Canadian buildings have captured a large share of the 2023 Building Owners and Managers Association (BOMA) International TOBY Awards, representing the culmination of a three-step process to identify the year’s top achievers in 15 categories. Management teams in Toronto, Edmonton, Mississauga and Oakville claimed seven of those ultimate TOBYs last night as BOMA International’s annual conference and expo wrapped up in Kansas City, Missouri.
Joining the TOBY honourees, Don Fairgrieve-Park, a longtime BOMA stalwart based in western Canada, received the prestigious BOMA International Chair’s Award, while Elizabeth Han was named BOMA’s Canadian regional member of the year. Fairgrieve-Park is executive vice president, operational excellence, with QuadReal Property Group, a BOMA Fellow and a past chair of BOMA Canada. Han is director of property management with Warrington PCI Management in Vancouver.
“Canadian commercial real estate continues to thrive on the international stage,” says Benjamin Shinewald, president and chief executive officer of BOMA Canada.
Canadian buildings garnered three International TOBYs last year, seven in 2021 and three in 2020. Award recipients all emerged first at their local BOMA chapter level and then took honours at BOMA Canada’s national awards before advancing to the North American arena. The 2023 nominee field encompassed 63 buildings located in nine BOMA International regions in the United States, Canada and Mexico.
Menkes Developments was a multiple winner this year, taking awards in the Earth category for 25 York Street, Toronto, and the Industrial category for the Kennedy Matheson industrial complex in Mississauga.
The other Canadian winners are:
- 85 Hanna Avenue, Toronto, in the category of Office buildings no greater than 100,000 square feet, owned by First Capital and managed by FCR Management Services;
- 2265-2275 Upper Middle Road East, Oakville, in the category of Suburban midrise office, managed by Fengate Asset Management;
- HSBC Place, Edmonton, in the category of Office buildings in the range of 250,000 to 499,999 square feet, owned by Alberta Investment Management Corporation and managed by Epic Investment Services;
- North York Square, Toronto, in the Corporate Facility category, owned by Crown Realty III Limited Partnership and managed by Crown Property Management; and
- Yonge Sheppard Centre, Toronto, in the Renovated building category, owned by RioCan REIT and managed by RioCan Management.
The conference and expo also marked the end of an active and successful year for another Canadian, with Randal Froebelius completing his term as BOMA International chair. He is the president and general manager of Toronto-based Equity ICI Real Estate Services and has held many prominent roles during a longstanding membership with BOMA Toronto and BOMA Canada.
“Of the many impressive and important accomplishments achieved under Randal’s leadership, none are more noteworthy than our new partnership with BOMA International to take our made-in-Canada BOMA BEST program into the United States and around the world,” Shinewald says.
