May-June 2020

AMAZ NG BU LDINGS 12/ YOU NEED (OR MIGHT WANT) TO KN W 48/

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THE BLUEPRINT

FEATURES

14 18

THE TOBY AWARDS

BOMA’s 2020 (The) Outstanding Building of the Year Southwest Regional Award winners.

A PICTORIAL PROFILE OF ZAHA HADID

The Iraqi-British architect is arguably the most female architect of her time.

20 DUBAI EXPO 2020

Now postponed, until next year, the largest event in expo history will have some truly astounding buildings.

FORCE MAJEURE –HAVE YOU BEEN CONSTRUCTIVELY EVICTED BY THE CORONAVIRUS?

Attorney Michael Ostermeyer examines landlord-tenant issues resulting from Covid-19.

CONTRACT FORCE MAJEURE AND SUSPENSION RIGHTS IN A CORONAVIRUS ENVIRONMENT

Attorney Dina Parks looks at construction contracts in the time of a pandemic.

31

TEXAS KNEW A PANDEMIC WAS COMING

The Fort-Worth Star-Telegram’s Bud Kennedy shows how the state legislature botched it.

32

AMAZ NG BU LDINGS –CHELSEA’S LATEST “WHAT IF” – LANTERN HOUSE

Contributing Editor Angela O’Byrne examines a building designed from the outset to be a classic.

34

LOS ANGELES IS SYNONYMOUS WITH MODERN ARCHITECTURE

A pictorial of some of the city’s most memorable commercial buildings.

THE 2020 PRITZKER PRIZE

Irish architects Shelley McNamara and Yvonne Farrell are this year’s winner of this coveted recognition.

37

DESIGNING OFFICE BUILDINGS TO RESPOND TO THE CORONAVIRUS

38

FIVE WAYS AUTOMATION IS RESHAPING THE VACATION RENTAL INDUSTRY

Pam Knudson discusses the impact on short-term rentals.

Gensler’s Kevin Heinly offers advice on how to protect yourself from the Covid-19 pandemic. 39

THINK LIKE A DECISION MAKER

A book summary of Juliet Huck’s latest work.

WE DON’T HAVE THE BUDGET FOR THIS

A summary of Andrew Sobel’s book –It Starts With Clients

44

A PICTORIAL PROFILE OF RENZO PIANO

One of the most respected, prolific and innovative artists of the modern era.

42 47

IMPORTANT VOICES: THE BIOTECH CENTURY AHEAD

Walter Isaacson examines how editing our genes could make us immune to viruses.

48

–ANDREW CARNEGIE

Contributing Editor Rose-Mary Rumbley looks at the library contributions of this famous philanthropist.

49

THE PAGE

A decade before Rosa Parks, there was Irene Morgan | Custer’s Last Stand.

50

EGAL VIEW –THE SPECTRUM OF NEGLIGENCE

Attorney and Contributing Editor Anthony Barbieri explains the distinction between ordinary and gross negligence.

52

ARTCH TECTURE –MAKING A LASTING IMPRESSION

Austin-based impressionist painter Robin Cheers captures the human spirit.

54

OTSO

Founder Marissa Limsiaco offers a new financing mechanism where tenants can replace their security deposits in exchange for a nominal increase in rent.

ABOUT US

Now in our 28th year, we’ve outgrown the ability the list all of our real estate affiliated associations and include their logos on just one page. reaches over 50,000 Texas real estate professionals quarterly! We proudly serve and service any and all real estate associations in the state of Texas - including (but not necessarily limited to) the ones you see here. If your group isn’t shown and you’d like for us to include pictures, information and event-coverage, please let us know. Email: editor@crestnetwork.com or call the number above.

EXECUTIVE STAFF

ANDREW A. FELDER: Publisher/Managing Editor. aafelder@crestpublicationsgroup.com

XENIA MONTERO: Graphic Designer. xeniam.design@gmail.com

ANNETTE LAWLESS: Social Media Manager. annettelawless@hotmail.com

MARK ANGLE: Director of Business Development. mark@crestnetwork.com

CONTRIBUTING EDITORS

ANGELA O’BYRNE, AIA: Amazing Buildings.

ROSE-MARY RUMBLEY: Herstory.

ANTHONY BARBIERI: Legal.

JULIE BRAND LYNCH: Professionals on the Move.

ADVISORY BOARD

ANDY GABEHART: President & CEO of Office Interiors Group, 247Workspace.com, United Electronics Recycling.

KIM GHEZ: Director of Marketing, Presidio Title.

KRISTIN HIETT, CAE: Executive Director/CEO – IREM Dallas Chapter.

KIM HOPKINS: Executive Director, CREW Dallas.

JONATHAN KRAATZ: Executive Director, USGBC Texas Chapter.

MYCHELE LORD: CEO, Lord Green Strategies.

DOUG MCMURRY: Executive Vice President, San Antonio AGC.

LAURA MCDONALD STEWART, RID, FASID, ILDA LEED AP: Editor of PLINTH and CHINTZ, an interior design blog and Manager of METROCON Expo and Conference.

JESSICA WARRIOR: Director of Property Management, Granite Properties.

STAFF, EDITORS & ADVISORY BOARD

AFFILIATE

A cover to cover gem!

Mike F. (Arlington, TX)

...truly a brighter, lighter side of real estate. Marti C. (Freehold, NJ)

You can’t go anywhere without seeing a copy of .

Chad R. (Fort Worth, TX)

...entertaining and informative.

Carla C. (New Braunfels, TX)

quality or timeliness of any Content. Change of address: Mail to address above or email editor@crestpublicationsgroup.com

The CREST Publications Group, 2537 Lubbock Avenue Fort Worth, TX 76109. All rights reserved. All information contained herein (including, but not limited to, articles, opinions, reviews, text, photographs, images, illustrations, trademarks, service marks and the like (collectively the “Content”) is protected by copyright and other intellectual property laws. The Content is the property of The CREST Publications Group and/or third party licensors. You may not modify, publish, transmit, transfer, sell, reproduce, create derivative work from, distribute, republish, display, or in any way commercially exploit any of the Content or infringe upon trademarks or service marks contained in such Content. GENERAL DISCLAIMER AND LIMITATION OF LIABILITY: the network magazine contains facts, views, opinions, statements and recommendations of third party individuals and organizations. The publisher does not represent or endorse the accuracy or reliability of any advice, opinion, statement or other information displayed and any reliance upon same shall be at the viewer’s sole risk. The publisher makes no guarantees or representations as to, and shall have no liability for, any content delivered by any third party, including, without limitation, the accuracy, subject matter,

Laura McDonald

Andy Gabehart. Kim Ghez. Kristin Hiett. Kim Hopkins. Jonathan Kraatz. Mychele Lord. Doug McMurry. Stewart. Jessica Warrior.

Rose-Mary Anthony

Andrew A. Felder. Xenia Montero. Annette Lawless. Mark Angle. Angela O’Byrne. Rumbley. Barbieri. Julie Brand Lynch.

Our Digital Edition is an exact replica of the printed magazine, only better! Browse, save articles, or even check the archives for something you want to read again!

CONTRIBUTING WRITERS

ANTHONY BARBIERI (P. 50) is a shareholder at Kessler Collins, where he enjoys a broad legal practice. He has been a speaker for ICSC, IREM, and BOMA, has taught continuing legal education seminars, and has been named a Texas Super Lawyer Rising Star for many years, as well as being a Fellow of the Litigation Counsel of America. He and his wife, Cathy, enjoy traveling and spending time with their extended families, getting involved in their church and supporting the community through various programs – including raising awareness of muscular dystrophy, education and exercise to fight heart disease, providing care and treatment for autism, and counseling domestic-violence victims. He is also a Contributing Editor of

J. KEVIN HEINLY (P. 37) is the Managing Director of the San Diego office of Gensler. He has been a pivotal force for client development, project leadership, and strategic vision and has successfully diversified the San Diego practice, growing the team from 20 to 100, through collaboration with industry-leading clients, including private companies, public REITs, colleges and universities, and government entities. In addition to being an active member of organizations like the Urban Land Institute and the Downtown San Diego Partnership, he serves on the Board of Directors for the NAIOP San Diego Chapter and is an Advisory Board Member to the NewSchool of Architecture and Design. He earned a Bachelor of Arts in Architecture from Lehigh University and a Master of Architecture from the University of Maryland.

WALTER ISAACSON (P. 47) is a graduate of Harvard College and of Pembroke College of Oxford University, where he was a Rhodes Scholar. He is a Professor of History at Tulane and an advisory partner at Perella Weinberg, a financial services firm based in New York City. A past CEO of the Aspen Institute, where he is now a Distinguished Fellow, he has also been the chairman of CNN and the editor of TIME magazine. His most recent biography, Leonardo da Vinci (2017), offers new discoveries about Leonardo’s life and work, weaving a narrative that connects his art to his science. He is also the author of The Innovators: How a Group of Hackers, Geniuses, and Geeks

Created the Digital Revolution (2014), Steve Jobs (2011), Einstein: His Life and Universe (2007), Benjamin Franklin: An American Life (2003), and Kissinger: A Biography (1992), and coauthor of The Wise Men: Six Friends and the World They Made (1986).He is a host of the show “Amanpour and Company” on PBS and CNN, a contributor to CNBC, and host of the podcast “Trailblazers, from Dell Technologies.”

BUD KENNEDY (P. 31) is a journalist for the Fort-Worth Star-Telegram. A home-grown Fort Worth guy, he started out covering high school football when he was 16 and then went to the Fort Worth Press and newspapers in Austin and Dallas. He returned to Fort Worth in 1981. Since 1987, he has written more than 1,000 weekly dining columns and more than 3,000 news and politics columns. His columns run on Sundays, Wednesdays and Fridays.

JULIET HUCK (P. 39) is the author of The Equation of Persuasion, and founder of the Academy of Persuasion e-learning series. She has blazed a trail in the uncharted territory of Persuasive Communications for 25 years. She has been retained by some of the nation’s most prestigious organizations, corporations and law firms and has assisted in moving billion-dollar projects forward, securing billions of dollars in decisions through her proven process. From the Enron Litigation to a billion-dollar Exxon project, she has been involved in the strategic development and visual communications for some of the corporate world’s largest projects to date as well as the nation’s top high profile and high-dollar exposure litigation.

PAMELA KNUDSEN

(P. 38) is Director of Compliance at Avalara MyLodgeTax, leading the lodging tax team and Returns Experience/Reconciliation team for Sales & Use. She serves as a leading voice in vacation rental tax compliance and regulation, in addition to bringing in-depth experience across software/SaaS technology as well as ERP systems. Pam joined Avalara in 2012.

MARISSA LIMSIACO (P. 54) is President and Co-founder of Otso, an Austin based company aiming to replace cash deposits in commercial real estate leases. She is a West Point graduate and decorated combat veteran who served five years of active duty with the United States Army as a logistician and company commander responsible for over 108 soldiers. She has over 15 years of leadership experience and has been involved in both technology startups and the commercial real estate industry for the past decade. In her civilian career, she has developed numerous technology products and services in various private sector industries as well as the federal government.

MICHAEL OSTERMEYER (P. 26) is a Partner in the law firm Ballard Spahr which has over 650 attorneys in 15 offices. He is based in Phoenix, and has 30 years of experience representing national, regional, and governmental owners and investors in public development and infrastructure projects, developing commercial, institutional, and industrial real estate, and portfolio management, including restructuring and disposition in distress situations A strategic, results-oriented advocate, he oversees the handling of significant real estate assets, including multisite portfolios and is known for his ability to provide seasoned, practical solutions that reflect the client’s business context.

ANGELA O’BYRNE (P. 32) is the president of national architecture, design-build, and real estate development firm Perez, APC. She champions the principles of smart growth in her home community of New Orleans and in her frequent travels across the country and abroad. Born in Cali, Colombia, Angela is a licensed architect in over a dozen states, a licensed general contractor in Louisiana, a Fellow of the American Institute of Architects, and a member of the National CREW Network (Commercial Real Estate Women) Board of Directors. A singer, golfer, music-lover, and globetrotter, she relishes spending free time with her three grown children and large extended family. She is a Contributing Editor of and her Amazing Buildings feature appears in every issue.

ROSE-MARY RUMBLEY (P. 48) holds a Ph.D. in communications from the University of North Texas. She is a wellknown speaker in Texas and enjoys researching each and every topic. She is a Contributing Editor of and Herstory appears in every issue.

DIANA PARKS (P. 27) is Chair of the law firm of Dorsey and Whitney’s Infrastructure and Public-Private Partnerships Industry Practice Group. Based in Southern California, she has extensive experience advising both private and public clients in all aspects of complex development and infrastructure pursuits and project execution. She has led projects for large developers, investors and designbuild teams, and interacted as the lead representative to consortiums on the strategic aspects of development, P3 and design-build pursuits, including negotiation of the joint venture and teaming agreements, procurement and development documents, drop-down agreements, sub-contracts, and other ancillary documents.

YOU NEED (OR MIGHT WANT) TO KNOW Editor’s note

ANDREW FELDER aafelder@crestpublicationsgroup.com Managing Editor & Publisher

A COCKEYED OPTIMIST

ThaT’s whaT my moTher used to call me when I was little. It comes from a song in the 1956 Broadway musical South Pacific in which, even though they haven’t known each other very long, a U.S. Navy nurse named Nellie Forbush and a French plantation owner named Emile de Becque fall in love. Many people are afraid of the outcome of the war, so Nellie reassures Emile that everything will turn out fine.

When the sky is bright canary yellow

I forget ev’ry cloud I’ve ever seen

So they called me a cockeyed optimist

Immature and incurably green

I have heard people rant and rave and bellow

That we’re done and we might as well be dead

But I’m only a cockeyed optimist

And I can’t get it into my head

I hear the human race

Is fallin’ on its face

And hasn’t very far to go

But ev’ry whip-poor-will Is sellin’ me a bill

And tellin’ me it just ain’t so

I could say life is just a bowl of Jell-O And appear more intelligent and smart But I’m stuck like a dope With a thing called hope And I can’t get it out of my heart! Not this heart

The world has changed dramatically since our last issue. The ubiquitous and somewhat casual phrase of ‘Take care’ has seemingly been replaced with the more sincere (but somewhat foreboding) ‘Be safe’. We glance at each other on the street with an odd mixture of connection and fear – as if we are all potential viral vectors. Life as we know it has been suspended.

You probably will notice that our In The Loop calendar doesn’t appear in this issue. That’s because our affiliate groups have postponed or canceled in-person meetings and events in accordance with governmental guidelines. For that same reason, we have less affiliate news to report as well. But be sure to check out the Message Board on page 57. Think positive thoughts. We will get through this – together.

REMEMBER, RIGHT NOW...

Somebody is very proud of you. Somebody is thinking of you. Somebody is caring about you. Somebody misses you.

Somebody wants to talk to you. Somebody wants to be with you. Somebody hopes you are not in trouble.

Somebody is thankful for the support you have provided. Somebody wants to hold your hand.

Somebody hopes everything turns out all right.

Somebody wants you to be happy. Somebody wants you to find him/ her.

Somebody wants to give you a gift.

Somebody wants to hug you. Somebody thinks you are a gift. Somebody admires your strength.

MORE TO CONSIDER (AROUND THE CORNER)

Somebody wants to protect you. Somebody can’t wait to see you. Somebody loves you for who you are.

Somebody treasures your spirit. Somebody is glad that you’re their friend.

Somebody wants to get to know you better.

Somebody wants to be near you. Somebody wants you to know they are there for you. Somebody would do anything for you.

Somebody wants to share their dreams with you.

Somebody is alive because of you. Somebody needs your support. Somebody will cry when they read this.

Somebody needs you to have faith in them.

Somebody trusts you.

Somebody hears a song that reminds them of you. Somebody needs you to share this with them.

Around the comer I have a friend In this great city that has no end Yet the days go by and weeks rush on, And before I know it, a year is gone And I never see my old friend’s face, For life is a swift and difficult race, He knows I like him just as well, As in the days when I rang his bell, We were younger then. Now busy and tired, women and men. Tired of playing a foolish game, Tired of trying to make a name. “Tomorrow,” I say, “I will call on JimJust to show that I’m thinking of him.” But tomorrow comes and tomorrow goes, And the distance between us grows and grows. Around the comer! - yet miles away. Here’s a telegram, sir- Jim died today. And that’s what we get and deserve in the end. Around the corner, a vanished friend.

If you love someone, tell him or her and remember always to say what you mean. Take this opportunity to tell someone what they mean to you. Seize the day and have no regrets. Most importantly, stay close to your friends and family, for they have helped make you the person that you are, and they are what it’s all about anyway. The difference between expressing love and having regrets is that the regrets may last forever. n

If it weren't for marriage, men would go through life thinking they had no faults at all.

(The magazine) looks awesome! Packed with so much interesting information.

Lilet Lim, New York, NY

Excellent things to do during these difficult times.

Jay Hedges, Mansfield, TX

Just wanted to say how much I enjoy reading your publication cover to cover each month. The contest at the end is a nice reward that I look forward to.

Bob Byrd, Fort Worth, TX

I really enjoyed the new issue.  There is so much knowledge on diverse subjects contained in it.  I learned a lot and, as always, enjoyed the humor you included.  Congratulations!

Robert Fielder, Boca Raton, FL

True Dat is my favorite part of the magazine. It is very artistically laid out and always has interesting information.

Yolanda Gutierrez, San Antonio, TX

Kudos to those Michigan colleges (Lake Superior State and Wayne State) who want to bring back and get rid of certain words – and thank you for including them (and their websites) in the network. Stuck at home because of the health crisis, I’m becoming a logophile ( a lover of words), so I went to both of their websites and enjoyed myself immensely (a lot)!

Michelle Hunter, Houston, TX

ON THE COVER

AUSTIN

BY ROBIN CHEERS

Austin by featured artist Robin Cheers is a special scene capturing the bustle of the capital city’s growing downtown. Things have changed dramatically in the last 20 years since the artist has been painting her hometown city. Urban scenes are often featured in Cheers’ work. As a contemporary impressionist, she paints “slice of life” scenes focused on the figure in modern settings. Drawing inspiration from bustling streets, to the calming coast or homey interiors, she captures scenes filled with light and life in her unique oil paintings.

HELP WANTED

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AFFILI TE NEWS

The newest edition of Shared Parking, a landmark publication and a crucial source for estimating, planning and implementing parking across the most diversified use cases for mixed use development, was released today by the Urban Land Institute (ULI), National Parking Association (NPA) and International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC).

First printed in 1983 with a subsequent update released in 2005, Shared Parking has been an industry-standard book that highlights recommended parking allocations for planners and developers. The book provides a fundamental grounding in technical guidelines to assist developers of all types in considering the best parking allocations for their development.

“Communities benefit from shared parking because it reduces traffic and encourages walking,” said W. Edward Walter, global chief executive officer of the Urban Land Institute. “Getting the number of parking spaces right is also critical to managing costs while supporting vibrant, mixed-use developments. This book has been a musthave on this topic for developers and planners for years. I believe the industry will welcome this new edition, which includes more land uses, updated parking ratios, and the impact of trends that will help them estimate parking based on their tenant mix.”

Now in its third edition, this authoritative book has been updated throughout by author Mary S. Smith, a ULI member and leading parking expert, in collaboration with parking professionals and developers. It includes many additional land uses and revised parking ratios.

Other updates to the third edition of Shared Parking include:

• An expanded number of land use conditions (from 20 to 32), along with creating recommended default values for each use that are modernized for time of day and seasonality;

• Expert opinions and advice on how to determine appropriate assumptions on driving and non-captive adjustments;

• An adjusted calculation tool in Excel to account for changes over the past decade that have changed the future of parking space usage; and

• Thought leadership on future trends, such as autonomous vehicles, ride sharing services and scooters.

This book is essential reading for developers, planners, government agencies, consultants, and engineers, and comes in two versions. The first version is the book itself and is available as a hardcopy or e-book. The second version, available only as a hard copy, comes with a powerful Excel model which will help developers calculate exactly how much parking they need for a wide variety of project types and variables.

Shared Parking: Third Edition (ISBN 9780874204278) is available through ULI’s online bookstore for $155.95 (book only) or for $649.95 (book + Excel file; ISBN 978087424438). ULI members receive a 25-percent discount; for details, e-mail customerservice@uli.org or call 800-321-5011. The book is also available on Amazon

NOTE TO READERS: A copy of Shared Parking: Third Edition, is available as a prize in this month’s contest. Please see the inside back cover.

On March 12th, the Texas chapter of the Institute of Classical Architecture and Art – Texas Chapter on March 12th, 2020 met at the Coates Chapel at the South West School of Art in downtown San Antonio. Historian Maria Watson Pfeiffer, and president of the Earthen Construction Initiative Stephen Colley, joined forces for the event - “Science & History: San Antonio’s Story with Earthen Construction”. The two topics discussions in this lecture tied together what can be described as two of San Antonio’s most definable characteristics, history and sustainable architecture. n

Police were called to a day care where a three-year-old was resisting a rest.

PresidenT KrisTen Jaffe inTroduced Attorney and Contributing Editor of Anthony Barbieri whose enjoyable and informative presentation at the Ridglea Country Club was the chapter’s last event before the coronavirus stay-at-home guidelines went into effect.

ANOTHER OBAMANABLE CHANGE IN ANTI-DISCRIMINATIONIN THE ERA OF TRUMP

wiTh The daily disruPTions, rollbacks, falsifications, and divisiveness that has become the daily political diet in the U.S., here’s one important change that hasn’t received much attention: It was announced last November that the Department of Health and Human Services – which provides about $500 billion in grants annually, more than any other federal agency - would no longer require organizations and non-profits to comply with rules that prohibit discrimination of the basis of religion, gender identity and sexual orientation. That effectively stops enforcement of rules put into effect in 2016 under the Obama administration.

Now, apparently, you can say, “Yes, I’m a non-profit governmentally funded walk-in clinic – but not for you, because you’re too old, or you’re disabled, or you’re of a certain race, religion or sexual orientation.”

The agency said it was taking these extraordinary steps because the Obama administration did not properly ensure that the 2016 rules wouldn’t have a significant economic impact on small organizations. Instead, it is proposing a rule that would protect faith-based organizations from denying services to people of other religions or to gays or transgender individuals, claiming the Obama rule imposed unfair burdens on religious organizations by forcing them to violate their religious beliefs or conscience to continue to receive federal funds.

Is this upholding religious freedom? The Trump administration says it is. Last year, just as one example, Miracle Hill Ministries – a non-profit in South Carolina that provides homeless and fostering services – got a special waiver from HHS so that it could continue receiving federal grant money even though they only work with Protestant parents and have denied the services of their mentoring and fostering program to members of other faiths.

Ed: In and of itself, this action is of questionable legality. There are laws which govern how federal agencies make rules and one of those says that there must be a new rule on the books (after an appropriate public comment period) before an agency can stop enforcing a rule that is already on the books.

The male praying mantis cannot copulate while its head is attached to its body. The female initiates sex by ripping the males head off. (Honey, I'm home. What the...?!)

YOU NEED (OR MIGHT WANT) TO KNOW YOU NEED (OR MIGHT WANT) TO KN W

Did you hear about the guy whose whole left side was cut off?

THE SUMMER SOLSTICE

The summer solsTice is the longest day of the year and the shortest night. In the Northern Hemisphere this year, it will take place on June 20th and, in Texas, it’ll be around 4:43 PM. (It takes place between June 20 and 22, depending on the year and the local time zone.) Solstices are opposite on either side of the equator, so the summer solstice in the Northern Hemisphere is the winter solstice in the Southern Hemisphere, and vice versa.

‘Solstice’ (Latin: ‘solstitium’) means ‘sun-stopping’, because the point where the sun appears to rise and set stops and reverses direction after this day. The first day of spring, summer, fall and winter can either be defined using astronomical events like solstices and equinoxes, or they can be determined based on meteorological factors, such as average temperatures.

One of the world’s oldest evidence of the summer solstice’s importance in culture is Stonehenge in England. Stonehenge is a monument that aligns to

the midsummer sunrise and the midwinter sunset. On the summer solstice, the sun rises behind the Heel Stone, the ancient entrance to the Stone Circle, and rays of sunlight are channeled into the center of the monument.

HALLMARK HOLIDAY

He’s all right now.

in The uniTed sTaTes, a Hallmark holiday is one that is perceived to exist primarily for commercial purposes, rather than to commemorate a traditionally or historically significant event. The name comes from Hallmark Cards, a privately owned American company,

that benefits from such manufactured events through sales of greeting cards and other items. Holidays that have been referred to as “Hallmark holidays” include Grandparents Day, Sweetest Day, Boss’s Day, Administrative Professionals’ Day, Teacher Appreciation Day, International Women’s Day, and International Men’s Day. The Hallmark corporation maintains that it “can’t take credit for creating holidays.” (Mother’s Day, Father’s Day and Valentine’s Day existed long before Hallmark came about. And, just FYI, National Boss's Day began in 1958, but Hallmark didn’t begin selling Boss’s Day cards until 1979.) n

DIVERSI NS THE LIGHTER SIDE OF THE PANDEMIC

Half of us are going to come out of this quarantine as amazing cooks. The other half will come out with a drinking problem.

I used to spin the toilet paper roll like I was on Wheel of Fortune. Now I turn it like I’m cracking a safe. I need to practice social distancingfrom the refrigerator.

I still haven’t decided where to go for Easter - the living room or the bedroom.

For the most part, homeschooling is going well. In Texas, 2 students were suspended for fighting and 1 teacher was fired for drinking on the job. This morning I saw a neighbor talking to her cat. It was obvious she thought her cat understood her. I came into my house and told my dog. We laughed a lot. Day 5 of Homeschooling: One of these little monsters called in a bomb threat. Better 6 feet apart than 6 feet under.

Quarantine Day 5: Went to this restaurant called THE KITCHEN. You have to gather all the ingredients and make your own meal. I have no clue how this place is still in business.

My body has absorbed so much soap and disinfectant lately that when I pee it cleans the toilet.

I’m so excited! It’s time to take out the garbage. But, what should I wear?

Classified Ad: Single man with toilet paper seeks woman with hand sanitizer for good clean fun.

Day 6 of Homeschooling: My child just said, “I hope I don’t have the same teacher next year.”  I’m offended.

The world has turned upside down. Old folks are sneaking out of the house, and their kids are yelling at them to stay indoors!

You think it’s bad now? In 20 years, our country will be run by people homeschooled by day drinkers. This virus has done what no woman had been able to do... cancel all sports, shut down all bars, and keep men at home!!!

Do not call the police on suspicious people in your neighborhood! Those are your neighbors without makeup and hair extensions!

2019: Stay away from negative people. 2020: Stay away from positive people. Since we can’t eat out, now’s the perfect time to eat better, get fit, and stay healthy. We’re quarantined! Who are we trying to impress? We have snacks, we have sweatpants – use them!

Day 7 at home and the dog is looking at me like, “See? This is why I chew the furniture!”

Does anyone know if we can take showers yet or should we just keep washing our hands???

I never thought the comment “I wouldn’t touch him/her with a 6-foot pole” would become a national policy, but here we are!

Me: Alexa, what’s the weather this weekend?

Alexa: It doesn’t matter – you’re not going anywhere.

I swear my fridge just said, “What the hell do you want now?”

since 1985, Boma’s ouTsTanding Building of the Year Award has been recognizing excellence in building management, operating efficiency, tenant retention, emergency planning and community impact. The Southwest region is composed of local chapters from Arkansas, Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas – a total of 13 chapters in all. In April (this year in Oklahoma City), they were supposed to meet to confer the (Regional) Outstanding Building of the Year awards. Due to the coronavirus, that meeting and the award ceremony had to be held online. The buildings featured on these pages were the winners. Congratulations to all! In late June, at the annual convention of BOMA International (as we went to press, still scheduled to take place in Philadelphia), they will compete to win the International TOBY awards – and those buildings will be featured in our September edition. Good luck to all of the regional winners!

SOUTHWEST REGION LOCAL CHAPTERS

Arkansas–Greater Little Rock, Northwest Arkansas.

Louisiana – New Orleans, Shreveport. New Mexico – Albuquerque.

Oklahoma City – Oklahoma City, Tulsa. Texas – Austin, Corpus Christi, Dallas, Fort Worth, Houston, San Antonio. n

AFFILI TE NEWS

é 250,000 – 499,999 Square Feet. Building: Amegy Tower.

Management Company: Gemini Rosemont Commercial Real Estate.

Property Manager: Sarah Sutton.

é 250,000 – 499,999 Square Feet. Building: One Warren Place.

Management Company: Hines Interests Limited Partnership.

Property Manager: Scott Mitchell, RP0.

é Mixed Use Building. Building: Pavilion in the Park.

Greater Little Rock.

Management Company: Hines Interests Limited Partnership.

Property Manager: Teresa Kreis.

é 100,000 – 249,999 Square Feet. Building: FOURTEEN5.

Greater Dallas.

Management Company: Cawley Partners.

Property Manager: Teresa Shiller.

When fish are in schools, they sometimes take debate.

é Suburban Office Park – Low Rise. Building: Las Cimas II and III. Austin.

Management Company: Cushman & Wakefield.

Property Manager: Adam Benoit.

é Corporate Building. Building: The Schlumberger Building. Oklahoma City.

Management Company: CBRE, Inc.

Property Manager: Leif Nelson, RPA, CPM.

é Medical Office Building.

Building: Baylor Scott & White Charles A. Sammons Cancer Center.

Greater Dallas.

Management Company: Physicians Realty Trust.

Property Manager: Susan Leinweaver, RPA, FMA, CPM.

é 500,000 – 1,000,000 Square Feet. Building: McKinney & Olive.

Greater Dallas. Management Company: Crescent Property Services LLC.

Property Manager: Angelique Wade and Jamie Vaughan.

é Suburban Office Mid-Rise. Building: Greenhill Towers. Greater Dallas.

Management Company: Crescent Property Services.

Property Manager: Jonathan (J.J.) Jones.

é Regional Member of the Year. Cathy Kuebler. Billingsley Company.

Greater Dallas.

{{{{

MAY IS BETTER HEARING MONTH

Widex cares about your hearing health

May was designated Better Hearing and Speech Month in 1927 to raise awareness about the causes of and treatments for hearing loss.

Do you experience any difficulty in hearing? You can take the first step to improving your quality of life through better hearing from home.

ZAHA HADID THE QUEEN OF THE CURVE

iraqi-BriTish archiTecT Zaha hadid (1950–2016) left an indelible mark on the architectural landscape of the world. Her striking structures grace the skylines of major cities, and she is arguably the most famous female architect of her time, having received numerous prestigious awards over the course of her career, including the 2004 Pritzker Architecture Prize (the first woman to win this award), the 2010 and 2011 Stirling Prize (the UK's most prestigious architectural award), the 2014 Design Museum Design of the Year Award (for /1/ the Heydar Aliyev Cultural Center). In February, 2016, the month preceding her death, she became the first and only woman to be awarded the Royal Gold Medal from the Royal Institute of British Architects. In 2012, she was made a Dame by Elizabeth II for services to architecture.

It was The Guardian of London who described her as the "Queen

of the curve", saying that she "liberated architectural geometry, giving it a whole new expressive identity". Her buildings are astounding, and many are instantly recognizable.

Born in Baghdad, she became a revolutionary force in British architecture. She studied mathematics at the American University of Beirut before launching her architectural career in London at the Architectural Association. By 1979, she had established her own practice in London – Zaha Hadid Architects – and had begun to gain a reputation across the world for her work. She gained widespread international acclaim for /2/ the Vitra fire

station in Weil am Rhein, Germany in 1993.

One of her major works is /3/ the London Aquatics Centre

Originally built for the 2012 Olympics, it houses two 50-metre pools and seats for 2,500 spectators. Its wave of a roof rests on just three concrete supports, and its huge windows let the light flood

in. Others include /4/ Michigan State University's Broad Art Museum (2012), /5/ the MAXXI Museum in Rome (2009), /6/ the Guangzhou Opera House (2010), and /7/ the Beijing Daxing International Airport (2019).

It is virtually impossible to select the best or the most awesome of

Why is the man who invests all your money called a broker?

é Zaha Hadid Architects has revealed plans for an eco-friendly smart city just outside of Moscow. It will have over 43,000,000 square feet of buildings on over 1,1000 acres.

Hadid’s work. She was very prolific. Her studio continues today in completing projects begun when she was alive and new ones initiated after her death. /8/ The Al Wakrah Stadium in Qatar, for example was created as a venue for the 2022 FIFA World Cup. It is already open.

/9/ The Rosenthal Centre of Contemporary Art in Cincinnati (2003) and /10/ the Serpentine Sackler Gallery (2013) – a contemporary gallery in a restored 1805 munitions depot were hailed as architecture that transformed ideas of the future, and

Hadid won acclaim in Scotland for designing /11/ the Riverside Museum in Glasgow, known for its distinctive roof structure.

Her first bridge (/12/ The Bridge Pavilion) crosses the river Ebro in Zaragoza, Spain (2008). It is half pedestrian walkway and half exhibition area. /13/ The Sheikh Zayed Bridge in Abu Dhabi (2010), with swooping arches and curves intended to emulate the rippling of sand dunes, looks like like a frozen scribble.

/14/ The Phæno Science Center (2015) is an interactive

science center in Wolfsburg, Germany and, possibly the most space-age-looking of all Hadid’s works, /15/ Galaxy Soho in Beijing (2012) consists of four domed structures linked by a mixture of bridges and platforms flowing around what appears like a central canyon. And last (only because we’ve run out of space) - /16/ One Thousand Museum, the last project in the United States conceived by Zaha Hadid before her death in 2016, a luxurious condominium tower which overlooks Miami’s Biscayne Boulevard. n

ê Picture: By Richard Bartz, License CC BY-SA 3.0

WOW!

world exPo 2020 will be hosted by Dubai in the United Arab Emirates. It was planned to open on October 20, 2020, but it is now proposed to be postponed to October 1 of 2021 due to the coronavirus. Whenever it is held, it will be the largest event in expo history. Almost 200 countries will take part to show their innovations, business ideas, the latest technology, and to share their knowledge about fundamental necessaries.

The main site of Expo Dubai 2020 will be a 1083-acre area located between the cities of Dubai and Abu Dhabi. The master plan (designed by the U.S. firm HOK) is organized around a central plaza - Al Wasl - enclosed by three large thematic districts. Each one is dedicated to one of the sub-themes.

Dubai has made major investments in real estate and hundreds of pavilions will feature interactive exhibits, live entertainment, memorable meeting spaces, quirky hangouts and plenty more.

The Bureau International des Expositions (BIE) general assembly in Paris named Dubai as the host in 2013. As a World Expo, it may be a maximum of six months in length and adhere to a wide universal theme that applies to all humanity. Past themes of Universal Expositions include “Man and His World” Montreal Expo 67, “The Age of Discovery” Seville Expo 92 and “Feeding the Planet, Energy for Life” Milan Expo 2015.

The Expo will have a theme called “Connecting Minds, Creating the Future.” It will also have three subthemes: opportunity, mobility and sustainability, each with its own pavilion. The Opportunity pavilion was designed by AGi Architects, Mobility by Foster and Partners, and Sustainability by Grimshaw Architects.

In the Mobility Pavilion, visitors will proceed through the past, present and future of movement, from ancient exploration to artificial intelligence. The journey begins aboard the world’s largest elevating platform, which takes you to the House of Wisdom in ninth-century Baghdad before you head on to meet nine-meter-tall historical giants of Mobility. Leap forward in time to enter a virtual world brimming with data, then step into the city of tomorrow. You may even be served by a robot or drone waiter along the way. (See video: https://www.expo2020dubai.com/en/ discover/pavilions/mobility)

é Al Wasl

A thief who stole a calendar... got twelve months.

In Terra, the Sustainability Pavilion, visitors will wander through forests, dive into ocean depths and see the Earth’s wonders corrupted. By incorporating high levels of new technology that are inspiring, diversifiable, highly recyclable and reasonable to maintain, the pavilion aspires to raise awareness about the environmental prob-lems we face in this century and hope to inspire people with solutions that can efficiently address them on a multigenerational timescale. (See video: https:// www.expo2020dubai.com/en/discover/ pavilions/sustainability)

The theme of the Opportunity Pavilion is unlocking the potential within individuals and communities to create a better world. It builds on the rich urban history of the “plaza” and its universal significance as a place for people to connect across age, language and culture, to celebrate our shared human experiences.

(See video: https://www.expo2020dubai.com/en/discover/pavilions/opportunity)

In the U.S. Pavilion (in the Mobility region) you can experience American freedom in action from the comfort of a moving walkway and then sit down, relax, and enjoy an 8-minute show that takes place on the ceiling of the pavilion.(Learn more: https://www.expo2020dubai.com/ en/discover/pavilions/usa)

See all of these colossal buildings here.

On the two pages which follow, you can marvel at a small of these incredible buildings. n

A thief fell and broke his leg in wet cement. He became a hardened criminal.

é Australia

é Sweden

é Luxembourg

é Azerbaijan

é China

é Saudi Arabia

é Austria

é India

é Canada

é Monaco

é Belgium

é Japan

é New Zealand

The dead batteries were given out free of charge.

é Norway

é Germany

é Brazil

é Poland

é Peru

é Morocco

é Oman

é Switzerland

é Philippines

é United Kingdom

é Spain

Lady: “Sir, you are drunk!” Winston Churchill: “And you are ugly. The difference is that tomorrow I will wake up sober.”

é Twelve Cowboys Way KSC, Inc.

Specialty Contractor- Exteriors (All Contract Amounts)

é

Hotel Osburn Contractors

General Contractor- Interior Finish-Out 1 ($0 - 500 K)

Valley Construction Company

General Contractor- Interior Finish-Out 3 ($2 - 5 M)

Airlines Flagship Lounge - Terminal D James R. Thompson, Inc. (JRT) General Contractor- Interior Finish-Out 4 (Over $5 M)

é

é

Airlines Terminal D Lounge Project Admirals Club - Terminal D Momentum Mechanical, LLC

Specialty Contractor- Mechanical 1 ($0 - 5 M)

é Methodist Richardson Medical Center Vertical Expansion DynaTen Specialty Contractor- Mechanical 2 ($5 - 10 M)

é Novel Bishop Arts ANDRES Construction

General Contractor- Residential Multi-Family

é Skyview 8 Corporate Campus Austin Commercial General Contractor- Specialty Construction

é

Bargain Outlet Bob Moore Construction General Contractor- Industrial/Warehouse*2 (Over $5 M)

é

Renovation Spring Valley Construction Company General Contractor- Interior Finish-Out 2 ($500 K-2 M)

é

Crow Center Repositioning Dee Brown, Inc.

Specialty Contractor- Interiors (All Contract Amounts)

é

North American HQ at Cypress Waters Polk Mechanical Specialty Contractor- Mechanical 3 (Over $10 M)

é Twelve Cowboys Way KSC, Inc.

Specialty Contractor- Other Specialty (All Contract Amounts)

Ollie’s

SMU Perkins Chapel

Virgin

American

NOKIA

é The Sinclair Hotel Byrne Construction Services General Contractor- Historic Renovation

American

Trammell

é Preston Road Church of Christ Sanctuary Renovation Spring

FORCE MAJEURE AND

MICHAEL J. OSTERMEYER ostermeyerm@ballardspahr.com

looK aT your lease. By all appearances, the COVID-19 pandemic is fixing to send the real estate industry down a bumpy road. In markets that once percolated with activity, tenants are frantically completing for CARES Act benefits, landlords anxiously stand by for rent checks to arrive, and developers and investors now hesitate and re-evaluate their options.

Many tense conversations shared amid this uncertainty are well-larded with mentions of “force majeure.”

A force majeure clause in a contract— sometimes also called an “unavoidable delay clause”—allocates by agreement of the parties the risk of nonperformance owing to those unforeseen events defined in the relevant clause. The clause effects this allocation by excusing or suspending a party’s obligation as to performance that has been obstructed, beyond the reasonable control of the performing party, by a force majeure event.

In more stable times, force majeure gets little attention. With as much uncertainty as the near future holds, however, a force majeure clause may be uncommonly important, particularly in situations where non-financial performance constitutes a key part of a contract. In build-to-suit deals of all kinds, for example, as well as in lease conveyances that obligate a landlord to fit out a premises as a condition to its demise, timely delivery is an essential term of the deal. Likewise, in leases that require a tenant’s uninterrupted operation in connection with a percentage rent calculation (e.g., nearly all retail food service leases), the tenant’s daily opening for on-site sales is equally essential. But now that governmental orders have directed many work-

forces to stay at home and closed or sharply limited access to public spaces and nonessential services, it will be interesting in several dimensions to watch how force majeure provisions operate.

In assessing a force majeure clause, the threshold question is whether one or more particular events amount to “force majeure.” Here, contracts vary widely. Some refer only to delays caused by “Acts of God,” some enumerate those acts parsimoniously, some propound a generous list of intervening acts, and some reject enumeration in favor of a general enabling concept—such as “events or occurrences of any kind outside the reasonable control of the party charged with performance.” As a result, parties that are similarly situated in their commercial contexts may experience quite different outcomes based on modest variations in contract language. Resolving these outcomes will depend on answering questions such as these: Is the epidemic spread of the coronavirus itself an event of force majeure? How about a governmental quarantine order aimed at limiting the spread of the COVID-19 disease? An employer policy that carries out a governmental order? An employer policy that extends a governmental order? What about voluntary private-party acts that are consistent with governmental policies or guidelines, but not strictly compelled by those measures? Lease language itself, narrowly read as required by the prevailing rules of contract interpretation, will shape the answers to those questions.

A second question to watch will be whether an event properly considered force majeure actually caused the relevant nonperformance. Parties seeking refuge based on an unavoidable delay will also need to show that a force majeure event actually caused the party’s inability to perform. Events that make performance harder or more costly generally will

not mount this hurdle. In the real estate context, the nature and scope of governmental action and the nature of the private action it triggers will be important factors.

A third question of great consequence will be whether an event deemed to be force majeure and agreed to have caused a delay in some performance will be deemed supervening as to all performance— most specifically, to justify payment delays. In truth, an unavoidable delay clause may not offer much refuge against performing financial covenants, such as paying tenant allowances or paying base rent and additional rent, since such clauses commonly exclude payment of rents and other financial obligations from the operation of force majeure. In any event, leases typically recite that the obligation to pay rent is “an independent covenant”—which is to say that a tenant must pay rent notwithstanding its landlord’s failure to perform one or more of its lease obligations.

Finally, collateral arguments will inevitably be put in play. Among these will certainly be claims that, even if the ravages of COVID-19, or the various responses to it, did not engender an unavoidable delay within the meaning of the relevant contract, one or more prevailing circumstances in a deal effectively undermined the bases on which the contract was formed, or otherwise gave rise to other bases for relief. Here, disputes—particularly in the lease context—are likely to focus on three questions. The first is the question of constructive eviction: whether a closure order so interfered with a tenant’s use and enjoyment of a premises as to have effectively dispossessed the tenant of that premises in a way that amounts to an eviction. The second is the question of frustration of purpose: whether a tenant finds that the purpose for which it bargained, as known to the landlord, has been so frustrated by the material difficulty or substantial impracticability of performing that it has thwarted the tenant’s fundamental purpose for entering into its lease. And the third is the question of impossibility: whether an unforeseen and supervening event has in fact made the purposes for which the parties formed the contract impossible to perform.”

As a final thought, it is good to remember that whatever the dispute, open lines of communication are often beneficial. In any dispute over performance, the path forward becomes far easier to determine when both parties understand where value and benefit lie for the other party. If nothing else, communicating as much as circumstances permit can reduce pointless friction and mitigate uncertainty. As we head toward a very turbulent time, an appropriate amount of openness can yield big dividends in terms of value. n

FORCE MAJEURE – HAVE YOU BEEN CONSTRUCTIVELY EVICTED BY THE CORONAVIRUS?

An archeologist is someone whose life is in ruins.

Michael J. Ostermeyer is a real estate partner in the Phoenix office of the Ballard Spahr law firm.

THE CORONAVIRUS

CONTRACT FORCE MAJEURE AND SUSPENSION RIGHTS IN A CORONAVIRUS ENVIRONMENT

dusT off ThaT Prime construction contract. Find the force majeure clause and determine if an epidemic or pandemic is expressly included in its definition. Even if those precise words are not included, common boilerplate language in such clauses, like “an act, event, or occurrence caused by acts of God, explosion, public enemy, civil disturbance, unusual and adverse weather, or other similar act, event or occurrence that is beyond the reasonable expectation or control of the parties” arguably encompass large-scale outbreak of a novel disease. Some federal contracts will benefit from express terms like “epidemics” and “quarantine “– perhaps not written into the contract itself, but in the Federal Acquisition Regulations which govern the contract, and thus provide a basis for excused non-performance. No matter the contractual or code provision you look to, remember that notice and preservation of rights must be part of your communication and action plan.

As coronavirus continues to spread, some may suggest its impact will no longer be “unforeseeable” or “beyond the reasonable expectation” of the parties. That is especially true if a contract was made in recent months, after concerns over the virus were made public. Nevertheless, there may be good arguments that coronavirus should still give rise to excusable delay under many force majeure clauses because, even if it is foreseeable that it may spread to your project (i.e., not beyond “expectation”), such a spread of infection is still beyond a party’s “reasonable control.

What if, in your contract, there is no force majeure clause or the one written excludes outbreak or spread of disease as giving rise to an excusable delay? While it may be true that, by default, all or most of the risk of project delay rests with the contractor, project owners should give careful consideration to the consequences of forcing or attempting to force continued construction activities amid an outbreak of a novel disease in their project’s locale. State and federal government, through (among other things) health and safety regulations, likely have the power to stop a project through a stop work order or injunction. It seems a more prudent course of action would be to negotiate favorable terms of a suspension of work with the contractor and maintain good relations among the project team and the authorities having jurisdiction over the project.

Owners should also look to their suspension rights in the contract. Often, these rights allow an owner to suspend for a period of time without increase to the contract price. Other provisions may permit a contractor to request a change order, but only for project-site overhead and other standby charges. Even if a suspension right is limited to 30 days, that is valuable time to watch how infection spreads in your project locale and develop a corresponding plan for how to proceed with the work. If your project is suspended, use that time wisely – work among your project team to implement

a daily jobsite health screening plan, better sanitary amenities and infection control procedures (see below for more thoughts on this). Contractors rarely have a suspension right written into their contracts but may wish to advocate for such a right in upcoming projects to account for specific issues that may arise during construction, like an outbreak of coronavirus in or around the project locale.

What if the applicable contract is silent as to unavoidable delay protections and a no-cost suspension right? There are common law doctrines such as frustration of purpose, commercial impracticability and impossibility, that a court may use to grant relief if a party to a construction agreement is struggling to meet its demands due to disease. However, seeking this relief takes time and courts are often reluctant to use these common law tools to interfere in projects. Instead, perhaps it’s time for the parties to call a meeting among decision-makers to come up with a plan. That plan should be evidenced by an amendment to the prime construction contract and a revision to the construction schedule. Proactive management and planning is key to keeping people and projects healthy.

CALL YOUR BROKER

Your first question should be: “Do I have insurance coverage for an interruption to my business and projects due to coronavirus?” Coverage may come from more than one source. Business interruption coverage is a common endorsement to a commercial property policy. This may or may not offer coverage, depending on the terms of the policy and whether the impact of the virus on your business constitutes an “occurrence.” But there are other possible avenues for coverage. Consider trade disruption insurance, especially if you have a supply chain originating outside of the United States. Consider also travel insurance. If project managers, project executives, owner’s representatives or others on your team frequently fly to, and use temporary lodging while at, a project site, these costs might be covered if a trip is canceled due to outbreak. However, as the virus becomes more widespread and is deemed “foreseeable” for insurance purposes, you may need to add to or modify such a policy to cover cancellation for “any reason.” Consider

DIANA PARKS parks.diana@dorsey.com

additional voluntary workers compensation coverage that includes outbreak of sickness or disease. Lastly, consider looking to your builders’ risk coverage in the event a shutdown causes physical loss to covered property. Now is the time to seek assistance from a professional insurance counselor to discuss coverage already in place and additional policies and coverage that might be available.

TALK TO THE LENDER

No one likes to approach their banker with a current or expected payment problem – especially on construction projects. But lenders prefer working through issues as they arise to find solutions that will protect their loans and prevent their borrowers from defaulting. Rather than letting things go until it is too late, be proactive. Work with your lender to determine a best course of action, which has the added benefits of providing notice and protecting the lender’s rights in the contracts and the projects. This adds up to further protection for you from committing an inadvertent default.

APPLY AN OUNCE OF PREVENTION

Problem solvers attack the problem, not the people, so focus efforts on the virus. We all know how hard folks in the construction industry work. Ten or twelve hour workdays at a jobsite are normal. But for infection control purposes, that means a good deal of opportunity for transmission of illness. To make matters more challenging, construction-site sanitation is frequently less stringent than that in a corporate office environment. It doesn’t have to be, however, and for a little extra cost, this can be changed.

Owners and contractors can and should work together to implement sanitation and infection control improvements on the jobsite. It could mean the difference between continuing operations and shut down. Hand washing stations are an idea some contractors are already deploying. It may not be extreme to adopt other more protective measures, too, like screening workers entering the site for fever or illness. Safety has always been a critical part of a job well done in the construction business. But today, a new threat of danger – not from physical injury at the jobsite but from contagious disease – should be included in the jobsite safety plan. n

I’m always relieved when someone is giving a eulogy and I realize I’m listening to it.

Diana Parks is a partner at the international law firm of Dorsey & Whitney.

YOU NEED (OR MIGHT WANT) TO KNOW BY TH3 NUMB3RS: POPULATION

wiTh The 2020 census under way, here’s a snapshot look at the current population and recent growth of the largest 10 cities in Texas. (Remember, these are the city numbers only, not the metropolitan areas.) n

é Houston

é Austin

é Arlington

é Laredo

é Corpus Christi

é Plano

é San Antonio

é Fort Worth

é El Paso

é Dallas

Time flies like an arrow; fruit flies like a banana.

TR E DAT: VERY INTERESTING

IN SHAKESPEARE’S TIME, MATTRESSES WERE SECURED ON BED FRAMES BY ROPES.

WHEN YOU PULLED ON THE ROPES THE MATTRESS TIGHTENED, MAKING THE BED FIRMER TO SLEEP ON.

HENCE THE PHRASE “GOODNIGHT, SLEEP TIGHT”

In English pubs, ale is ordered by pints and quarts. So in old England, when customers got unruly, the bartender would yell at them mind their own pints and quarts and settle down.

It’s where we get the phrase “mind your P’s and Q’s”.

Many years ago in England, pub frequenters had a whistle baked into the rim or handle of their ceramic cups. When they needed a refill, they used the whistle to get some service.

“Wet your whistle” is the phrase inspired by this practice.

It was the accepted practice in Babylon 4,000 years ago that for a month after the wedding, the bride’s father would supply his son-in-law with all the mead he could drink. Mead is a honey beer and because their calendar was lunar based, this period was called the honey month or what we know as the honeymoon.

In Scotland, a new game was invented. It was entitled Gentlemen Only Ladies Forbidden... and thus the word GOLF entered into the English language.

The “Windy City” name has nothing to do with Chicago weather. The nickname was coined by 19th-century journalists who were referring to the fact that its residents were “windbags” and “full of hot air.”

Peanuts aren’t technically nuts. They’re legumes. According to Merriam-Webster, a nut is only a nut if it’s “a hard-shelled dry fruit or seed with a separable rind or shell and interior kernel.” That means walnuts, almonds, cashews, and pistachios aren’t nuts either. They’re seeds.

DIVERSI NS ONOMATOPOEIA IN DIFFERENT LANGUAGES

onomaToPoeia is defined as the formation of a word from a sound associated with what is named. The word itself has Greek origins and made the transition to English via Latin in the 16th century. It literally means ‘word-making’. Oddly, words tend to vary across different nationalities and cultures, sometimes dramatically. You wouldn’t expect that to be. After all, the sound of something is the same wherever you are in the world. If you drop a glass on the floor in England or Korea, for instance, it makes the same noise. Yet the sounds used to describe it can be significantly different in different countries.

And they can be a lot of fun. In English, Tick Tock is the sound we attribute to a clock. In Korean, the sound a train makes is Chik Chik Pok Pok. If you’re munching in Germany, the sound you’re making is Mampf Mampf. A crackling fire is Japan goes Pachi Pachi. Snoring in France is Ron Pshi. You’re accustomed to seeing Bang for the sound a gun makes (in English); the same gun goes Ba-Bakh or Pif-Paf in Russia.

Here’s how some animals sound around the world.

Many countries/languages agree how a CAT sounds.

English: Meow

Spanish: Miau

Italian: Miao

Vietnamese: Meo

French: Miaou

Swedish: Mjau

Russian: Myau

U.S.: Squeak

Holland: Piep

Sweden: Pip-Pip

Italian: Squitt

China: Zi

Korea: Jjik

Japanese: Chuu

Hungarian: Cin

U.S.: Oink

Japan: Buu

Italy: Gronf

Poland: Kwiii

Albanian: Hunk

English: Neigh

Danish: Vrinsk

Japanese: Hihiin

Swedish: Gnägg

Russian: I-Go-Go

Polish: I-Haaa

Hungarian: Nyihaha

But not all of them do.

Korean: Yaong

Japanese: Nyan

Estonian: Näu

Germany: Schnurren

U.S.: Ribbit

Brazil: Croc-croc

Greece: Quax

Italy: Kra-kra

Turkey: Vrak

German: Kwaak

Polish: Kum Kum

Korean: Gae-Gool

Thai: Op Op

Chinese: Guo Guo

Hungarian: Brekeke

Japanese: Kerokero

U.S.: Woof

Philippines: Ow

Japan: Wan

Iceland: Voff

Rumania: Ham

Italy: Bau

China: Wong

Turkey: Hev

Indonesia: Guk

Korea: Meong

Iran: Haap

Holland: Blaf

Russia: Gav

Spain: Wau

U.S.: Moo

Thailand: More-more

France: Meuh

Korea: Mm-meh

U.S.: Quack

Denmark: Rap

Rumanian: Mac

Turkey: Vak

France: Coin

Estonia: Prääks

Hungary: Háp

Israel: Ga-ga

Argentina: Cua-cua-cua

Japan: Won-won

English: Tweet

French: Cui-Cui

Japanese: Chun- Chun

English: Bzzz

Japanese: Būn

Turkey: Vzzz

Korean: Boong

German: Sum

U.S.: Cock-a-doodle-doo

Sweden: Kuckeliku-kuckeliku

Turkey: Ügürüggüüüü

Switzerland: Kikerikii

Spanish: Pio-Pio

Swedish: Pip-Pip

Dutch: Tjiep

Turkish: Jick-Jick

Italian: Chip

Greek: Tsiou Tsiou

Like this? Want more?

Go to www.soundimals.com for James Chapman’s illustrations from around the world. They are delightful. n

In a democracy it’s your vote that counts. In feudalism, it’s your Count that votes.

BUD KENNEDY bud@star-telegram.com

TEXAS KNEW A PANDEMIC WAS COMING

every now and Then, the state of Texas almost — almost — does the right thing. Back in 2014, after the Ebola epidemic, the Texas Senate was ready to fix confusing local disease orders and stockpile a bunch of surgical masks. A whole task force of 15 doctors and emergency officials wrote the plan. A bill by a Georgetown surgeon passed the Senate, 26-4. Then it went nowhere.

Now, we have too many confusing local disease orders and not enough surgical masks. “Right now, we could have been releasing the state stockpile” of masks, said Dr. Donald K. Murphey of Austin, a pediatric infectious disease specialist in Fort Worth for 22 years. “We’d be ready.”

Instead, the Texas House chose to ignore experts, save money. and risk lives. The ordeal of Senate Bill 538 is a perfect example of Texas government gone wrong. It was killed from both the right and left by an unholy coalition of two of the most potent forces in Austin: big metropolitan county officials leery of state control, and the anti-vaccine, small-government Tea Party faction. Tea Party libertarians opposed the bill because it gave state health officials power to jail sick people or put them in custody under house arrest.

But the masks and other protective equipment also had a price: $3 million-$5 million. Then-state Sens. Konni Burton, a Colleyville Republican, and Craig Estes, a Republican who represented Parker County, both voted against the bill without comment. They were two of the four oppo-

nents in the Senate. Leaders in Tarrant and other urban counties didn’t want the bill passed, because they didn’t want the governor giving the orders.

In 2015, when surgeon and state Sen. Charles Schwertner introduced his bill, he said Texas needs “a chain of command... with the governor at the top making decisions.”

survive because counties don’t like anyone telling them what to do,” Murphey said. He supported the bill in testimony to a Senate committee.

“And — it had a cost. Anytime you go to the Legislature about public health, it’s tough to get them to spend money.” County officials also worried about local cost. They wanted to be reimbursed if state officials took a lot of people into custody. In other words, had the bill passed, Gov. Greg Abbott’s health department could have ordered everyone with coronavirus jailed. But county taxpayers would have been stuck paying to house them.

Texans would be much better off today if the bill had passed, Schwertner said last week in a Texas Tribune interview. “I think we’d be positioned a lot better because we would have PPE equipment that would have been already bought and stockpiled. We would have had an inventory of equipment. And we would have had the ability to actually … declare a state of infectious disease emergency. We would be able to mandate a quarantine.”

During the 2015 debate in the Senate, East Texas state Sen. Robert Nichols of Jacksonville was worried about that. “At what point do you lose your civil liberties?” he asked during the debate — “I’m just concerned that we’ve gone too far.”

“It was taking a lot of control away from the local officials,” Tarrant County administrator G.K. Maenius of Fort Worth said last week.

Tarrant County commissioners went on record as opposing the bill. (Last week, Maenius said the Legislature should have just bought the masks.)

County leaders wanted to keep the current system, where disaster orders are written by county judges and cities can choose to add more. So far, that system is only reminding Texans that life-or-death decisions are made by an inefficient crazy-quilt of local governments. “Mainly, the bill didn’t

In 2015, Schwertner replied that it was important to establish clear governmental authority and confine sick people breaking orders.“We did dodge a bullet [from Ebola],” he said. “We are foolish to think this will not happen in the future.”

The bill died in a Texas House committee under fierce late opposition from anti-vaccine activists fearing government control. The money for masks went elsewhere.

Foolish is definitely the right word. n

©2020 The Fort Worth Star-Telegram. This article originally appeared in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram on March 29, 2020. It is reprinted here with the permission of the author.

A chicken crossing the road is poultry in motion.

Bud Kennedy is a journalist for the Fort-Worth Star-Telegram.

é The Texas Capitol. Photo by Anna M. Tinsley (atinsley@star-telegram.com)

é Sen. Charles Schwertner of Georgetown tried to pass infectious disease regulations. Photo by Mark Wiggins.

TITLE YOU NEED (OR MIGHT WANT) TO KNOW AMAZ NG BU LDINGS

ANGELA O’BYRNE aobyrne@e-perez.com

CHELSEA’S LATEST “WHAT IF?” LANTERN HOUSE LETS THE LIGHT IN

in The 21sT cenTury, few figures have taken on more high-profile architectural and civic projects than the British designer Thomas Heatherwick. He and his team designed Google’s Mountain View corporate headquarters, conceived of a massive Manhattan tourist attraction (we covered

his sensational Vessel observation deck structure in a previous column), imagined numerous public art pieces, built innovative bridges, and even created the striking 2012 Olympic cauldron, in which 204 copper petals converged dramatically to create a single cauldron in the opening ceremony.

Highly imaginative and often provocative, Heatherwick Studio always seems to work off of the same animating question: “what if?” Their designs are grand conceptual projects or elegant creative solutions, challenging conventional wisdom and asking whimsical questions. Never strictly archi-

Angela O’Byrne, FAIA, is President of Perez, APC, a 70+ year-old architecture, planning, interior design, and construction firm. She is also a Contributing Editor of

tects, the studio’s work spans discipline, embracing facets of industrial design, furniture, and even fashion in its search to create things that surprise and delight their beholders. Each project feels like a fresh research initiative, striking out into new territory to explore new possibilities, materials, and concepts.

This meandering and freewheeling approach has netted Heatherwick Studio a diverse portfolio that includes both a handbag and a redesign of London’s double-decker buses. As a result, the studio was the subject of a major retrospective at the Victoria & Albert Museum, raising their profile considerably and sparking demand across the world. And nowhere is a bit of buzz more welcome than in the competitive and increasingly international world of New York real estate.

If there’s a “what if” behind Lantern House, Heatherwick Studio’s first residential project in the United States (SLCE Architects served as the architect of record), it seems to be: “what if every window was a bay window?” At once historic industrial and optimistically futuristic, Lantern House makes use of a custom masonry facade: a dramatic and generous paneled window that juts outward in all directions, expanding residents’ views, drawing in more light, and offering up an obvious “best seat in the house.” And while the building’s glass and brick may be familiar to the formerly-industrial neighborhood, its form is something entirely new.

Overlooking New York’s buzzy High Line park in the gallery-dotted West Chelsea neighborhood, Lantern House is comprised of two towers: one 22-story tower and another that rises ten stories. They are connected by an elegant glass lobby that sits cozily beneath the High Line. Each of the 181 condo residences features one of the building’s signature bulbous window units—or at least half of one, as most of the building’s “bubbles” encompass two floors.

Taken together, Lantern House evokes a stack of fishbowls or observation bubbles, each offering residents a fuller view of the city than a more conventional flat window would. Both a democratic gesture and a slight provocation, Lantern House seems to also ask the question “what if everyone got a corner office?” Of course, there’s a certain irony at play considering its context. Lantern House rises above one of the city’s most expensive neighborhoods. Units at Lantern House range between $1.4 million for a one-bedroom unit and nearly $20 million for one of the project’s commanding penthouses. As one would expect, the project’s amenities and shared spaces are extravagant. There’s an indoor saltwater pool and a fitness center that is bathed in daylight from the building’s huge windows. Unit

interiors, designed by British firm March & White, are lush and natural, incorporating natural textures of marble, bronze, and oak.

In a city where real estate extravagance seems to know no bounds, Lantern House joins an increasingly crowded field of signature projects with starchitect provenance. Not far from Lantern House are Zaha Hadid’s swooping condos at 520 West 28th Street and Bjarke Ingels’ angular towers at 76 Eleventh Avenue. In fact, one would be forgiven for mistaking Chelsea for some kind of international design competition. While it’s an exciting time for New York real estate, one wonders how our current era will be perceived by history. Lacking the cohesion of a dominant school or approach may yet result in a flamboyant jumble of “what ifs.” n

A grenade fell onto a kitchen floor in France, and resulted in Linoleum Blownapart.

LOS ANGELES IS SYNONYMOUS WITH MODERN ARCHITECTURE

los angeles has Been the mecca of modern architecture for almost 100 years. The modern movement, or modern architecture defined in simple terms, is based on new groundbreaking, and many times avantgarde technologies of construction. The materials used are also part of the allure, for along with its clean lines and minimalist concept is the use of such materials as glass, steel, and reinforced concrete. The mantra of modern architecture is "form follows function", which accounts for such innovative shaped buildings and creative living spaces.

The city is still going strong with the new crop of architects that are making their way into neighborhoods and city streets by way of their uniquely constructed building and living concepts, but here we’ll focus on some of the most interesting commercial buildings.

1/ The Vespertine is a restaurant, though you wouldn’t know it to look at it from the outside. It looks like a cross between a spaceship and a waffle, and it has a menu is full of bold flavor combinations.

2/ On the campus of Emerson College, a box of dorms hidden behind a metal scrim encloses a hive of classrooms and offices—designed by Thom Mayne’s Morphosis Architects.

3/ Pío Pico was the last Mexican governor of California, and the hotel he ordered to be built in 1869 was the

finest in Los Angeles. Pico House is now a historic landmark.

4/ The Walt Disney Concert Hall is just one of the reason’s Frank Gehry is considered one of the greatest living architects.

5/ The Coca-Cola Building (completed in 1939) was designed Robert V. Derrah in the Streamline Moderne style and is intended to look like a ship—complete with portholes, catwalk, and bridge.

6/ The Westin Bonaventure, designed by John C. Portman, Jr. and completed in 1976, is a splendidly futuristic hotel.

7/ The Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) is said to be a mismatched and sometimes whimsical collection of galleries and it has been through plenty of updates to William Pereira’s original design (including work by Renzo Piano - see page 44).

8/ Samitaur Tower provides a changing art display - a variety of graphic content and data on five highresolution rear projection screens about coming events and current achievements of the tenants who occupy that part of the city.

9/ The Peterson Automotive Museum is one of the world’s largest automotive museums. Its 2015 renovation gave the building a new

and striking façade which features a stainless-steel ribbon assembly made of 100 tons of 14-gauge type 304 steel.

10/ Across the street from the Walt Disney Concern Hall (above) is The Broad, a contemporary art museum, itself a work of art on par with the masterpieces it was built to house.

11/ The Theme Building at LAX is the first architectural structure to greet those who fly into Los Angeles. It was built in 1961.

12/ The Capitol Records Building near Hollywood and Vine was designed by architect Welton Becket in 1956 to resemble a stack of vinyl 45 records. It is one of the most recognizable structures in the city.

Those who get too big for their britches will be exposed in the end.

15/

16/ The Hollywood Bowl is an amphitheater that was named one of the 10 best live music venues in America by Rolling Stone magazine in 2018. Known for its band shell that graced the site from 1929 through 2003, it was replaced with a larger in 2004 season.

17/ The Griffith Observatory is a popular tourist attraction with an extensive array of space and sciencerelated displays. Admission has been free since the observatory's opening in 1935, in accordance with the will of Griffith J. Griffith, the benefactor after whom the observatory is named.

18/ Coming this summer - SoFi Stadium - the first indoor-outdoor stadium - will be the home of the Los Angeles Chargers and the Los Angeles Rams. The state-of-the-art stadium re-imagines the fan experience and will host a variety of events year-round including Super Bowl LVI in 2022, the College Football Championship Game in 2023, and the Opening and Closing Ceremonies of the Olympic Games in 2028. n

13/ Designed by architect Cesar Pelli, the 1.6 million square foot Pacific Design Center is the West Coast’s leading resource for residential and contract furnishings, fabrics, floor coverings, architectural products, wallcoverings, lighting, kitchen and bath products, and accessories.

14/ Designed by Richard Meier, The Getty Center is a campus of the Getty Museum, the Getty Research Institute, the Getty Conservation Institute, the Getty Foundation, and the J. Paul Getty Trust.

Christ Cathedral is a reflective glass building designed by the firm of Philip Johnson/John Burgee Architects. It seats 2,248 people and was touted as "the largest glass building in the world" when it was completed in 1981.

THE 2020 PRITZKER PRIZE

has ofTen highlighTed the winners of the Pritzker Architecture Prize –the Nobel prize for architecture. (In our March and June issues in 2018 we ran a pictorial of all of the winners.) The prize (which began in 1979) takes its name from the Pritzker family (who founded the prize), whose international business interests are headquartered in Chicago. The prize honors a living architect or architects whose built work demonstrates a combination of talent, vision, and commitment, which has produced consistent and significant contributions to humanity and the built environment through the art of architecture. The annual award consists of $100,000 and a bronze medallion.

In early March, Yvonne Farrell and Shelley McNamara - founders of the Irish architectural studio, Grafton Architects – joined the predominantly male ranks of Pritzker Prize winners (bringing the number of female recipients to 5 out of the 48 who have been so honored). They are best known for educational buildings, but have produced dozens of residential, commercial and civic buildings as well. The others were Zaha Hadid, who won in 2004 remains the only solo woman winner, (see pictorial on page 18), Kazuyo Sejima (of the Japanese firm SANAA) and Carme Pigem (of RCR Arquitectes from Spain), who won as part of ensembles in 2010 and 2017 respectively.

“Without grand or frivolous gestures, they have managed to create buildings that are monumental institutional presences when appropriate,” reads the citation issued by the Pritzker jury, “but even so they are zoned and detailed in such a way as to produce more intimate spaces that create community within.” In February, Farrell and McNamara were awarded the Royal Gold Medal in architecture by the Royal Institute of British Architects.

On this page is a sampling of some of their work.

A cheap shot is a terrible thing to waste.

é Shelley McNamara (L) and Yvonne Farrell of Grafton Architects

é Grafton’s Universita Luigi Bocconi building in Milan, Italy

ê Paul Marshall Building, London School of Economics connecting street building landscape and sky.

é Loreto Community School in Ireland was completed in 2006.

è Universidad de Ingienería y Tecnología (UTEC) in 2015 is their only building in the Americas.

é Toulouse School of Economics at Université Toulouse 1 Capitole.

é The Kingston Town House is a mixed-use teaching building for Kingston University in London was completed earl this year.

ç Institut Mines-Télécom is a French public academic building.

KEVIN HEINLY

Kevin_Heinly@Gensler.com

Kevin Heinly is a Principal and Managing Director of Gensler’s San Diego office

Touch-free design solutions and air purifiers can enhance workplace wellness.

as governmenTs and healTh officials press to develop a vaccine for COVID-19, we’ve been looking at design strategies that can aid in preventing the spread of all viruses in the modern workplace. People spend up to one-third of their lives at work, many of them inside office buildings. If these buildings were proactively designed with features that could stem the spread of communicable disease, the wellness benefits for the general workforce could potentially be widespread.

Most everyone enters an office building through the lobby — we view this communal space as the first line of defense in preventing the spread of infectious germs. Some buildings already have features like walk-off mats and grates at entrances that can remove contaminants on people’s shoes, but what other design strategies should designers and developers consider? Here are some wellness considerations that building owners and developers should keep in mind when designing or renovating office buildings:

1. Improve Air Quality

In most office buildings, indoor air is made up of about 25% outside air. The rest is recirculated and filtered, which means it’s already been breathed by other occupants. If indoor air is not regularly exchanged, it can actually contain greater levels of pollutants than outside air, according to studies by the Environmental Protection Agency Natural ventilation systems are an efficient way to flush out the bad and bring in the good air. In private office settings, indoor air pollutants, including bacteria, can build up quickly, so experts recommend at least four air exchanges per hour. Unfortunately, incorporating natural ventilation systems for a large office building is not always practical — although some, like The Tower at PNC Plaza in Pittsburgh, are in a location where natural ventilation makes sense for much of the year.

Office building lobbies, on the other hand, comprise only a small portion of the building footprint, and they are ideally suited to integrate natural ventilation strategies to improve air

DESIGNING OFFICE BUILDING LOBBIES TO RESPOND TO THE CORONAVIRUS

flushing. As transition spaces, lobbies can operate mechanical systems that are isolated from the rest of the building. Opening up these high-traffic common areas to the outdoors can also create an ideal environment for integrating landscape features like living walls, which organically filter air and breath oxygen into indoor spaces. Even better if sunlight can be part of the mix, because UV rays offer a natural boost for both plants and people.

2. Design with Antimicrobial Materials

Health officials are advising that handwashing and the use of hand sanitizers are the best ways to protect against the spread of germs, and they recommend refraining from forms of direct contact like shaking hands. There could also be opportunities to rethink office design to minimize contact with shared surfaces like the doors we open, the reception furniture we sit in, and all the other interior finishes we touch during the workday.

built environments. Taken a step further, these hands-free tools could also facilitate solution-based design strategies for minimizing the need to directly touch door hardware, elevator call buttons, and building directories. Incorporating automation and voice activation tools in an office building could instantly minimize touchpoints and limit the chance of contact exposure to germs. Office leaders and developers can also further consider reducing surface contact by installing smart window shades that are activated with sun-tracking technology, lighting systems that use sensory detection to adjust brightness in accordance with the time of day, and automated water dispensers, so employees and visitors can refill water bottles in a hands-free manner.

While touch-free, sensor-flush toilets and faucets have been common in office building restrooms for years, perhaps automated and voice-activated doors could also become more

seen on the nightly news, as the technology screens travelers for the coronavirus. The same monitoring system could soon be integrated in office lobbies. A visitor arriving at a client’s office building could be screened for elevated body temperature ahead of a meeting. If a fever is detected, the guest could be led into a quarantine room off the lobby as a precautionary measure. There, they would be able to join the meeting remotely via videoconferencing rather than risk spreading a potential illness to clients in a conference room setting. Since the start of the coronavirus outbreak, makers of advanced thermal fever screening equipment, some of which can detect skin temperature differences as little as 0.2 degrees, have reported surges in demand from airport operators to malls to hotels to military sites.

Fortunately, today’s manufacturers are already integrating antimicrobial technology in interior design elements including faucets, window shades, paint, and door hardware — applying coatings that work to keep them cleaner from multiplying bacteria. These types of materials are popular in the healthcare sector — in particular, flooring materials with self-disinfecting characteristics. Developers of office buildings could retrofit existing lobbies with similar ideas.

3. Leverage Automation and Voice Activation to Limit Skin

Contact

Amazon, Apple, and Google’s voice-activated assistants have transformed how we interact with technology in

standardized at office building entrances. Another solution could be designing a door-free entry point that relies on intuitive wayfinding to navigate an employee or visitor through an office building. Consider for instance airport restrooms, many of which already offer door-free navigation from the entrance to stalls. This strategy adds a convenience factor for travelers carrying luggage, but it also greatly reduces the need to touch foreign surfaces, like door handles, which could transmit bacteria or viruses.

4. Integrate Sensor Technology to Screen Visitors

Infrared Fever Screening Systems (IFSS) were first deployed during the 2003 SARS outbreak, and now can be

Since average Americans spend upwards of 90% of their time indoors, with the majority of working hours spent in an office setting, incorporating design features that contribute to a healthier office building can have a potential major impact on their wellbeing. For example, an EPA report found that installing a system designed to improve indoor air quality in an office can lead to higher productivity, fewer lost work days, and savings in medical care costs. By taking intentional steps to create healthier environments and limit the opportunities to transmit viruses and bacteria, building owners and developers can offer people a workplace that supports wellness and productivity from the front door to the conference room.

To learn more about what you can do to protect yourself and your workplace from the coronavirus, visit the World Health Organization and U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to review guidelines to reduce the spread of the virus. n

Editor’s note: This is part of Gensler’s ongoing exploration of how design is responding to the COVID-19 pandemic. This content first appeared on Gensler’s Dialogue Blog and at www.gensler.com. It is reprinted here with permission.

PAM KNUDSEN

pamela.knudsen@avalara.com

Pam Knudsen is the Director of Compliance Services for Avalara MyLodgeTax

according To a recenT Statista report, the shortterm rental industry market in the U.S will reach a total of $18 million in revenue this year. With interest in short-term rentals on the rise, more homeowners are investing in vacation rental properties across the country, resulting in more travelers booking a VRBO opposed to a hotel room. With this growth in the short-term rental industry comes an increased need for the tools and technology to run these properties.

5 WAYS AUTOMATION IS RESHAPING THE VACATION RENTAL INDUSTRY

ing cleaning appointments online that coordinate with a guest’s arrival or departure time. They can also monitor your housekeeping trends and send an alert if your vacant rental is past due for a cleaning. Better still, housekeeping apps can determine the level of cleaning service your rental requires, based on a number of variables – and they can also enable cleaning services to submit property damage reports that include photographic evidence.

Automated housekeeping has become so popular that there are now multiple apps to choose from. Before selecting a service, compare prices and features to find one that best suits your budget and cleaning needs.

Tax time

nologies. This helps determine the best next step in interacting with prospective renters. It can also help prioritize leads and maintain contact with potential repeat customers.

Safety and security

There are certain experiences that simply require businesses to provide a human touch, like a fitting for a new suit or a guided travel tour. But, that’s not the case for all businesses—or business functions. Automation is having a particularly powerful impact on the service industry, where technology is alleviating the workload for business owners, while enhancing experiences for customers. The technology is becoming particularly useful in the short-term rental space. Here’s how:

Reservations

In the not-so-distant past, making hotel reservations required a rotary phone, the Yellow Pages and a whole lot of patience. Vacationers were required to call around, inquiring about hotel availability and features. In today’s world, vacationers need little more than an Internet connection and credit card to book that room. Automated booking enables travelers to effortlessly reserve a room with instant gratification. They’ll also have the option of viewing, modifying and canceling reservations online. Travelers booking far in advance also receive email reminders, lest they forget about their plans.

Automation can be a huge help to rental owners, too. This technology enables them to track bookings, cancellations and site traffic with little capital investment, training or time required. It can also alleviate the stress of managing multiple rentals and streamline the entire rental process. And it tells owners about the guests they’re set to receive and helps them determine whether special room preparations are necessary. For example, if they’re expecting a young family, they might need extra time to child-proof the rental.

Housekeeping help

Ah, the joys of modern technology: dishwashers, Roombas, microwaves, robotic maids—the latter might seem like a stretch, but it’s not as hyperbolic you think. Automation is helping lessen the burden of post-rental cleaning. Services are available that help automate housekeeping services by schedul-

Tax seasons have a way of sneaking up on us and hurling us into a disorganized frenzy. Luckily, all that stress and panic can be avoided with the right automated tools.

The right automated tax collection tool can easily determine what local and state taxes are due, their deadlines and to which agencies money is owed. They can also automatically remit required lodging tax payments. While the traveler is responsible for paying those taxes, it’s the owner’s responsibility to collect the money and remit the payment. If the owner fails to collect the required taxes from their customers, they’re on the hook for it themselves.

By automating tax collection and remittance, owners will have the peace of mind of knowing the correct amount of taxes is being paid to the correct agencies on time.

Further complicating the issue, tax requirements are regularly changing on the local, state and federal levels. It can be tricky to keep up with those changes, but this is another area where automation can help. The right automated tool will alert you of any relevant tax changes and adjust its automatic withdrawals to meet the new requirements. Tax solutions can also obtain and manage licenses, track license renewal requirements, and automatically renew them when due.

Strategic relations

Tracking information with pen and paper – or even through Excel – has become an impractical means of tracking customer data and interactions. Property owners should instead seek a customer relationship management (CRM) solution to take their Rolodex further.

A CRM will help maintain a detailed, updated database of visitors – and any travelers with whom you discussed your short-term rental – through easy-to-use, automated technology. Besides tracking customer information, a good CRM also offers marketing automation and predictive analytics tech-

For short-term rental owners, nothing is more important than the safety and security of guests and property. But when your miles – and sometimes states – away from the property you own and manage, protecting your rental can be easier said than done. This is especially true for high-turnover rentals, or properties located in remote areas.

When you can’t be on or near your property, look to automation to serve as your eyes and ears. Noise tracking and notification systems such as NoiseAware can track overall noise levels and any suspicious outdoor sounds. NoiseAware tracks activity around-the-clock and provides users with a dashboard to monitor activity or communicate with guests. Other apps provide automatic notifications – or even calls to security – if there’s suspicious activity or movement during times of property vacancy.

There are also specialty, customer-designed insurance products that exist to protect short-term rental owners and their assets. Home inspection apps will give you a checklist to complete and submit on your phone, which includes photos. And if you’re worried about a key being copied or falling into the wrong hands, consider automation there, too. Smart locks are available that can programmed to automatically rotate lock box password pins before a new customer checks in. This ensures travelers can’t access the property prematurely and can be useful when scheduling maintenance and house cleaning appointments.

For short-term rental owners, time isn’t just money. It’s a precious opportunity to balance the books, communicate with customers and prepare a property for the next guest. But of course, when it comes to time, it seems there’s just never enough.

Short of a technology that would allow you to clone multiple versions of yourself, the best way to maximize your time as a short-term rental owner is through automation. If you haven’t already done so, I encourage you to embrace technology as a way to more effectively manage your property while improving the overall getaway experience for guests. n

If you jump off a Paris bridge, you are in Seine.

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JULIET HUCK

juliet@juliethuck.com

Juliet Huck is the Founder of the Academy of Persuasion.

THINK LIKE A DECISION MAKER

have you ever felT that selling your products or ideas is like you were talking to a brick wall? No matter what you try, you simply can’t get your target to see your point of view or your vision. Anyone can relate to the frustration and lack of resolution that comes from this type of exchange.

What if you could learn how to consistently persuade others and get the results you need? Not sell; but persuade. By thinking like a decision maker, you can influence outcomes and sway opinions and close deals. There are three strategic methods you can use that will sharpen your skills as a persuasive communicator. You need to do your homework, put yourself in their shoes and gain their trust. Here’s a closer look at these three elements and how to make them work to your benefit.

BE AHEAD OF THE GAME

In sales, management, litigation, marketing, corporate workings and more, there are decision makers holding the power to make or break your progress. You’ll often have a pitch that illustrates a deep understanding of your own product or position. While that’s important, your decision maker likely doesn’t have the interest or knowledge of what you are trying to sell. In fact, it will turn them off when you begin a meeting talking about yourself and your product. You must switch your focus and learn all about who is sitting in front of you! In order to create a positive experience, 69 percent of buyers said that listening is key.

DO YOUR HOMEWORK

A generic presentation or non-memorable pitch is a path to failure. Before meeting with your client or whoever it is you’re looking to persuade, make sure to gather some basic information. What are your decision maker’s demographics? Start with age, ethnic background, education, gender, where they were raised and if they have special interests such as charity groups, sports teams, books or family. Once you answer some of these questions it will help you begin to think like your decision maker and develop a memorable connection.

Another way to make a lasting impression is to take note of generational communication style idiosyncrasies. This is especially important to pay attention to if you and your target are in different generations. For example, Baby Boomers are often selftaught on technology, so you might want to be careful with how technical you get. Gen X is not big on authority and doesn’t like being micromanaged; they need to feel like they’re in control. Millennials are tech savvy researchers. If you present something that is not true (either intentionally or unintentionally), a Millennial will fact check you within seconds. One thing we all have in common is being appreciated and showing that appreciation will go a long way. By doing some homework and connecting with your target, you help overcome the assumption that you’re only there to make a sale. Building relationships is a huge step in being persuasive

By being prepared and knowledgeable of their background you will have answers to questions like: What are their pain points? What problems do they need solved? What is most impor-

tant to them? In order to persuade and change attitudes and assumptions, you must be able to see from their perspective. Think through their decision-making process along with their challenges based on what you know about them. Consider things like to whom do they have to answer? Is there a CEO, a board of directors, shareholders or other authority that will be scrutinizing your target’s decision? While there may only be one person in front of you, an average of six people are involved in most purchase decisions.

By thinking through these questions prior to your meeting or pitch, you’ll be able to uncover any potential objections in advance. When you’re prepared to address concerns with an immediate solution, you will make a great first impression.

MAKE THEM CARE

The final element can be tough, especially when your target or customer doesn’t want to be there. If they don’t have an interest in your cause or product and are being forced to sit and listen to you, the likelihood of getting their buy-in is already reduced. Since people make decisions about their own needs or biases, you’ll have a lot of ground to cover to make them care. If your decision maker can relate, they probably already care. So, finding a way for them to relate will make your quest a little easier.

One of the best ways to make them care is to develop trust. Ask questions and then provide helpful solutions by assuming the role of an advisor. Be truthful! Sadly, only 18 percent of sales people are seen as authentic and trustworthy. However, truth leads to credibility and credibility leads to trust, which then leads to the ability to persuade. How can

you possibly expect people to care about what you’re saying if they don’t trust you? This is an important piece of the persuasion puzzle.

Do you want to sell, or do you want to persuade? Instead of making your pitch and hoping that something sticks, be intentional and lead your decision makers to your desired conclusion. By putting yourself in their shoes and thinking through their challenges, getting to know them and making them care about what you’re saying, you’ll be far more successful in your efforts. Anyone can sell, but it takes a true strategist to think like a decision maker and change an outcome through persuasion. n

This article originally appeared in The Virginian-Pilot and is reprinted here with permission.

Note that '50 Ways to Get Your Way' is available as a prize in our contest on the back page.

DIVERSI NS POLITICAL CORNER

The nice part about living in a small town is that when you don't know what you're doing, someone else does.

THE RES URCE PAGE

é Texas is the #1 state in the U.S. for contributions to state GDP created by commercial real estate development, creating and supporting 378,700 related jobs and contributing $54.15 billion to the state’s economy in 2019 (the most recent data available).

• Office: Texas ranks #1, above Virginia and New York

• Warehouse/Flex (includes e-commerce distribution/fulfillment facilities): Texas ranks #1, above California and Florida

• Retail: Texas ranks #1, above Florida and California

The data is from “Economic Impacts of Commercial Real Estate,” published annually by the NAIOP Research Foundation

New development and ongoing operations of existing commercial real estate buildings in the United States – office, industrial, warehouse and retail – generates significant economic growth at national level:

• Created and supported 9.2 million American jobs in 2019.

• Contributed $1.14 trillion to U.S. GDP.

• Generated $396.4 billion in salaries and wages.

• 563.3 million square feet of new office, industrial, warehouse and retail space newly constructed in 2019 has the capacity to house 1.4 million new workers.

“The U.S. economy is in nearing 11 years of expansion, growing consistently since July 2009 and making it the longest in American history,” said Thomas Bisacquino, NAIOP President and CEO. “Commercial real estate remains as a significant economic driver, facilitating growth and creating valuable jobs. Despite slowing global and U.S. fiscal growth, the economy’s expansion is expected to extend beyond 2020. This is good news for our industry, as steady demand will drive new construction and development.”

See data by building type and top 10 states by development impact: https://www.naiop.org/contributions20pr

Download the report: http://www.naiop.org/contributions2020

Watch the video: https://vimeo.com/389114154

é The Brooking Institution’s Metro Monitor 2020 tracks the inclusive economic growth performance of the 192 largest U.S. metro areas, which together are home to 77% of the nation’s population and contribute 85% of the nation’s GDP. This year’s edition of the Metro Monitor analyzes two time periods: from 2008 to 2018, which indicates how metro areas have fared since the onset of the Great Recession; and from 2017 to 2018, the latest year of data available across all indicators.

With an expanded set of metro areas, Metro Monitor 2020 for the first time categorizes metro areas into three classes based on size: very large metro areas (populations over 1 million, 53 total), large metro areas (populations between 500,000 and 1 million, 56 total), and midsized metro areas (populations between 250,000 and 500,000, 83 total). Metro areas are ranked on their performance in the five Metro Monitor dimensions within their size class.

Metro Monitor 2020 also introduces a new dimension, geographic inclusion, which measures the extent to which regional changes in inclusion expand or narrow differences between the most advantaged and disadvantaged neighborhoods.

é Headquartered in New York, with operations in UAE and India, Facilio is the world’s first and only IoT and datadriven enterprise platform for real-time, multi-site building operations & maintenance (O&M). Its optimization software combines IoT, AI and Machine Learning technologies to provide the construction and commercial real estate businesses unified and predictive command and control, across their entire operation. It recently released CRE3.0 report on the impact of data-driven building operations in 2020.

The global benchmarking study uncovers gaps & trends in CRE operations, citing tenant experience, energy management and data-driven operations as top priorities for commercial real estate owners in 2020. Some of its findings are:

• 77% CRE owners cite tenant experience as a priority, and allocate 39% operational spend for the same.

• Energy ROI takes precedence, driving 65% of OPex towards data-driven energy enhancements.

• 40% of tech investment being directed into DATA: centralization, IoT-driven predictive analytics and portfolio-wide intelligence.

• Report finds 60% of maintenance spend is on hard services, with at least 20% savings anticipated by combining predictive analysis with automated resolution. Download the report here: https://facilio.com/ebooks/ state-of-cre-operations-2020-report/

é The Small Business Owner’s Guide to the CARES Act (which was recently enacted by Congress) provides details of the programs and initiatives in the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act that are intended to assist business owners with whatever needs they have right now. When implemented, there will be many new resources available for small businesses, as well as certain non-profits and other employers. This guide provides information about the major programs and initiatives that will soon be available from the Small Business Administration (SBA) to address these needs, as well as some additional tax provisions that are outside the scope of SBA. To keep up to date on when these programs become available, please stay in contact with your local Small Business Administration (SBA) District Office, which you can locate here: https://www.sbc.senate.gov/public/_cache/files/ 9/7/97ac840c-28b7-4e49-b872-d30a995d8dae/ F2CF1DD78E6D6C8C8C3BF58C6D1DDB2B.smallbusiness-owner-s-guide-to-the-cares-act-final-.pdf

Men are all the same. They just have different faces so you can tell them apart.

ANDREW SOBEL

if you’re in sales, client management, or work with clients in some other capacity, you’ve no doubt heard those seven fateful words: “We don’t have the budget for this.” This phrase is discouraging to hear. If you take it at face value, it can effectively shut down the discussion. But relationship authority Andrew Sobel says you shouldn’t take it at face value because quite often it’s code for some other issue that can be overcome.

“When prospects or clients make the ‘no budget’ claim, it’s usually a clue to dig deeper,” says Sobel, a best-selling author whose latest book It Starts With Clients: Your 100-Day Plan to Build Lifelong Relationships and Revenue (Wiley, 2020, ISBN: 9781119619109, $26.00, is now available (and is a prize in the contest in this issue of the network). “You may find out something that helps reframe the issue in a mutually beneficial way or makes the return on investment for the client more compelling. Either way, money that supposedly isn’t there can sometimes appear, as if by magic.”

Sobel says there are four fundamental objections in sales:

• No need (“We just don’t need what you have to offer.”)

• No urgency (“It’s interesting, but the timing is not quite right.”)

• No trust (“You seem like nice people but we’re not sure you have the right/most effective solution.”)

• No money (“We don’t have the budget for this.”)

Learning how to overcome such objections is a big part of what it takes to become a trusted advisor to your clients. Sobel identifies six main possibilities:

1. You’re working with a junior buyer (i.e., not a real decision maker). The executive you’re talking to is not senior enough to control the kind of budget needed to buy your service/product and they can’t unilaterally raise their insufficient budget. The company MIGHT have the budget somewhere, but not where you are working in the organization!

2. What you’re proposing is not a priority for the organization. All the budget has been allocated to other, higher-priority investments. “Priorities” will typically be initiatives that are strongly aligned with strategic goals, have senior executive sponsorship, are embedded in that year’s approved plans and programs, and/or form part of the client’s performance goals for the year.

3. You’re outside the budget cycle. You’ve been caught in a rigid corporate planning and budgeting cycle, and the client has already structured their investments and time around a small set of strategic priorities for the year. In other words, you didn’t go deep enough and soon enough into the client’s planning cycle and get your engagement budgeted for.

4. There’s a lack of perceived ROI/value for your solution. The client may have a need, and they may like you and your firm, but you haven’t demonstrated the “R” in Return on Investment in terms of the value and impact of your proposed solution. They just don’t see the value.

5. There’s no budget for YOU. The real objection may be the third one on the first list, above: “No trust.” For the right

solution/firm, the client can come up with the budget. But they don’t trust that you and your firm represent the best and highest value alternative.

6. There’s a spending freeze. The funny thing about this reason—the CEO declares a spending freeze on all non-essential and unbudgeted expenditures—is that, of course, the client is still spending money on lots of things. “I’ve had many clients declare an absolute freeze on outside consultants,” says Sobel. “But then, a few months later, I see that they’ve hired one or more of the large global consulting firms for a seven- or eight-figure fee because a particular C-Suite executive has decided that using them is utterly essential. This goes back to reason number one—there’s always budget if your client is senior enough and sees a high ROI on your proposal!”

STRATEGIES TO CREATE OR FREE UP BUDGET

1. Gain sponsorship from a higherlevel, more powerful economic buyer.

2. Redefine the issue so that it is more strategic and can attract the necessary funds.

3. Identify opportunities for the client to create efficiencies in their existing budget.

4. Restructure the work to achieve cost savings.

5. Create flexible contractual terms.

6. Increase the perceived value of the overall package.

7. Appeal to an important personal “win” of the buyer.

8. Combine budgets to fund your program.

9. Combine discounts to create a BIG discount

10. Restructure the project to meet the budget they DO have (if they have any left!).

11. Rename what you’re doing and find a different budget category.

12. Tie your work more closely to quantifiable revenue increases or cost reductions.

13. Provide ongoing advice to keep the discussion going.

14. Sell what you do as a product, not a service.

15. Deliver your services virtually.

16. If you’re outside the client’s budget cycle, then work with the client to get your proposal into their NEXT planning and budgeting cycle.

“When you’re told there is no budget, first try to understand why,” concludes Sobel. “You may actually be able to do something about it— and, help your client with something important in the process.” n

As you can see, there are potential solutions to the “No budget” objection, and they need to be tailored to the particular situation. Here are 16 ideas for you:

A copy of this book will be awarded as a prize in our contest (on the inside back cover).

Children seldom misquote you. In fact, they usually repeat word for word what you shouldn’t have said.

“WE DON’T HAVE THE BUDGET FOR THIS.”  16 WAYS TO COMBAT YOUR CLIENT’S #1 EXCUSE

THE FACTOR

MUSÉE ATELIER

aT audemars PigueT in the small town of Le Brassus in Switzerland, they make watches – expensive watches. They’ve been making watches for 145 years – and now they have an exhibition space (a museum, actually, along with their offices and workshop) to display their entire history. It’s all in a double spiral building with a rooftop walking path supported by a façade of curved glass walls. The interior rooms are also separated by glass walls, allowing full view of the watchmaking. And it directly connects to the (renovated) house of the company’s founder (see pictures below).

Architect Bjarke Ingels (BIG), whose amazing buildings have frequently been featured on these pages, has done it again. He envisioned the structure as a metaphorical extension of a Piguet timepiece. “You have a spiral, almost like a spring hovering above your head,” he said. “It’s inspired by the element in the timepiece that stores and delivers the energy of the clock.”

The museum-workshop is scheduled to open to the public in late June.

BIG also designed an adjacent 75,350-square-foot hotel to serve timepiece interested guests. Visitors will soon be able to check into Audemars Piguet’s Hôtel des Horlogers which has zigzagging slabs – an allusion to the surrounding ski trails. Guest rooms are accessible from this path and via a continuous inclined interior corridor. The 50-room hotel will include a bar, conference center, and spa. Said Ingels: “When you are designing architecture it’s like a form of portraiture. We never design a building for ourselves—it’s always for and about someone else and something else.” n

é Hôtel des Horlogers.

I was the next-door kid’s imaginary friend.

ç Bjarke Ingels.

renZo Piano (1937 - ) was born in Genoa, Italy. He is a (1998) Pritzker Prize Laureate, known for his broad range of iconic projects that blend architecture and engineering (explained, in part, by his having been born into a family of building contractors, including his grandfather, father, uncles, and brother). His work exhibits futuristic design, a sensitivity to the environment, and attention to the user experience. He was born in Genoa, Italy.

In 1969, Piano received his first major commission to design the Italian Industry Pavilion at Expo ‘70 in Osaka, Japan. That work won international attention, including that of young architect Richard Rogers. In 1971 the thirty-four-year old Piano and Rogers, thirty-eight, in collaboration with the Italian architect Gianfranco Franchini, competed with the major architectural firms in the United States and Europe, and were awarded the commission for the most prestigious project in Paris, the Centre Georges Pompidou, /1/ the new French national museum of 20th century art (a/k/a Beaubourg). Completed in 1977, it was career-launching architecture for both men.

Piano said, “Beaubourg was intended to be a joyful urban machine, a creature that might

RENZO PIANO

“Architecture is art. I don’t think you should say that too much, but it is art. I mean, architecture is many, many things. Architecture is science, is technology, is geography, is typography, is anthropology, is sociology, is art, is history. You know all this comes together. Architecture is a kind of bouillabaisse, an incredible bouillabaisse. And, by the way, architecture is also a very polluted art in the sense that it’s polluted by life, and by the complexity of things.”

have come from a Jules Verne book, or an unlikely looking ship in dry dock... Beaubourg is a double provocation: a challenge to academicism, but also a parody of the technological imagery of our time. To see it as high-tech is a misunderstanding.”

After their success with the Centre, the two architects went their own way and Piano has since become the most

sought-after museum architect in the world, renowned for his ability to harmonize buildings both with their external environment and the art exhibited within them. He is also celebrated for his landmark examples of energy-efficient green design. With a living roof and a fourstory tropical rainforest, the California Academy of Sciences /2/ in San Francisco claims to be the “world’s greenest

museum,” thanks to the design of Piano. The Academy writes, “It all began with architect Renzo Piano’s idea to ‘lift up a piece of the park and put a building underneath.’” For Piano, the architecture became part of the landscape.

Renzo Piano’s work has been called “high-tech” and bold “postmodernism.” His 2006 renovation and expansion of the Morgan Library and Museum /3/ shows that he has much more than one style. His works shows that he works with the understanding that architecture is ultimately, “a space for people.” He remains one of the most respected, prolific, and innovative architects of his time. n

Next time you wave, use all of your fingers.

04/ The New York Times Building, New York City.

05/ The stadium San Nicola in Bari, Italy was designed to appear to open like petals of a flower.

06/ The Shard – the tallest building in London.

07/ Piano Pavilion at the Kimball Art Museum in Fort Worth.

08/ Science Center Nemo, Amsterdam, Netherlands.

09/ Astrup Fearnley Museum of Modern Art, Oslo, Norway.

10/ Nasher Sculpture Center in Dallas.

11/ Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Museum of Motion Pictures.

12/ Aurora Place, Sydney, Australia.

13/ Kansai International Airport, Osaka, Japan.

14/ Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Centre, Athens, Greece.

15/ Whitney Museum of American Art in New York City.

16/ Jean-Marie Tjibaou Cultural Centre, Nouméa, New Caledonia.

17/ Auditorium Parco della Musica in Rome.

Q1 2020 Retail MarketV iews

AUSTIN: Retailers hit the brakes as COVID-19 disrupts economy

Vacancy: 4%

Net Absorption: (3,310) sq. f t.

DALL AS/ FORT WORTH: Leasing activity t apers amid COVID-19 f ears

Vacancy: 5.8%

Net Absorption: 166,425 sq. f t.

HOUSTON: Houston retail showed signs of strengt h pr ior to COVID-19 outbreak

Vacancy: 5.8%

Net Absorption: 843,709 sq. f t.

Net Absorption and Market Occupancy

Net Absorption and Market Occupancy

Net Absorption and Market Occupancy

E. Mic helle Miller Researc h Operations Manager mic helle.miller@cbre.com

To learn more about CBRE Researc h, or to access additional researc h repor ts, please visit t he Global Researc h Gateway at www.cbre.com/researc h.

IMPORTANT VOICES

THE BIOTECH CENTURY AHEAD

EDITING OUR GENES COULD MAKE US IMMUNE TO VIRUSES

The currenT coronavirus Plague will hasten our transition to the third great innovation revolution of modern times. These revolutions arose from the discovery, beginning just over a century ago, of the three fundamental kernels of our existence: the atom, the bit, and the gene.

The first half of the 20th century, beginning with Albert Einstein’s 1905 papers on relativity and quantum theory, featured a revolution driven by physics. Advances in basic science became, as always, the seed corn from which sprang useful inventions. In the fifty years following Einstein’s miracle year, his theories and those of fellow physicists led to atomic bombs and nuclear power, semiconductors and transistors, spaceships and GPS, lasers and radar.

The second half of the twentieth century was an information-technology era based on the idea that all information could be encoded by binary digits, known as bits, and all logical processes could be performed by circuits with on-off switches. In the 1950s, this led to the development of the microchip, the computer, and the internet. When these three innovations were combined, it led to the digital revolution.

Now we have entered a third and even more momentous scientific era: a lifescience revolution driven by biotech. The basic science advances were the discoveries of the gene and of the molecules, DNA and RNA, that contain and implement its information. By the beginning of this century, we had the power to sequence and map our genes and those of every organism.

One consequential invention in this new revolution is a tool, known as CRISPR, that will allow us to edit genes. Like most inventions, it was born out of curiositydriven basic science, in this case involving the longest-running and most vicious war on this planet. For three billion years, bacteria have struggled to fight off attacks by viruses, which are snippets of genetic material that reproduce by taking over the cells of living organisms. CRISPR systems are a wondrous method that bacteria came up with to remember, recognize, and destroy the genetic material of enemy viruses.

Which leads us to our own fight against the coronavirus. CRISPR tools are already being developed that will detect and, eventually, ward it off. But in a larger way, the coronavirus will focus the attention of a new generation of scientists and innova-

tors. Just as the digital revolution drove innovation in the last half of the 20th century, the biotech revolution will drive the first half of the 21st century. Kids who study digital coding will be surpassed by those who study the code of life.

It will have at least three major components. First, an effort to fight viruses at the molecular level using RNA-guided genetic targeting devices (just like bacteria do). Our recurring viral plagues – MERS, SARS, Ebola, HIV/AIDS, and of course each new strand of the flu – shows how pitifully poor we have been at this. Second, discovering the underlying mechanisms of cancer and finding ways to personalize treatments of it. And third, editing our own genes. Gene-editing technology has the potential to make us immune to viruses and cancer. It can correct mutations that cause a wide array of disabilities, from sickle-cell anemia to congenital blindness. And here’s what will be the hard part, the one that will require not only scientists and innovators but also philosophers and humanists and well-informed citizens: it could have the potential (once we figure out whether it’s wise) to genetically enhance our bodies, our minds, and those of our children. n

This article originally appeared in The Wall Street Journal on March 28, 2020 and is reprinted here with permission of the author.

é A conceptual illustration of genome editing using CRISPR.

WALTER ISAACSON isaacson@tulane.edu

Walter Isaacson is a professor of history at Tulane University.

ROSE-MARY RUMBLEY rosetalksdallas@aol.com

Rose-Mary Rumbley has written three books about her native city – Dallas. She has also written “WHAT! NO CHILI!” and a book about the 300th anniversary of the invention of the piano. She has appeared on the stage at the

ANDREW CARNEGIE

my moTher Believed everyThing was “born in you.” You never had a chance with my mother. Genes ruled! The multibillionaire steel producer, Andrew Carnegie, felt the same way. He was born in 1835 in Scotland in a one room house where his mother eked out a living selling meat pies. He was able to go to a free school paid for by a rich man of the town. And he always remembered the opportunity that was given him.

The family migrated to Allegheny, Pennsylvania in 1848, and Andrew got a job in one of the mills in this industrialized city. He always worked, pointing out that his brother was “always tired.” His brother was born that way. He yawned, while Andrew, born with a triple portion of ambition, worked.

Dallas Summer Musicals and at Casa Mañana and was head of the drama department at Dallas Baptist University for 12 years. Today she is on the speaking circuit and teaches drama classes at Providence Christian School. Her loving views of Texas history appear in every issue of

times.” So, it was natural for an ambitious and thinking man to invest in the future. Andrew did just that.

Actually, his first investment was in Pennsylvania oil in 1864. But after the Civil War in 1865, he went into ironworks, building bridges and railroads. By 1890, he had amassed a fortune! This is when he decided to become a philanthropist. He planned to give millions to ambitious scholars and smart thinking workers.

deserve such a gift. And also, there was an attitude that the rich became wealthy at the expense of the working class. Carnegie embraced the ‘Gilded Age’ (18731893), a term that came from the mind of writer Mark Twain, with giving what today would be $350 billion dollars to the citizens of America in the form of libraries.

There may have been a danger, but I think she just didn’t want us all together talking.

Dallas also had a branch library in the suburb of Oak Cliff at the corner of Jefferson and Marsalis. Both of those stately, charming buildings - the one downtown and the one in Oak Cliff, were eventually torn down. The new buildings standing in these locations are not as inspiring as the old Carnegie architecture was.

Cities and little towns could request a Carnegie Grant, and with the proper study, the money was given for the building of a library. The architectural plans were very similar. The libraries would all have a Carnegie look. For larger cities, there was money for a central downtown library and also for neighborhood branches. Carnegie also decided on the furniture in the libraries. He had a special chair that he liked, and under his watchful eye, 2,509 libraries were built and furnished.

He remembered the man in his hometown in Scotland, who provided him with a free education and he also was taken with the life story of George Peabody, who, born in Massachusetts in 1795 to a poor family, amassed a fortune through trade, a fortune he used to endow dozens of educational institutions. But Carnegie wasn’t just going to give his money away. Individuals were going to have to work for it.

Later, Andrew got a job as a telegrapher, sending messages from the train depot. (Remember Matt Dillion always sent Chester to the nearest depot with a wire to alert the marshal in the next town.) The telegraph wires stretched across the nation - from depot to depot. Those were “developing

Among other things of course, Carnegie is remembered for his essay, The Gospel of Wealth, in which he tells the wealthy “to utilize (their) surplus means in a responsible and thoughtful manner.” Carnegie believe that most people with money left it to their children who really didn’t

I remember the central library in downtown Dallas at the corner of Commerce and Harwood Streets. My mother enjoyed it when it was new in 1898, and I had a likewise great experience there when I was a child. However, when I was attending North Dallas High School in the late 1940s, the building was definitely beginning to show its age.

I remember the librarian asking us not to sit together at the same table. “Spread out,” she would say. “The floor is beginning to sag.”

There were thirty-two Carnegie libraries built in Texas, four of which are still serving as libraries - in Ballinger, Jefferson, Stamford, and Franklin. Nine of the build-ings are used for other diverse purposes. In Belton, for example, the original library now houses the Bell County Museum. Cleburne, Sherman, and Terrell also enjoy museums in their old libraries. Bryan and Tyler use their buildings as History Centers, and the old library in Palestine is used by the Chamber of Commerce. Personally, I am impressed with the building in Gainesville, a city which was on the old Butterfield Stage Route. Their old library is now a theatre named, what else, The Butterfield Stage. How cute is that?

Today libraries offer so much more than books. In fact, in San Antonio there is a “bookless library.” It’s all online! Would Carnegie be pleased? Of course! He would admire all these ambitious movers and shakers we have in the communication world. Just imagine what Carnegie’s Facebook page would offer. n

é George Peabody.

é Carnegie Public Library.

é Butterfield Stage.

“It is more difficult to give money away intelligently than to earn it in

the first place.”

(Andrew Carnegie in The Gospel of Wealth, 1889)

irene amos morgan (1917 –2007), later known as Irene Morgan Kirkaldy, was an African-American woman from Baltimore. In 1944, while traveling on an interstate bus that operated under federal law and regulations, she was arrested in Virginia under a state law imposing racial segregation in public facilities and transportation. She refused to give up her seat in what the driver said was the “white section.”

Morgan had been dealing with a recent miscarriage and was visiting her mother in to physically and mentally recover from the ordeal. She boarded a Greyhound bus to back home to Baltimore. She sat down next to another African American woman who was carrying an infant. An African-American was not permitted to sit next to or across from a Caucasian passenger, but there were no designated “black” or “white” seats on the bus.

When a white couple boarded the bus at a stop in Virginia, the bus driver ordered Morgan and her seatmate to surrender their seats. Her seatmate immediately retreated to the back of the bus with her infant, but Morgan refused to give up her spot. The bus driver hopped off the bus to grab a sheriff. The sheriff presented Morgan with an arrest warrant, but she tore up the piece of paper and threw it out of the window of the bus.

When the sheriff touched her to pull her out of her seat, Morgan kicked him. She was arrested and charged with resisting arrest and violat-

A DECADE BEFORE ROSA PARKS

ing Virginia’s Jim Crow transit law. On October 18, 1944, she agreed to pay a $100 fine for resisting arrest but refused to plead to the segregation violation (and wouldn’t pay the $10 fine).

Morgan consulted with attorneys to appeal her conviction and the NAACP Legal Defense Fund took up her case. She was represented by William H. Hastie (the former governor of the U.S. Virgin Islands and later a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit) and Thurgood Marshall, legal counsel of the NAACP (and later a Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court). The Virginia courts found her guilty. In 1946, Irene Morgan v. Commonwealth of Virginia was appealed to the United States Supreme Court. In a landmark decision, the Court ruled that the Virginia law was unconstitutional, as the Commerce clause protected interstate traffic. But neither Virginia nor other states observed the ruling and it was not enforced for decades.

In 1945, the Morgan family moved to New York City and in 1948, at the age of 32, her husband died leaving her alone with two young children. About a year later, she married dry-cleaning business-owner Stanley Kirkaldy. Together, they owned and operated house cleaning and childcare businesses in Queens. In 1981 Morgan-Kirkaldy won a college scholarship from a radio contest and four years later, in 1985, at the age of 68, she earned her bachelor’s degree in communications from St. John’s University. Five years later in 1990, at the age of 72, she received her master’s degree in urban studies from Queens College.

Irene Kirkaldy’s efforts for civil rights were recalled in a 1995 episode of the PBS series P.O.V. titled “You Don’t Have to Ride Jim Crow,” which featured her. In 2000, she was honored by Gloucester City, Virginia during its 350th anniversary and one year later President Bill Clinton awarded her the Presidential Citizens Medal. In 2010, Morgan-Kirkaldy was

inducted into the Maryland Women’s Hall of Fame.

Morgan-Kirkaldy moved from New York City to Gloucester, Virginia in the last years of her life and passed away at her daughter’s home on August 10, 2007 from complications of Alzheimer’s disease. She was 90. n

THE BATTLE OF LITTLE BIG HORN (A/K/A CUSTER’S LAST STAND)

On the morning of June 25, 1876, Lieutenant Colonel George A. Custer and the 7th Cavalry charged into battle against Lakota Sioux and Northern Cheyenne Indians. Custer’s orders had been to wait for reinforcements at the mouth of the Little Big Horn River before attacking, but Chief Sitting Bull had been spotted nearby, and Custer was impatient to attack.

A treaty had given the Sioux exclusive rights to the Black Hills, but when gold was later discovered in the area, white miners flocked to the territory. Despite the treaty, the U.S. government ordered the Indians away from the invading settlers and back to their reservations. Custer’s job was to force the Indians back to their reservations. Some of the Indians refused to leave their sacred land, and other hunters were camped in remote places and never learned of the order. The U.S. Army prepared for battle anyway.

Custer planned to attack the Indian camp from three sides, but Chief Sitting Bull was ready for them. The first two groups, led by Captain Benteen and Major Reno, were immediately forced to retreat to one side of the river, where they continued to fight as best as they could. Custer was not as lucky. His troops charged the Indians from the north. Quickly encircled by their enemy, Custer and 265 of his soldiers were killed in less than an hour. The Indians retreated two days later when the troops Custer had been ordered to wait for arrived.

The Battle of Little Big Horn was a short-lived victory for the Native Americans. Federal troops soon poured into the Black Hills. While many Native Americans surrendered, Sitting Bull escaped to Canada. n

é George Armstrong Custer

é Sitting Bull

é Irene Morgan Kirkaldy and President Bill Clinton, 2001

YOU NEED (OR MIGHT WANT) TO KNOW EGAL VIEW

ANTHONY J. BARBIERI ajb@kesslercollins.com

THE SPECTRUM OF NEGLIGENCE

negligence. gross negligence. recKlessness. Willfulness. Wantonness. Most of us have seen these terms in some form or fashion –whether glazing over legal documents, or on our favorite courtroom-TV drama shows. Some of these can give rise to criminal conduct. But all of them are “tort claims”, and are grounds for bringing a civil lawsuit against a person or company that has injured you physically, or damaged your property or business. But what do these torts mean? How do they differ from one another, and why does it matter?

gence? Well, in most states, failing to use “reasonable care” causes negligence. There is no hard-and-fast definition of “reasonable”. What is “reasonable” various by the situation. Courts typically look at what a “reasonable person” would have done in any given situation. The “reasonable person” standard requires people to conduct themselves as a reasonably careful person would under like circumstances. Ordinary negligence occurs when someone does something that a reasonably careful person would not do under similar circumstances, or fails to do something a reasonably careful person would do.

duties are created by statutes. For example, the City of Dallas has an ordinance that requires owners of vacant buildings to keep doors and windows securely closed. Houston has an ordinance creating a duty for building owners to have at least two separate exits for every floor above the first story used for human occupancy.

SPECTRUM OF BEHAVIOR

Like many legal concepts, the torts mentioned above all fall on a spectrum (or scale) of behavior. Gross negligence is more extreme than negligence, but gross negligence isn’t as extreme as willful, wanton, or reckless behavior. The “behavior” discussed in this article refers to the facts, or actions, of any particular incident. For example, if I drive my car 20 miles over the posted speed limit and cause an accident, my behavior might be negligent. However, if I drive my car 20 miles over the posted speed limit, while I am simultaneously texting on my phone, changing the radio station in my car, talking to my passengers and sipping a latte, then my behavior might be gross negligence since it is more egregious than just negligence. If my accident causes a lawsuit, then the tricky part is proving where my behavior falls on the “spectrum”.

NEGLIGENCE A/K/A “ORDINARY NEGLIGENCE”

The term “ordinary negligence” is the same thing as “negligence”. The word “ordinary” is sometimes used to distinguish negligence from gross negligence. What causes negli-

Another term often used to describe negligence is “carelessness”. Instances in which someone suffers a physical or a financial loss resulting from a careless act are generally negligent acts. For instance, if you slip and fall in a grocery store because the grocer didn’t put a “wet floor” sign up after mopping; or your doctor accidentally gives you the wrong medicine; or a restaurant fails to require its employees to wash their hands an you get hepatitis. These are all instances when someone was probably careless (negligent), and their carelessness could have caused you physical harm or financial damage (or both). But in addition to just acting careless, the law typically requires a plaintiff to prove four elements before they can recover money from someone for negligence. Although these elements differ from state to state, they are generally seen as follows:

• Duty of Care: Before someone can be careless, they must owe you a legal duty to be careful. There is no strict rule that specifies a duty of care in every situation, so it often depends on the facts of a case and the judge’s or jury’s interpretation of the facts. Some duties are pretty common. For example, landlords owe certain duties of care to keep their buildings safe to invitees. Most of your vendors owe you, as landlords, a duty of care to perform their jobs correctly and not to make any unsafe condition on the property. It might not always be obvious when a duty exists. The issue that courts look at is whether or not a “reasonable” person was aware they had a duty to keep you safe. However, some

• Breach of Duty: Once you establish a duty, you then must determine if the defendant breached the duty. Each legal duty carries with it a standard of care. A legal duty is breached when a defendant does not meet the standard of care. Determining if a breach occurred is also open to interpretation and typically very fact specific. However, most courts look at case law (common law) to see if any prior lawsuits were filed with similar fact patters that may be analogous to your specific incident. Sometimes it is not always clear who breached the duty – especially if you have multiple parties involved in an incident or accident.

• Causation: The next element is to prove that the breached duty lead to injury or loss. Although this sounds like a simple connection of cause and effect, determining which causes lead to certain effects is often hotly contested. For example, if you are injured in an accident, the defendant sometimes argues that some of your injuries are preexisting.

• Damages: Once you prove the first three elements, you then have to prove that the harm

She said she was approaching 40, and I couldn’t help wondering from which direction.

Anthony J. Barbieri is a shareholder of Kessler Collins, PC in Dallas, Texas. He is a Fellow of the Litigation Counsel of America and a member of the State Bar of Texas, Dallas Bar Association and the American Bar Association. He is also a Contributing Editor of .

“Mistakes are part of the dues one pays for a full life.”

Sophia Loren

caused you some type of monetary damages. If you don’t have any monetary damages, then there is no negligence. This is the legal equivalent of the “no harm no foul” rule. Sometimes proving damages is easy, sometimes it is not. For example, if my neighbor sets off fireworks and burns my house down, I want to recover the cost to rebuild my house and pay for all my personal belongings, as well as temporary housing. But some cases are not so obvious. Suppose my neighbor burned my house down, but I was also running a business out of my house, and now I want to sue my neighbor for my lost profits. Since determining lost future profits requires some degree of speculation, it is often a contentious legal battle to determine the damages.

In summary: negligence is a civil tort (not a criminal act), where one party (plaintiff) sues another party (defendant) in civil court. For negligence to exist you have to prove that the defendant owed you a duty of care, that he or she then breached the duty, that the breach caused harm or loss, and resulted in the monetary damages or compensation.

GROSS NEGLIGENCE

In order to prove gross negligence, you have to first satisfy all the elements of negligence. Then, you have to prove that some other egregious conduct occurred. Although it varies by state, gross negligence is a more extreme form of negligence that will likely cause a serious foreseeable injury to a person or property. Gross negligence requires conduct substantially higher in magnitude than ordinary negligence. It is very great negligence, and often amounts to indifference to others. Examples of gross negligence include speeding in a parking lot when people are walking to their cars; serving food to restaurant patrons when you know the food is contaminated; a nursing home failing to feed the elderly for several days; a business selling a product they know is harmful.

the distinction: suppose you go to a surgeon for an appendectomy, and after you wake up, your surgeon tells you that they left a scalpel and some surgical gauze inside your stomach, thus requiring additional treatment, another surgery, and additional medical expenses. That surgeon’s conduct is most likely going to be considered ordinary negligence. But suppose your surgeon confused you with another patient and inadvertently amputates one of your limbs instead of taking out your appendix. That would fall into the category of gross negligence since any reasonable person would have confirmed which patient they were operating on.

The distinction between ordinary negligence and gross negligence is really significant when it comes to damages. In the majority of ordinary negligence claims, the plaintiff can get damages that compensate them for their expenses and other monetary damages to reimburse the plaintiff for medical costs, lost wages, court costs, and losses. In gross negligence claims, a court can award punitive damages depending on the facts of the case. Punitive damages are designed to “punish” the plaintiff. In most cases, the justice system wants to punish people and companies who are grossly negligent to hopefully prevent them from continuing the bad or dangerous acts. Punitive damages often come in the form of very high monetary awards, though some states place limits on the amount a plaintiff can collect. In some states, criminal charges can also be brought against someone who commits an act of gross negligence.

RECKLESS, WILLFUL & WANTON

Former United States Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Homes Jr. once said “even a dog knows the difference between being kicked and being stumbled over”. That comment goes a long way in understanding the difference between negligence on the one hand, and reckless, willful or wanton conduct, on the other hand. While Justice Holmes’ comment has a lot of merit, it is not always easy to detect the difference between willful, wanton and reckless conduct. In most states, the expression “willful and wanton” or “reckless” conduct means a course of action which shows actual or deliberate intention to harm someone; or, if not intentional, shows an utter indifference to or conscious disregard for the safety of others. However, these terms are not always interchangeable. In some states, such conduct can also lead to criminal chargers, especially if the action is deliberate.

willful, wanton and reckless in the Anderson v. Massillon case. In summary, the court found that “willful” conduct is the voluntary or intentional violation or disregard of a known legal duty; and “wanton” conduct is when someone is aware of the risks of their actions, but doesn’t do anything to stop their actions and is indifferent if someone gets hurt. By contrast, “reckless” conduct is substantial and unjustified risk of harm, but the person doing the act doesn’t desire to harm someone.

These distinctions might seem confusing, but they could be important because they could impact the amount of damages a plaintiff can get awarded in a lawsuit, and they could also trigger whether or not the bad actor could be subject to criminal prosecution and possibly jail time – in addition to paying money to the plaintiff.

Sometimes it is not always easy to tell the difference between negligence and gross negligence. Here is a parable that might help draw

In a non-criminal context, the Ohio Supreme Court recently defined the differences between

CONCLUSION

Mistakes happen to everyone, no matter how hard we try to avoid them. But sometimes a simple mistake, if taken too far, can give rise to significant legal consequences. It is important to be aware of these issues in life and in business, so you can safeguard your actions and know your rights if you are ever injured or hurt by someone else. n

Ed. Note: This piece originally appeared in the September 2017 issue of . Tony Barbieri’s article on tortious interference with contracts will appear in the next issue.

I have the power to channel my imagination into ever-soaring levels of suspicion and paranoia.

ARTCH TECTURE

ROBIN CHEERS MAKING A LASTING IMPRESSION

Junk is something you’ve kept for years and throw away three weeks before you need it.

“My paintings are an exploration and appreciation of the simple beauty of everyday life and they capture the human spirit on canvas. By working “alla prima” (direct painting in one sitting), I capture my first response to a scene in a spontaneous and unlabored way. Immediacy is important - not only because it is often the nature of people, but for me it is the most instinctive way to paint.”

for arTisT roBin cheers, the passion for art was born early and nurtured through a career in the graphic arts and into full time oil painting for the past 20 years. She is driven by a passionate desire to capture the essence of light and life. In the vein of the early impressionists, her work focuses on ordinary subject matter depicted with loose

brushwork, strong color and composition and sparkling light effects.

Robin is an active member of her local art community in Austin, Texas where she teaches weekly drawing and painting classes out of her studio. She is a signature member of the American Impressionist Society and

artist member of the Oil Painters of America and American Women Artists. Robin is a resident artist at the Austin Visual Arts Association’s ArtSpace and is a founding member of Plein Air Austin. She has won awards of excellence in both plein air competitions and juried art shows. Her work is collected worldwide. n

What others are saying:

To see more of Robin’s paintings, visit her website: www.robincheers.com where you can find links to representing galleries across the country as well as her online outlets. If you are in the Austin area, she welcomes you to contact her for a studio visit.

WHY ARTCH TECTURE ?

Great art is among the most sublime, meaningful, and redeeming creations of all civilization. Few endeavors can equal the power of great artwork to capture aesthetic beauty, to move and inspire, to change perceptions, and to communicate the nature of human experience. Great art is also complex, mysterious, and challenging. Filled with symbolism, cultural and historical references, and often visionary imagery, great artworks oblige us to reckon with their many meanings.

Architects and designers (many of our readers) have a lot of influence on the way we perceive the world. A structure often plays a significant part in how we experience a place. (Think of a restaurant, a museum, an arena, a stadium... even an office building - virtually anywhere!) The interior design impacts our sensory perception, our comfort, and our physical connection and there is also artistry in the exterior design. (That’s why we call it artchitecture.)

“Sensitive impressionist work that tells a story of contemporary people and their real human condition.”

Informed Collector

“By nature, figurative artists are unabashed people watchers, but Cheers has taken the art to new heights.” The Examiner.com

By the time you make ends meet, they move the ends.

MARISSA LIMSIACO

marissa.limsiaco@tenavox.com

Marissa Limsiaco is the co-founder and president of Otso.

OTSO

Josh and I realized if landlords were to adopt Otso we needed to do the following:

1. Landlords need a better way to assess financials on a tenant. Our application process collects tenant information on credit, banking, and entity history for landlords in a matter of minutes.

2. We knew we needed to cover the landlord for every instance of default in their leases. If they were replacing the cash, the guarantee needs to operate “same as cash” if a default occurs.

3. Our guarantees needed to be backed by strength. Otso is backed by our AA-rated financial partner, Euler Hermes, with over 130 years of history and billions in paid claims to clients.

in 2016, my co-founder Josh Feinberg and I came together to solve a problem we felt was pervasive in the commercial real estate industry. Leasing a space was just too hard. Two years later, we launched Tenavox to allow for easier search and connection. Our goal was (and still is) to make the leasing process faster and easier for both tenants and landlords. Since then, we have helped over 20,000 businesses get connected to the right space or professional.

Along our journey, we spent an enormous amount of time learning about how financials, deposits, and leasing are all interrelated in a commercial lease. Surveying our tenant users revealed that over 70% of them would gladly replace their security deposit in exchange for a nominal increase in rent. We learned tenants often felt underestimated by the financial review process and, at times, intimidated by the large cash deposits required to lease space. Even worse, letters of credit not only lock up their cash but also require paying a fee to do so.

The landlord’s pain points were even more fascinating to us:

• Projecting future lease performance is hard and often results in larger than normal cash deposits, costly letters of credit, or weak personal guarantees.

• Landlords feel they take on almost all the risk. The costs of the deal are massive, which mainly included tenant improvement allowance and broker commissions.

• Deposit amounts vary widely because most landlords don’t have comfort on the deal costs.

•The cash on file is often not enough to cover these costs.

•It’s incredibly impractical to collect or sue from a business in default of a commercial lease.

•Personal guarantees are difficult to enforce and costly for a landlord.

We knew the industry deserved a better solution to these pain points, so we created Otso in 2019. Otso provides an option for landlords to replace cash deposits in their commercial leases so businesses can put essential capital to work. Our program provides landlords with the strength of collateral they need with AA-rated guarantees from our partner, Euler Hermes.

Here’s how Otso works in three easy steps:

• Landlords enroll properties in the Otso program to attract new tenants or incentivize renewals. There is no fee to enroll or obligation to use Otso on every lease.

• The tenant completes an online application that takes 3-5 minutes.

• When approved, we can issue a guarantee electronically in minutes. Landlords pay a monthly fee for every guarantee issued. This fee is passed through to the tenant in the base rent.

Our fees are dependent on the business' credit and financials, but on average, the landlord fees are between $50-$150 per month for every $10,000 in coverage. Our fees never increase, and our coverage never decreases for the life of the lease.

4. Finally, paying a landlord in a default situation needed to be fast and painless. With Otso in a default situation, we make payments in thirty days or less when verified.

Here’s a great example of how one of our customers uses Otso today:

Let’s say your building has $20,000 in security deposits, and each one is worth $1,500. If a default occurs, the only coverage you have is the $1,500 on file. It often will cost a landlord 4-5X this amount (in commissions and TI) to strike a new deal.

With Otso, landlords are setting a “minimum viability” standard before working on any deal. In our scenario, every tenant needs to at least qualify for $5,000 from Otso (a few months’ rent).

You negotiate the deal knowing you have to work only $30-$50 a month into the contract to cover the guarantee’s monthly fee. If a default occurs with Otso in place, you get $5,000 more than 3X on that “normal” cash deposit.

Otso is better than cash. We provide 3-5X in coverage in cases of default with minimal impact on a lease's economics. Beyond the clear benefits of less risk, landlords get the major advantage of getting a deal done faster by not requiring a deposit or returning deposits to existing tenants. Ultimately, Otso takes the friction out of a critical step of the leasing process and is designed to be a valuable solution to all stakeholders in a commercial lease deal. n

The older we get, the fewer things seem worth waiting in line for.

01/ On March 5th, San Antonio native and United States Congressman Will Hurd was elected to the Alamo Trust, Inc. board. Congressman Hurd will provide leadership and strategic direction during the implementation of the Alamo Plan. “As a champion of our National Parks in Congress, it is an incredible honor to be named to the Alamo Trust, Inc. Board,” said Congressman Hurd. “The Alamo is a state and national treasure as well as a symbol to the world that a few can stand up to the many for a just cause.”

YOU NEED (OR MIGHT WANT) TO KNOW IN THE N WS SH UT-OUTS

02/ March 20th was the International Day of Happiness and WalletHub set out to learn whether money really can buy happiness. In order to determine where people in America are most content with their lives, they compared more than 180 of the largest U.S. cities across 30 key indicators of happiness, ranging from depression rate to income-growth rate to average leisure time spent per day. Kudos to Plano that came in at #2 right behind Fremont, CA. See its whole report here: 2020’s Happiest Cities in America and accompanying videos.

03/ Houston-based PDR, a global design, architecture and consulting firm, opened a new office in Dallas. Partner and Principal, Marc Bellamy, who has 20 years of experience in interiors, base building design and real estate development, along with Senior Associate Justin Dezendorf, as project manager and architect, and Senior Associate Jenny Segsworth, registered interior designer, will head up local client projects. n

03/ The personal-finance web-site WalletHub today released its report on 2020’s Best State Capitals to Live in as well as accompanying videos. Congratulations Austin! Austin also has the highest median household income (adjusted for cost of living), $67,938 - 2.3 times higher than in Hartford, CT, the city with the lowest at $28,977. n

01/ Congratulations to Kristin Grammar! The Senior Vice President at TIG Commercial Real Estate was named the 2019 Young Professional of the Year by the Frisco Chamber of Commerce at its Annual Awards Gala on February 28th.

02/ Kudos to the Winning UTSA team from the Fall 2019 CCIM Development Competition who were honored on March 3rd at the CCIM monthly luncheon.

YOU NEED (OR MIGHT WANT) TO KNOW PROFESSIONALS ON THE

JULIE BRAND LYNCH julie@LYNOUS.com

Julie Lynch is the principal of LYNOUS, a talent management firm that provides recruiting, interim staffing and training to the real estate industry. She is also a contributing editor of .

01/ Laura Hines-Pierce was promoted to Senior Managing Director – Office of the CEO at Hines.

02/ Bailey Rekart joined Lee & Associates in DFW and will focus on industrial tenant representation and institutional project leasing.

03/ Lawrence Tan joined Lee & Associates in DFW and will focus on occupier representation, and industrial sales.

04/ Jonathan Schmaltz joined McCarthy Building Companies, Inc. in Houston as Business Development Director for its Heavy Civil Marine Industrial Group.

05/ Condon Verble joined McCarthy Building Companies, Inc. in Houston as General Superintendent for its Heavy Civil Marine Industrial Group.

06/ Joseph Jouvenal promoted to President of southern region, McCarthy Building Companies, Inc. in Dallas.

07/ Nate Kowallis promoted to Senior Vice President for McCarthy Building Companies, Inc. in Dallas.

08/ Steve Wilson was promoted to Vice President of Operations for McCarthy Building Companies, Inc. in Dallas.

THE COURT REPORTER (STRIKES AGAIN)

(ACTUAL TRANSCRIPTS FROM THE WITNESS STAND)

Q . Sir, what is your IQ?

A . Well, I can see pretty well, I think.

JUDGE . “Well Sir, I have reviewed this case and I’ve decided to give your wife $775 a week.”

HUSBAND .“That’s fair, your honor.

I’ll try to send her a few bucks myself.”

Q . All your responses must be oral, OK? What school did you go to?

A . Oral.

09/ Tim York was promoted to Senior Vice President of Operations for McCarthy Building Companies, Inc. in Dallas.

10/ Danny Mignano was promoted to Senior Preconstruction Director for McCarthy Building Companies, Inc. in Dallas.

11/ Grant Apkarian was promoted to Preconstruction Director for McCarthy Building Companies, Inc. in Dallas.

12/ Megan Panek joined Camelot Facility and Property Management as an Account Manager.

13/ Tiffani Wilson joined Camelot Facility and Property Management as a Facility Specialist.

14/ Brian Torres joined Camelot Facility and Property Management as a Building Maintenance Technician.

15/ Laura Fishback joined Avison Young as a Senior Property Manager.

16/ Taylor Griffin joined BOMA Greater Dallas as Marketing & Communications Coordinator.

Q . Did you blow your horn or anything?

A . After the accident?

Q . Before the accident.

A . Sure, I played for 10 years. I even went to school for it.

Q . You say the stairs went down to the basement?

A . Yes.

Q . And these stairs, did they go up also?

Q . The youngest son, the 20-year old, how old is he?

Q. Is your appearance here this morning pursuant to a deposition notice that I sent to your attorney?

A . No, this is how I dress when I go to work.

Q . Doctor, before you performed the autopsy, did you check for a pulse?

A . No.

Q . Did you check for blood pressure?

A . No.

Q . Did you check for breathing?

A . No.

Q . So, then it is possible that the patient was alive when you began the autopsy?

A . No.

Q . How can you be so sure, Doctor?

A . Because his brain was sitting on my desk in a jar.

Q . But could the patient have still been alive, nevertheless?

A . Well, yes. I suppose it is possible that he could have been alive and practicing law somewhere.

Ed. Note: reached out to hundreds of real estate associations and companies throughout the state and offered a cost-free opportunity for them to ‘speak’ to the industry here. The pandemic has so paralyzed and/overwhelmed so many that below are the only responses we received.

Despite being knocked down, our Country, our State and our local markets always, always recover. Although Commercial Real Estate is and will continue to take some punches for the foreseeable future, I am optimistic we will weather the storm!

In order to help property managers across the globe navigate the uncertainties presented by COVID-19, IREM® is providing resources to help real estate professionals get through this pandemic. Resources available include:

• Pandemic Guide for Real Estate Managers

• From the Front Lines video series

• Updates on legislative initiatives that impact businesses

Resources and updates are available on IREM’s Coronavirus updates page

The beauty will be in how this shapes and strengthens us. As Thomas Paine once said, “The harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph.”

Kaci Hancock, ACoM, CPM President, Institute of Real Estate Management, Houston Chapter (IREM) Operations Director, Rice Village

ApartmentData.com has taken steps to ensure the safety and health of our employees and customers. Our sales and service representatives continue to provide seamless support to customers while working from home. We continue to contact properties for pricing and policy changes to understand the impact on apartment industry fundamentals. We are here to ensure onsite property managers can serve their residents in these challenging times.

These times have certainly been a good test of our discipline, our patience, and our technology prowess! We are all honing our empathy skills and supporting one another. In the uncertainty, we are still growing. We are learning to slow down, new routines, new technology and new ways of connecting with our families, friends and co-workers. Despite our circumstances, human connection and understanding will prevail.

Kelley Hendrickson Director of Business Operations and Human Resources - PDR

How your talent is managed during today’s challenging times requires new strategies and workflows to keep up moral and performance. Contact LYNOUS Talent Management for advisory support during these challenging times: Office: 214.387.9595

www.LYNOUS.com

Email: Julie@LYNOUS.com

The TrusT for PuBlic land works to protect the places people care about and to create close-to-home parks— particularly in and near cities, where 80 percent of Americans live. Its goal is to ensure that every child has easy access to a safe place to play in nature. They also conserve working farms, ranches, and forests; lands of historical and cultural importance; rivers, streams, coasts, and watersheds; and other special places where people can experience nature close at hand.

Founded in 1972 with the goal of protecting land in and around cities and pioneering new

land conservation techniques, its work has expanded to include projects from the inner city to the wilderness. In cities, they’re turning vacant lots into community-designed parks and playgrounds. And we’re addressing the looming climate crisis with strategies to help reduce greenhouse gasses, promote climate adaptation, and create park-rich, climatesmart cities.

The Trust for Public Land’s ParkScore® index is the most comprehensive tool available for evaluating park access and quality in the 100 largest U.S. cities. With the permission

of and thanks to The Trust for Public Land, this is the seventh of thirteen installments of the results of that study. For Arlington, Austin, Corpus Christi, Dallas, El Paso, and Fort Worth, please see our archived editions at www.crestnetwork.com. In the issues ahead, look for Houston, Irving, Laredo, Lubbock, Plano and San Antonio. If you can’t wait to see all of the results – or want to see where your or another city rates, go to:

www.tpl.org/node/110916 n

YOU NEED (OR MIGHT WANT) TO KNOW LINK : MARKET PLACE AND DIRECTORY

CARPET CLEANING: LEGAL:

EXECUTIVE SEARCH, INTERIM PLACEMENTS & TRAINING:

PAVINGS:

EXTERIOR WALL CONSULTING:

A good time to keep your mouth shut is when you’re in deep water.

JANITORIAL SERVICES:

PAVINGS:

ROOFING:

According to the The Nielsen Company, Benchmarking Return on Ad Spend: Media Type and Brand Size Matter, magazines remain one the most trusted forms of advertising!

Our readers are your customers!

THE BACK PAGE

ANSWERS FROM THE MARCH/APRIL CONTEST –CRAZY LIBS

1. You Make Me Feel So Young // 2. You’re Just Too Good To Be True //

3. This Girl Is on Fire // 4. 99 Luftballoons // 5. Here I Go Again //

6. Tie A Yellow Ribbon Round the Old Oak Tree // 7. I Will Survive //

8. Under the Boardwalk // 9. My Sharona // 10. Wild Thing //

11. I Want to Know What Love Is // 12. 96 Tears // 13. I Shot the Sherriff //

14. Midnight Train to Georgia // 15. American Idiot //

16. We’ve Only Just Begun // 17. Sweet Home Alabama // 18. Baby I Need Your Loving // 19. Hit the Road Jack //

20. The Morning After // 21. Highway 61 Revisited // 22. Summer of 69 //

23. Killing Me Softly With His Song // 24. Piece of My Heart //

25. We Will Rock You // 26. Wake Up Little Susie //

27. Lonely Teardrops // 28. Walk This Way // 29. 8 Days a Week // 30. Hot Fun in the Summertime

ANSWERS FROM PAGE 57: CALL ME WHAT?

1. Alexander Joseph (Lex) Luthor is a fictional supervillain appearing DC Comics.Originally introduced as a mad scientist whose schemes Superman would routinely foil, his character has evolved over the years and today he is portrayed as a wealthy, power-mad American business magnate, ingenious engineer, philanthropist to the city of Metropolis, and one of the most intelligent people in the world.

2. Snidely Whiplash is the archenemy of Dudley Do-Right in the Dudley Do-Right of the Mounties segments of the animated television series The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show (1959–64). His henchman was named Homer.

3. Bluto is a character created in 1932 as "Bluto the Terrible" in the Thimble Theatre comic strip (later renamed Popeye). He was adapted the next year (1933) to be the main antagonist in the Popeye cartoon series and Popeye's arch-rival for the love of Olive Oyl.

4. Gargamel is a fictional character from The Smurfs - an evil wizard, and the main antagonist. His main goal in life is to destroy the Smurfs. His partner is a cat named Azrael.

5. Wile E. Coyote and Road Runner are a duo of cartoon characters from Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies cartoons. In each episode, the Coyote repeatedly attempts to catch and subsequently eat the Road Runner, a fast-running ground bird, but is never successful. In almost every episode. Coyote falls from a high cliff.

6. Captain James Hook is the archenemy of J. M. Barrie's play Peter Pan; or, the Boy Who Wouldn't Grow Up. The pirate captain of the brig Jolly Roger, his two principal fears are the sight of his own blood and the crocodile who pursues him after eating the hand cut off by Pan. An iron hook replaced his severed hand, which gave him his name.

CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL OF OUR CONTEST WINNERS!

Marta Cottrell of Houston won a copy of SimpLEASEity™ by Andrea Davis.

W.Wayne Hilliard of New Orleans won an IQ Connect Smart Plug.

Blanca Breedy of Mesquite won a copy of Woof by Robert Freeman.

Donald Vaughan of of Corpus Christi won a copy of The Psychopath Epidemic by Cameron Reilly. Geena Stengel of Laredo won a copy of Livable Design by Jeffrey DeMure.

Heather Dean-Harrison of Denver won a Charge Hub V2

BOLO (BE ON THE LOOK OUT FOR WHAT'S COMING NEXT)

John Fremont was an American explorer, military officer, and politician. He was also a US Senator from California, and in 1856 was the first Republican nominee for President of the United States. In Herstory, Contributing Editor RoseMary Rumbley looks (as only she can) at a new book about John Freemont and his connection to Texas. In our companion, History page, we look the election of 1856 – a three way election in which Democrat James Buchanan defeated Republican nominee John C. Fremont and Know Nothing Party nominee Millard Fillmore. This was the only time in U.S. history in which a political party denied re-nomination to the incumbent president (Franklin Pierce) and won.

Contributing Editor Angela O’Byrne’s Amazing Buildings will look at the long-awaited, much-delayed Academy Museum in Los Angeles, designed by Renzo Piano. (See pages 44-45 in this issue for a sneak preview picture of this building and more of Piano’s work.) And Contributing Editor Tony Barbieri’s Legal View will examine legal issues involving tortious interference with contractsWe will feature (on the cover and in Artchitecture) the magic realism of Paul Bond. And, with permission from and thanks to The Trust for Public Land, we will continue to publish the results of their study on parks for the sixth of thirteen Texas cities – this time for Houston.

We will look at Wuhan – the city of 11,000,000 people that almost no one in the U.S. ever heard of until Covid-19.

And we will present a pictorial tribute to renowned architects César Pelli and I.M. Pei. And we’ll continue our look at the architectural treasures of American cities, this time Dallas.

Of course, we will have our affiliates’ news and events, the Wow Factor, Diversions, By the Numbers, True Dat, You Need to Know, Political Corner, Professionals on the Move, The Resource Page, Shout- Outs, In the Loop, Real Estate of the Future, our bimonthly contest and much MUCH more

“Be careful about reading health books. You may die of a misprint.” (Mark Twain)

é Snidely Whiplash, Dudley Do-Right, Nell and Horse.

C NTEST: AW FRIGATE!

It’s a ship! It’s a boat! It’s a watercraft!

Frigate is a name which has been used for several distinct types of warships at different times - a variety of ship roles and sizes. From the 18th century, it referred to a ship used for patrolling and escort work rather than fighting fleet actions. In modern military terminology, the definition of a frigate is a warship intended to protect other warships and merchant marine ships and as anti-submarine warfare.

There are lots of military ships (a few of which are shown here) and there are also lots of non-military crafts. Can you distinguish between them?

Choose from the list below and write your answers in the spaces provided.

Then, scan or copy this page and send your entry to editor@crestnetwork.com or fax it to 817.924.7116 on or before June 1st for a chance to win a valuable prize. (The answers will appear in our July-August issue.)

THE ARSENAL

COMPANIES

...BECAUSE SOMETIMES IS WHAT YOU KNOW

We Speak Real Estate

The Arsenal Companies are a diversified consulting, educational and publishing group, dedicated to service in the real estate industry. With national reach, regional strength and local sensibilities, we serve and service large and small companies as well as governmental entities in acquisitions, dispositions, leasing, licensing, contracting, procurement, insurance certificate tracking, educational program development, mediation services and collections.

Our Contracts and Procurement Services Division provides solutions and services that help real estate owners and companies effectively manage their contractual needs and commitments. We provide industry knowledge and we practice deal facilitation rather than obstruction. Whether you are a property, facility or asset manager, your functions are integrally related to real estate contracts. Quality management is all about contracts.

Leasing

Acquisitions, dispositions, renewals, surrenders, amendments, abstracting, administration, interpretation – our professionals are experienced in residential, commercial, industrial, professional and retail leasing issues of all kinds.

documents.

Anyone with experience.

Don’t assume that problems won’t occur. Plan what you can do to avoid them. A small reduction in costs can be the equivalent of a substantial increase in value. We suggest ‘refinements’ to improve language and reduce direct and indirect costs. Our attorneys have successfully resolved leasing issues for both small and Fortune 100 corporations – effectuating $millions in savings.

Highly focused.

Highly specialized.

Highly respected.

Procurement

Supply Chain Management

Procurement Administration

Supplier Recognition Programs

RFI, RFP, RFQ Administration

Vendor/Supplier Resourcing

Vendor Reduction Programs

Customized Purchase Orders

Are the contracts for services and supplies which your organization uses prepared for your organization – or are they the vendor’s or contractor’s agreement forms? Wouldn’t you be better off if those agreements and purchase orders were revisited from your perspective? Isn’t it time you fortified your real estate related contracts?

Contract Negotiation and Drafting Services

Do you have contract issues that call out for review, interpretation and the advice of a specialist? Do you have a service contract which is about to expire and will need to be renewed or replaced? Do you have oversight of a real estate or facilities function which has been given savings targets? Have you considered ‘outsourcing’ this part of your real estate function but fear a loss of control?

We analyze the details of your proposed service contracts before they begin - while you still have leverage. Or, we can review your existing service contracts, help reveal cost efficiencies and/or savings opportunities. We look for pragmatic solutions that are sensitive to your business interests, anticipating issues that may arise, and we assist in minimizing those risks that cannot be avoided.

The Arsenal Companies

2537 Lubbock Avenue Fort Worth, TX 76109 Tel: 682.224.5855 Fax: 817.924.7116

www.thearsenalcompanies.com

Leases are highly specialized

A few words can make a world of difference.