, Philip Jago, former director of the Buildings Division of Natural Resources Canada’s Office of Energy Efficiency, was presented with the BOMA Canada Chairman’s award for his exceptional contribution to the success of BOMA Canada and his longstanding leadership in the commercial real estate industry.
“In 1971, before some of you were even born, our winner was hired as a student labourer for a local house builder in Brockville, Ontario,” Don Fairgrieve-Park, chair of BOMA Canada said to the crowd. “One of his very first tasks was helping insulate houses – before the term energy crisis had entered into the popular vernacular.”
Soon after graduating university, Jago rose through the ranks of NRCan, first as an Information Officer for the Ener$ave Heatline. He then went on to help design, develop and deliver energy efficiency programs in Canada’s residential, industrial and commercial/institutional sectors, as well as shape the country’s earlier climate change initiatives
While director of the Buildings Division, he oversaw the development and publication of the National Energy of Code for Buildings 2011 and 2016 and was responsible for bringing the ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager to Canada, something which is now fully integrated into BOMA BEST 3.0.
Jago retired earlier this year, after a remarkable 36-year career of public service.
Another high point of the evening included the presentation of the BOMI Canada Vyetta Sunderland Scholarship Award to Constance Davis, property manager at Strategic Group. This award is given to a student who is in pursuit of advancing his or her property management career or entering the property management field.
This year’s entrants represent the exceptional efforts made by those whose leadership and initiative are the benchmark for the industry. Winners of the 2016 BOMA Canada National Awards may be eligible to compete in the BOMA International TOBY Awards presented at the BOMA International Conference and Expo June 29, 2017 in Nashville, Tennessee.
The gala concluded with an invitation for industry members to join the Association next year in Toronto for BOMEX 2017.
View all of the 2016 BOMA Canada National Award winners here.
Photo by Calvin Fehr
