September-October 2021

AMAZ NG BU LDINGS THE ARCHITECTURE OF ATLANTA AND SAVANNAH TR E DAT

YOU NEED (OR MIGHT WANT) TO KN W CTBUH AWARDS

GLOBAL HAPPINESS MARKETING MISTAKES ARTCH TECTURE

IMAGINE THE COMMUTE!

REAL ESTATE F THE FU URE

CASTELLFOLLIT DE LA ROCA PROFILE: SKIDMORE OWINGS & MERRILL

THE ARCHITECTURE OF TBILISI AND BATUMI PROFILES OF SURV VAL ALPHABET SOUP

The VOICE OF REAL ESTATE IN TEXAS

from the pages of

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A handsome, artbook-style volume with the best Diversions to appear in over the last decade. A compendium you will treasure for years to come.

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Additional recommended reading

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THE UPSIDE

OF DOWNTIME...

Fans of will love these compilations of humor from the last decade. The Best of Diversions is just that – the very best of the hilarious Diversions that have appeared on the pages of the magazine. Vertical Lines is over a hundred pages of wit, witticisms and sarcasm that have appeared between the

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pages (”in the gutter”, as they say). They are both available at your favorite online bookseller and you can see samples at the link here. My Handbook is… well… look at the cover comments and a few sample pages. You’ll know soon enough if it’s for you.

A Compilation of Sarcasm, Word Play, and Witticisms from the pages of

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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.

ROXANA TOFAN: Profiles of Survival.

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.

JESSICA WARRIOR: Director of Property Management, Granite Properties.

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F.

He said it would be like putting a new flagpole on a condemned building.

CONTRIBUTING WRITERS

I went to the doctor today, and he refused to write me a prescription for Viagra.

JOHN ABRAAM (P. 22) Principal at Strategic Energy Solutions, Inc. has been providing electrical engineering services to the architectural and construction industries for nearly thirty years. He has played a key role in a variety of project types, including studies and design for more than 60 parking decks. Most notably, he served as MEP Principal-in-Charge and Sr. Electrical Engineer for Detroit’s award-winning Z-Lot, a new ten-story parking deck with more than 1,200 spaces, 32,000 square feet of groundfloor tenant space, and iconic murals by 27 world-renowned street and graffiti artists.

JON BISHOP (P. 18) is the President and Co-Founder of CDNGLOBAL, a globally collaborative, privately held, independent real estate brokerage, investment sales, and advisory services firm based in Canada, which is driven by a “people first” philosophy. He is committed to continuing to build a high-performance work environment, attracting like-minded professionals, while understanding client objectives, reacting quickly to their needs, as well as providing high quality, creative, and effective solutions.

BARRY GREENFIELD (P.29)

is the founder of LocalWorks, a fast-growing shared office space provider that partners with property owners and sublessors to act as the in-house agency for filling vacant office space with individuals and small businesses. There are currently 22 locations in five states around core metropolitan areas and growing.

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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.

GEORGIANNA W. OLIVER

(P. 34) is the CEO and founder of Tour24®, the award-winning platform for self-guided tours. She is a serial entrepreneur and a corporate executive that has built several businesses in the proptech space, including EverGreen Solutions, AptBudget. and Package Concierge®. She served as an executive for Gibraltar Industries and oversaw the growth and management of Package Concierge® and is on the Multifamily Technology Entrepreneur Conference (MTEC) Advisory Board. She is also an Advisory Committee member of the National Multifamily Housing Council (NMHC) and on the Silicon Valley Bank Brain Trust Advisory Board of Innovators. She is a contributing writer for Entrepreneur. com’s Entrepreneur Leadership Network, serves as a Forbes Business Council Advisor and is a founding board member of the National Leased Housing Association (NLHA) Education Fund.

DAVID RICH (P.22) a Vice President of Rich & Associates, Inc., has over 35 years of experience in the parking industry as both a parking consultant and in the development, management, and operations of parking.  He has participated in the management of many large-scale parking developments including a $150 million multiple parking structure development for a large mixed-use sports entertainment center development and a $45 million parking garage and office building development project for the US Department of Veteran Affairs.  His experience includes the completion of more than 200 parking master planning studies and the site analysis and concept design of more than 150 parking structures.

TARA MULROONEY (P. 50)

is a partner at construction law firm Zetlin & De Chiara LLP. She represents real estate owners, developers, design professionals and building managers in the negotiating and drafting of their design and construction contracts, and counsels clients on risk management strategies and issues that arise during the course of construction. She also assists clients in resolving disputes in and outside of court.  She is based in New York City.

MARY ANN O’BRIEN (P. 28) is the CEO and Founder of OBI Creative, a research-based, innovation-driven advertising agency based in Omaha, Nebraska. OBI starts and finishes every marketing plan and advertising campaign with the customer at the center - determining motivations, behaviors, and key consideration drivers.

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.

ROXANA TOFAN (P. 40) is the owner of Clear Integrity Group in San Antonio, Texas and the company’s principal broker in Texas, Ohio and South Carolina. Her main focus is multifamily commercial brokerage in San Antonio area and property management. She enjoys taking over nonperforming properties and turning them around. She is also a Contributing Editor of and her Profiles of Survival will appear in every issue. In addition to her company, her passion is giving back to the community as she volunteers for various support organizations such as Boy Scouts of America, Special Olympics, Alzheimer’s Association and supporting the military. She loves to travel with her teenage children and supporting their extra-curricular activities.

MICHAEL SPICKES (P. 46) has over 20 years of boots-onthe-ground experience as a real estate agent and entrepreneur. He is passionate about the real estate industry and bringing practical, timesaving, game changing solutions to fellow real estate professionals that empower them to focus their time and energy on what matters most - their clients. His mission is to build and harness technology that raises the bar for the industry, making the best agents better, and elevating the overall client experience. He has been top-producing REALTOR® for the past ten years with Realty Austin in Austin.

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

ANDREW FELDER aafelder@crestpublicationsgroup.com Managing Editor & Publisher

IMPOSSIBILITIES

1) You can't count your hair.

2) You can't wash your eyes with soap.

3) You can't breathe when your tongue is out.

(Put your tongue back in your mouth! Sure, you can still breathe, fool.)

10 THINGS I KNOW ABOUT YOU

1) You are reading this.

2) You are human.

3) You can't say the letter ''P'' without separating your lips.

4) You just attempted to do it... You idiot! :-)

6) You are laughing at yourself.

7) You have a smile on your face and you skipped No. 5.

8) You just checked to see if there IS a No. 5.

9) You laugh at this because you’re a fun-loving person -- and everyone else does it, too.

10) You are probably going to share this with others to see who else falls for it.

REAL LIFE DILBERT-ISMS

A magazine ran a "Dilbert quotes" contest, looking for people to submit quotes from their real-life Dilbert-type managers. These were the finalists.

1. As of tomorrow, employees will only be able to access the building using individual security cards. Pictures will be taken next Wednesday, and employees will receive their cards in two weeks. (This was the winning submission from Fred Dales at Microsoft.)

2. What I need is a list of specific unknown problems we will encounter. (Lykes Lines Shipping.)

3. E-mail is not to be used to pass on information or data. It should be used only for company business. (Accounting manager, Electric Boat Company.)

4. This project is so important that we can't let things that are more important interfere with it. (Advertising/Marketing Manager. UPS.)

5. Doing it right is no excuse for not meeting the schedule. No one will believe you solved this problem in one day! We've been working on it for months. Now, go act busy for a few weeks and I'll let you know when it's time to tell them. (R&D Supervisor, 3M Corp.)

6. My boss spent the entire weekend retyping a 25-page proposal that only needed corrections. She claims the disk I gave her was damaged and she couldn't edit it. The disk I gave her was write-protected. (CIO of Dell Computers.)

7. Quote from the boss: “Teamwork is a lot of people doing what I say." (Marketing Executive, Citrix Corporation.)

8. My sister passed away and her funeral was scheduled for Monday. When I told my boss, he said she died so that I would have to miss work on the busiest day of the year. He then asked if we could change her burial to Friday. He said, 'That would be better for me." (Shipping executive, FTD Florists.)

CORPORATE LESSONS

1. A crow was sitting on a tree, doing nothing all day. A small rabbit saw the crow, and asked him, “Can I also sit like you and do nothing all day long?”

The crow answered, “Sure, why not!”

So, the rabbit sat on the ground below the crow and rested. Suddenly, a fox appeared, jumped on the rabbit, and ate it.

Moral: To be sitting and doing nothing, you must be sitting very very high up.

2. A turkey was chatting with a bull. “I would love to be able to get to the top of that tree,” sighed the turkey. “But I haven't got the energy.”

“Well, why don't you nibble on some of my droppings?" replied the bull. “They’re packed with nutrients.”

The turkey pecked at a lump of dung and found it gave him enough strength to reach the first branch of the tree. The next day, after eating some more dung, he reached the second branch. Finally, after a fortnight, there he was proudly perched at the top of the tree. Soon he was spotted by a farmer, who shot the turkey out of the tree.

Moral: Bullshit might get you to the top, but it won't keep you there.

3. A little bird was flying south for the winter. It was so cold the bird froze and fell to the ground in a large field. While it was lying there, a cow came by and dropped some dung on it. As the frozen bird lay there in the pile of cow dung, it began to realize how warm it was. The dung was actually thawing him out. He laid there all warm and happy and soon began to sing for joy. A passing cat heard the bird singing and came to investigate. Following the sound, the cat discovered the bird under the pile of cow dung and promptly dug him out and ate him. Morals: 1. Not everyone who drops shit on you is your enemy. 2. Not everyone who gets you out of shit is your friend. 3.And when you're in deep shit, keep your mouth shut.

9. We know that communication is a problem, but the company is not going to discuss it with the employees." (Switching Supervisor, AT&T Long Lines Division.)

10. We recently received a memo from senior management saying: "This is to inform you that a memo will be issued today regarding the subject mentioned above." (Microsoft, Legal Affairs Division.)

11. One day my boss asked me to submit a status report to him concerning a project I was working on. I asked him if tomorrow would be soon enough. He said, "If I wanted it tomorrow, I would have waited until tomorrow to ask for it!" (New Business Manager, Hallmark Greeting Cards.)

12. As director of communications, I was asked to prepare a memo reviewing our company's training programs and materials. In the body of the memo, in one of the sentences I mentioned the "pedagogical approach" used by one of the training manuals. The day after I routed the memo to the executive committee, I was called into the HR director’s office, and told that the executive vice president wanted me out of the building by lunch. When I asked why, I was told that she couldn't stand for "perverts" (pedophilia) working in her company. Finally, he showed me her copy of the memo, with her demand that I be fired - and the word "pedagogical" circled in red. The HR manager was fairly reasonable, and once he looked the word up in his dictionary and made a copy of the definition to send back to her, he told me not to worry. He would take care of it. Two days later, a memo to the entire staff came out directing us that no words which could not be found in the local Sunday newspaper could be used in company memos. A month later, I resigned. In accordance with company policy, I created my resignation memo by pasting words together from the Sunday paper. (Taco Bell Corporation.) n

This is my new favorite magazine! It is So well done – so good looking and so much fun and information. I absolutely love it!

Cindi Constantine, Denton, TX Awesome!

Lisa Mochel, San Antonio, TX

Great cover! Especially for the July 4th edition.

Tony Durant, New Orleans, LA

I really enjoy The Wow Factor pieces – incredible buildings! The Leaning Tower of Abu Dhabi??!! Wow!

Ricardo Maldonado, Pueblo, CO

I’m looking at The Best Diversions... One of my best girlfriends is a huge punster - we send each other these kinds of things all the time - it’s perfect! Love your Editor’s Note (book), too! Big fun, and just what I needed today! Btw, I ordered all 3 of your books on Amazon yesterday (and an extra for one of my gal friends)! Looking forward to reading each of them!

Aimée Lee, Minneapolis, MN

As a reader I really enjoy the fact that I never know what’s going to be coming on the next page between the words running up and down in the gutter and the different types of articles – like in the last (MayJune) issue, that article on the Floating Houses in Kirbati - it always fascinates me. As an advertiser, I have to believe that everyone else reading this feels the same way.

Name Withheld By Request

ON THE COVER

'MEDUSA' by VICTOR ENRICH

“In the time of Medusa (2010), I was visiting Tel Aviv. This depicts the Orchid Hotel, one of a group of similar buildings along Tel Aviv's shore (similar in appearance to Miami Beach).

Astonishingly (to me), most of these hotels are placed perpendicularly to the beach, so instead of having a direct view of the Mediterranean Sea, they face the next hotel. And, since Tel Aviv's coastline follows a strict north-south direction, half of the rooms will never see the sun (because they have façades facing north).

Imagine tourists (coming to the city for the first time) who, after booking an expensive room in one of these first line hotels, discovers that their room faces north and doesn’t have a view of the water unless they project themselves over the balcony rail in an almost suicidal move. Then imagine the same tourists, hours later, going for a swim in the hot sea waters of Tel Aviv only to find themselves swimming among a huge bank of stingy jellyfishes who have placed their feasting headquarters there six months a year.

I think this image is about (or against) mainstream practices in general, and touristic ones in particular.

GABBY

In June, nAIOP cOnducted its eighth survey of its U.S. members on the impacts of COVID-19. Since April 2020, the association has examined the pandemic’s effects on commercial real estate and how firms have responded.

Although business conditions have improved for commercial real estate, according to the most recent COVID-19 impact survey conducted by NAIOP, 86.6% of developers now report delays or shortages in construction supplies — an all-time high since the survey began in April 2020. This suggests that supply chain disruptions may outlast other effects of the pandemic, increasing construction costs and slowing new development.

The percentage of respondents reporting some type of deal activity has more than doubled for office and retail properties over the last year. It has also increased substantially for industrial (92.2% vs. 71.2% in June 2020) and multifamily (76% vs. 58.6%) properties.

The share of respondents reporting a decline in leasing for current development projects has dropped by more than half, but shortages of construction supplies and workers are both more acute now than a year ago. Although local governments have had more than a year to adapt to the pandemic, the share of respondents reporting delays in permitting or entitlements due to COVID-19 has remained unchanged since June 2020, with two-thirds of respondents reporting these delays.

For the first time since NAIOP began the coronavirus impacts survey, most respondents reported

witnessing some type of retail acquisition or development activity. Nearly a third (31.3%) reported new retail development, and 39.1% reported acquisitions of existing retail buildings, marking a sharp increase in both measures since the January survey. Seventy percent of respondents reported that 90% or more of their retail tenants had paid their rent in full and on time by June 15, the first time most respondents have reported this rate of on-time collection for retail properties since the survey began in April 2020.

The survey was completed by 239 NAIOP members between June 16 and 21, 2021. Respondents represent a range of professions, including developers, building owners, building managers, brokers, lenders, and investors.

INDUSTRIAL SPACE DEMAND FORECAST

Driven by sustained growth in e-commerce, demand for industrial real estate continues to outpace supply, leading to increases in net absorption for the rest of the year and through 2022.

“With nearly 100 million new square feet delivered nationally since the beginning of the year, 450 million square feet currently under construction and another 450 million planned, the demand for industrial real estate still outpaces supply,” say the authors, Hany Guirguis, PhD, Manhattan College and Michael J. Seiler, DBA, College of William & Mary.

Because of this, Guirguis and Seiler forecast that total net absorption in the second half of 2021 will be 162.6 million square feet with a quarterly average of 81.3 million square feet. In 2022, they projected net absorption of 334.6 million square feet with a quarterly average of 83.6 million square feet. According to the report, the authors have

returned to their pre-pandemic confidence intervals now that economic conditions have become more predictable.

High absorption rates are contributing to favorable conditions for industrial building owners and developers. Despite an increasing supply of industrial space, vacancy rates remain low, leases are being signed at higher rates and industrial transaction prices per square foot are increasing. A continued surge in imports from retailers restocking depleted inventories has exacerbated the shortage of warehouse space near major logistics hubs, highlighting the need for additional construction. n

“The materials and supply chain issues are lagging effects of the pandemic, and they are affecting every industry. While the pandemic’s impact was deep, there’s a sense of optimism among NAIOP members, with deal activity rising and an increase in people returning to offices, restaurants, and retailers... Even though the increases in COVID-19 cases that we are now seeing threaten once again to disrupt a stable overall economic rebound, industrial real estate has been and remains a bright spot in the commercial real estate industry,” said Thomas J. Bisacquino, president and CEO of NAIOP. “Lower unemployment rates, and increased consumer demand should continue through the end of year, sustaining the growing need for warehouse and distribution facilities.”

CRITICAL RACE THEORY (CRT)

thIs term Is everywhere lately. According to The Week, for example, “The imaginary threat of CRT has been cited some 1,300 times on Fox News (between March and June).” Despite the legislative banning of teaching critical race theory in many states (including Texas), “CRT isn’t taught anywhere in the United States except for a few graduate-level law schools, where it was developed in the 1970s to explain the stark racial disparities in criminal justice, housing, and other institutions.” It began as an intellectual movement which sought to explain why the Civil Rights Movement had seemingly stalled. It attempted to look at racism not in terms of personal prejudice, but how policies and social systems are set up in ways that disadvantage nonwhite people. Unlike anti-racism which focuses on the individual and calls on people to reflect on their own biases and how structural racism has affected their lives, critical race theory has little to do with the individual and focuses instead on larger structural issues.

The term has, quite literally, been hijacked. To limit what children are taught about slavery, the Far Right has attempted to turn the words (CRT) into something toxic. The Far Left, on the other hand, argues that the ideology of racial essentialism – the idea that the American story is one of oppression and racism – should be taught in schools throughout the country. Most people don’t fully understand the concepts involved, but the term critical race theory conjures up very passionate opinions. Whether CRT is a real threat or just manufactured outrage depends on which side (or extreme) of the political spectrum you support.

QANON

QAnon is a (discredited) far-right conspiracy theory alleging that a cabal of Satanic cannibalistic pedophiles are running a global child sex trafficking ring and conspired against former president Donald Trump during his term in office. Often described as a cult, QAnon commonly asserts that Trump has been planning a day of reckoning known as the ‘Storm,’ when thousands of members of the cabal will be arrested, including many liberal Hollywood actors, Democratic politicians, and high-ranking government officials. QAnon has also claimed that Trump feigned conspiracy with Russians to enlist Robert Mueller to join him in exposing the sex trafficking ring and preventing a coup d'état by Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, and George Soros.

The number of QAnon adherents is unclear, but the group maintains a large online following. It is likely that "Q" has become a group of people acting under the same name, and, although American in origin, there is now a considerable QAnon movement outside of the United States (including in the United Kingdom. France, Germany and Japan). QAnon believers commonly tag their social media posts with the hashtag #WWG1WGA, signifying their motto "Where We Go One, We Go All", derived from the 1996 film White Squall. According to Media Matters for America, as of October 2020, Trump had amplified QAnon messaging at least 265 times by retweeting or mentioning 152 Twitter accounts affiliated with QAnon, sometimes multiple times a day. QAnon followers came to refer to Trump as "Q+".

If you lived in your car, you'd be home by now.

PROUD BOYS

The Proud Boys is a far-right, neo-fascist, and exclusively male organization that promotes and engages in political violence. Its name comes from the song "Proud of Your Boy" (from the 2011 Disney musical Aladdin). Part of the alt-right, its members have engaged in many racist events and events centered around fascist, anti-left, and anti-socialist violence. They have been described as a hate group by NPR, and the Anti-Defamation League has described them as "extremist conservative" and "overtly Islamophobic and misogynistic", "transphobic and anti-immigration", "all too willing to embrace racists, anti-Semites and bigots of all kinds."

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

JIM CROW

The phrase "Jim Crow Law" appeared in 1892 in the title of a New York Times article about Louisiana requiring segregated railroad cars. The origin of the phrase "Jim Crow" has often been attributed to "Jump Jim Crow", a song-and-dance caricature of black people performed by white actor Thomas D. Rice in blackface, which first surfaced in 1828 and was used to satirize Andrew Jackson's populist policies. As a result of Rice's fame, "Jim Crow" (by 1838) had become a pejorative expression meaning "Negro." When southern legislatures passed laws of racial segregation directed against black people at the end of the 19th century, these statutes became known as Jim Crow laws. Jim Crow laws were enforced until 1965.

Jim Crow laws and Jim Crow state constitutional provisions mandated the segregation of public schools, public places, and public transportation, and the segregation of restrooms, restaurants, and drinking fountains between white and black people. The U.S. military was already segregated. President Woodrow Wilson initiated the segregation of federal workplaces in 1913.

In 1954, segregation of (state-sponsored) public schools was declared unconstitutional by the U.S. Supreme Court under Chief Justice Earl Warren in the landmark case Brown v. Board of Education. In some states, it took many years to implement this decision, while the Warren Court continued to rule against the Jim Crow laws. For the most part, the remaining Jim Crow laws were overruled by the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

CROSSING THE RUBICON

Julius Caesar's crossing the Rubicon River in 49 BC led to the Roman Civil War, which ultimately led to Caesar's becoming dictator and the rise of the imperial era of Rome. Caesar had been appointed governor over a broad region, but it did not include Italy. As his term of governorship ended, the Roman Senate ordered Caesar to disband his army and return to Rome. He was explicitly ordered not to take his army across the Rubicon River, which at that time was a northern boundary of Italy. Caesar brought his legion across the river, which the Roman government considered insurrection, treason, and a declaration of war on the Roman Senate. According to some authors, he is said to have uttered the phrase alea iacta est (the die is cast) as his army marched through the shallow river. Today, the phrase crossing the Rubicon is a metaphor that means to pass a point of no return.

Q:

é Cover of an early (circa 1832) edition of Jump Jim Crow sheet music. Thomas D. Rice is pictured performing at the Bowery Theatre in blackface.

ANTIFA

Antifa is a political protest movement comprised of multiple autonomous groups loosely affiliated by their militant opposition to fascism and other forms of extreme right-wing ideology. The English word antifa comes from the German antifa, where it is a shortened form of the word antifaschistisch (anti-fascist). The antifa movement has grown since the 2016 presidential election and includes over 200 groups, of varying sizes and levels of activity.

Individuals involved in the antifa movement tend to hold antiauthoritarian, anti-capitalist, anti-fascist, and anti-state views, subscribing to a varied range of left-wing ideologies. A majority of adherents are anarchists, communists, and other socialists who describe themselves as revolutionaries. For the most part (though not all) anti-fascist organizing is nonviolent, united by opposition to right-wing extremism and white supremacy. Antifa activists reject both conservative and liberal anti-fascism, generally eschew mainstream liberal democracy, and favor direct action over electoral politics.

KU KLUX KLAN

The Ku Klux Klan (a/k/a the KKK or the Klan) is an American white supremacist terrorist hate group whose primary targets are Americans, as well as Jews, immigrants, leftists, homosexuals, Catholics, Muslims, and atheists. The Klan has existed in three distinct eras, each of which has advocated extremist reactionary positions such as white nationalism, anti-immigration and – especially in later iterations – Nordicism, (which holds than northern European Caucasians are the highest subset of the superior race), anti-semitism, anti-Catholicism, Prohibition, right-wing populism, anti-communism, homophobia, Islamophobia, and anti-atheism. The first Klan (established in the wake of the Civil War) used voter intimidation, physical assault and murder against AfricanAmerican leaders in the South. Each chapter was autonomous and highly secret as to membership and plans by which they sought to overthrow the Republican state governments. Members made their own, often colorful, costumes - robes, masks and conical hats, designed to be terrifying and to hide their identities. Its numerous chapters across the South were suppressed around 1871, through federal law enforcement.

OATH KEEPERS

The Oath Keepers are an American far-right anti-government militia organization composed of current and former military and police who claim to be defending the United States Constitution. It encourages its members to disobey orders which they believe would violate the Constitution. Researchers estimate the number as probably no higher than 5,000. Several organizations that monitor U.S. domestic terrorism and hate groups describe the group as extremist or radical. The FBI describes the Oath Keepers as a “paramilitary organization” and a “large but loosely organized collection of militia who believe that the federal government has been coopted by a shadowy conspiracy that is trying to strip American citizens of their rights.”

The second Klan started in Georgia in 1915. It grew after 1920 and flourished nationwide in the early and mid-1920s, including in urban areas of the Midwest and West. Inspired by D. W. Griffith's 1915 silent film The Birth of a Nation, the Klan employed marketing techniques and a popular fraternal organization structure. Rooted in local Protestant communities, it sought to maintain white supremacy, often took a pro-Prohibition stance, and opposed the Catholic Church and Jews. This (second) Klan flourished both in the southern and northern states as well, funded by initiation fees and the sale of its standard white costume. It added cross burnings and mass parades to its other intimidation tactics. Fortunately, it rapidly declined in the latter 1920s.

The third and current manifestation of the KKK emerged after 1950, in the form of localized and isolated groups. They have focused on opposition to the civil rights movement, often using violence and murder to suppress activists and are classified as a hate group by the Anti-Defamation League and the Southern Poverty Law Center. As of 2016, the Anti-Defamation League puts total KKK membership nationwide at around 3,000, while the Southern Poverty Law Center estimates it at 6,000 members in total. Although members of the KKK swear to uphold Christian morality, the group is widely denounced by Christian denominations. n

“As one person, I cannot change the world, but I can change the world of one person.”

(Paul Shane Spear)

A POwerful PAIr Of North Texas real estate leaders – one whose decades-long work has left an immeasurable mark on Dallas, the other a visionary entrepreneur whose savvy deals and developments are valued upwards of $3 billion – will at last receive their industry’s top honors.

The North Texas Commercial Real Estate Hall of Fame, in cooperation with NTCAR, will induct Ray L. Hunt, executive chairman of Hunt Consolidated, Inc., and Leon J. Backes, founder

AFFILI TE NEWS

and chief executive officer of Provident Realty Advisors, Inc., into the 2020/2021 Commercial Real Estate Hall of Fame Originally slated for May 2020, the event has been rescheduled for Wednesday, Oct. 6, 2021, due to the COVID-19 crisis.

Also, B. Diane Butler, the cofounder and previous executive chairman and chief executive officer of Butler Burgher Group, will receive the Michael F. McAuley Lifetime Achievement Award This recognition is presented to an individual who has dedicated countless hours of personal effort to their community, to professional organizations committed to the real estate industry

and to charitable pursuits during their professional real estate career. Additionally, the award recognizes the individual’s commitment to promoting integrity, honesty, reciprocation, and professionalism throughout their commercial real estate career. (See bios on all honorees at the end of this release.)

Marking its 34th anniversary, the Reunion and Hall of Fame event will be held Oct. 6 at the Dallas Country Club (4100 Beverly Dr.) with an hors d’oeuvres reception beginning at 5:30 p.m., followed by the induction ceremony at 6:30 p.m. For more information, go to: ntcarhalloffame.org or email: HallofFame@eventlinkintl.com

DIVERSI NS DREAMING

BOMA San Antonio held its first annual hatchet throwing contest in July. It was a blast and Port San Antonio had the winning team!

Join the Houston Chapter of the National Associate of Women in Construction at the installation of their newly elected 2021-2022 Board of Directors and Officers.

The event will take place at Seasons 52 on September 14th. For more information, please email:  membership@nawic-houston.org or visit: www.nawic-houston.org

When the chips are down, the buffalo is empty.

é B. Diane Butler

é Leon Backes

é Ray Hunt

A: Right where you left him.

TR E DAT: MISCELLANEOUS

estatebesetaside for a post-funeral partyforher friends

Q: Where do you find a dog with no legs?

BLUETOOTH TECHNOLOGY IS A SHORTRANGE WIRELESS TECHNOLOGY STANDARD THAT IS USED FOR EXCHANGING DATA BETWEEN FIXED AND MOBILE DEVICES OVER SHORT DISTANCES. IT WAS NAMED AFTER A 10TH CENTURY KING, KING HARALD BLUETOOTH WHO UNITED DENMARK AND NORWAY – JUST LIKE THE WIRELESS TECHNOLOGY UNITED COMPUTERS AND CELL PHONES.

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Although dandelions are edible, we don’t recommend drinking dandelion wine. The French word for dandelion, pissenlit, means "wet the bed." The name comes from the fact that dandelion leaves have diuretic properties.

Reno, Nevada is further west than Los Angeles, California. (Look at a map!)

Jokingly referred to as “party plates,” these special yellow license plateS MUST be displayed by Ohio drivers who have been given restricted driving privileges after a DUI related driver’s license suspension.

Ketchup originated in China in the 17th century as a boiled-down caramelcolored brine of pickled fish and spices called ‘ke-chiap’. In the 1890’s, manufacturers like Heinz began with ketchup production as it was then but modified the recipe so as to preserve the sauce for longer. Adding sugar to the sauce brought the sweet taste we are so familiar with today. The United States is the biggest consumer of ketchup, and Heinz is the worldwide leader in sales.

Talkeetna is a village about midway between Anchorage and Denali National Park in southern Alaska. It is home to the Moose Dropping Festival in July (in which moose dung is thrown from a helicopter and onlookers guess where it will land) and the Wilderness Woman Contest (in which local women engage in games of strength, like tossing firewood and hunting moose). It’s also where the mayor from 1997 until his death in 2017 (Mayor Stubbs) was a male orange cat.

In 1966, Fredric Baur developed the ingenious idea to stack potato chips inside a can instead of putting them in a bag. When he died at age 89, his children stopped at Walgreens on the way to the funeral home to buy a can of Original Pringles in which his ashes were then buried. (The shape of a Pringles chip is ‘hyperbolic paraboloid.’)

Bonobo, an endangered great ape and the common name for the pygmy chimpanzee, is (along with the chimpanzee) the closest extant relative to humans. The name actually was the result of a typo. Researchers reputedly first found the animals in the town of Bolobo, Zaire, in the 1920s, but the name of the place was misspelled "Bonobo" on the shipping crate in which the animal was placed, leading others to refer to the animal by the name, which stuck.

The Julian (365-day) calendar (in use at the time of Julius Caesar) didn't account for leap years, so, over centuries, the calendar fell out of sync with the seasonal equinoxes and holidays. To solve the problem, Pope Gregory XIII (in 1582) mandated that Catholic nations switch to the new Gregorian calendar. However, for some countries, including Russia, the switch from the Julian to the Gregorian calendar took centuries. As a result, in 1908, the Russians missed the first 12 days of the Olympics (hosted in London) because they were still using the Julian calendar. Russia finally changed over in 1918. (Greece, the country where the Olympics were born, was the last nation to make the switch in 1923.)

Named after French chemist Louis Camille Maillard (who first described it in 1912), the Maillard reaction is a chemical reaction between amino acids and reducing sugars that gives browned food its distinctive flavor. Seared steaks, fried dumplings, cookies and biscuits, breads, toasted marshmallows, and many other foods undergo this reaction.

JON BISHOP jbishop@cdnglobal.com

Jon Bishop is the President and Co-Founder of CDNGLOBAL.

COMMERCIAL REAL ESTATE LOOK IN 2022: ADAPTIVE REUSE

As the glObAl ecOnOmy continues to strengthen after the easing of Covid-19 restrictions and the reopening of businesses and services across most regions, the commercial real estate sector is headed towards recovery. Pent-up demand, government stimulus, and increasing vaccination numbers are driving this economic momentum. Despite concerns over Covid-19 variants and rising global debt, the commercial real estate (CRE) sector is expected to experience stronger recovery progress in 2022 as businesses return to operating at normal capacities, more people return to the office, and the economy returns to pre-pandemic levels.

After an extended stay indoors, people are ready to go back to restaurants, retailers, and their workplaces. The Economic and Commercial Real Estate Outlook 2021–2022 report from the National Association of Realtors showed that US workers are indeed returning to offices. Moving forward, we are likely to see the end of densely populated and open office environments and employees returning to work will be looking for more private space structures. This may result in some businesses looking to suburban areas for larger but less expensive offices. However, more permanent remote work or hybrid models will reduce the overall requirement and use for office space post pandemic.

Shifting working models are also leading to the conversion of vacant office buildings into apartments. Affordable living in dense urban areas has been in high demand for many years, so it makes good sense to re-purpose currently underutilized spaces. A great example is Los Angeles where the city has embraced adaptive reuse to breathe new life into vacant office buildings, transforming them into vibrant residential complexes. Not all defunct buildings are easily convertible, however, due to zoning regulations and association by-laws, challenges with the existing footprint, and so forth. Still, adaptive reuse and finding new ways to repurpose buildings, such as schools and hotels for residential apartments, is a growing trend which will gain significant traction post-pandemic.

In the retail sector, brands and businesses are looking to repurpose vacant space to support growing consumer demand and changing supply chain requirements and as a way to capitalize on

new opportunities expanding into regions previously inaccessible. Demand for logistics real estate is on the rise, especially in urban and suburban areas since businesses that pivoted to online sales need distribution and fulfillment centers to improve their delivery systems. The extraordinary growth in e-commerce over the last sixteen months, already beginning to accelerate pre-pandemic, has sparked increased demand for industrial space as the preferred property type in 2021. There are industry predictions that leasing space for inventory and data connectivity could reach 250 million sq. ft. by the end of 2021. According to a recent report, the US alone will need 330 million sq. ft. of warehouse space to house online orders by 2025.

Malls and shopping centers are also rethinking their strategies as brick-and-mortar retail continues to evolve. Some malls are converting vacant spaces into small distribution depots for faster fulfillment, whereas others are being repurposed into mixeduse community hubs, combining residential, retail, and office space. The diversity of offerings, growing desire for convenient lifestyles, and increased resiliency presented by mixed-use environments make them an attractive solution to declining footfall in malls. Mixed-use properties will continue to trend upwards as the new development/construction market recovers over the next 2-5 years.

From an investment perspective, the positive economic outlook, good inventory in commercial property, and low interest rates have provided the biggest opportunities for international clients

looking at CRE in the US. In the large capital market, Canada was the top investor in US CRE, investing $12.4 billion in 2020 (NAR Commercial Real Estate International Business Trends, 2021 Report). Two trends worth noting are the increase in cross-border industrial property acquisitions as well as the emergence of secondary and tertiary markets in investor’s commercial portfolios.

From a CRE business perspective, the largest impact has been the need to digitally transform operations as well as the client and tenant experience. The pandemic has accelerated the use of technology in the CRE industry; however, in a survey of 200 CRE senior executives, only 41% said their company has stepped up efforts to redefine business processes, job roles, and skill requirements to include the use of technology and tools.

In 2022, rapid digitalization will help ensure operational resilience, improve customer models, collaboration, and productivity. Rigorous collaboration is a core competency of full-service brokerage CDNGLOBAL, a recently launched Canadian real estate company. With coast-to-coast coverage and highly cooperative global affiliations, the company operates as a connected network of market intelligence, experience, and shared resources. As a privately held brokerage, the company is free to deal with other real estate entities globally, thus acting as a bridge for other organizations to enter the Canadian real estate market and access cross-border properties with ease.

Economic recovery is improving, but it will take several years for some CRE sectors to return to their pre-pandemic heights. In 2020, retail and office real estate experienced sharp decline in revenue, even as the explosion of e-commerce spurred on the growth of the industrial sector over the last 12 months. The demand for warehouse space, data centers, and mixed-use properties in 2021 will continue into the next year. Technology will help CRE professionals reduce paperwork, and intelligent digital platforms for investors to connect globally. The lingering uncertainty pertaining to in-person and remote or hybrid workplaces will continue to impact the retail and office real estate sectors, requiring businesses and employers alike to adapt and seek new ways to re-purpose vacant or underused spaces and to create demand to re-engage employees. n

Lighti ng can change your image , i f y ou DARE.

Since 201 1 EIS Lighting has bee n helping people change their perception of lighting and energy consumption for new buildings and remodels. Contact us if you are willing to make a leap to better lighting and reduce energy consumption. We do design, lighting audit, photometric layouts, procurement, installation supervision of your project, and commissioning.

Chris Colgin VP/Sales(214)-402-7402

Michael Moore Tech. Spec. (817)-995 -2253

Marc CO-Founder/President (214)-325 -6567

THE WORLD HAPPINESS REPORT 2021

the wOrld hAPPIness rePOrt 2021 focuses on the effects of COVID-19 and how people all over the world have fared. Visual Capitalist’s aim was two-fold: 1) to focus on the effects of COVID-19 on the structure and quality of people’s lives; and 2) to describe and evaluate how governments all over the world have dealt with the pandemic. The report looked at health and wealth, both metrics that have been steadily on the rise worldwide; it also factors GDP per capita and life expectancy at birth into the scores. And also looks at intangible aspects such as social support, freedom to make life choices, generosity, and perceptions of corruption in government and business. Here you can see the whole study and the series of maps which pulls data from the World Happiness Report.

NORTH AMERICA (OVERALL 6.1)

Canada retains its spot as the happiest country in North America, although its overall global ranking has dropped over the years. In 2019, it was ranked in 9th place globally; in 2020, it was ranked 11th, and this year 14th.

SOUTH AMERICA (OVERALL 5.9)

With the largest middle class in the Americas (60% of its population) and a miniscule 0.1% extreme poverty rate, Uruguay is the happiest South American country. It has also achieved equitable access to basic services, from education to electricity. Colombia, Ecuador, and Venezuela are experiencing different

If 4 out of 5 people suffer from diarrhea, does that mean that one enjoys it?

Last night I played a blank tape at full blast. The mime next door went nuts.

stages of progress in happiness levels, but their relationship is very much interdependent. Venezuela and Ecuador face similar economic challenges and sharp declines in oil prices. Venezuela is additionally acutely affected by socio-political unrest, triggering a mass exodus of citizens to Ecuador and Colombia alike. The silver lining is that the influx of highly-educated Venezuelan migrants may provide a 2% boost to Ecuador’s GDP. Colombia, the most improved country, has halved its poverty rate in the last decade. In addition, it has welcomed almost 2 million Venezuelan migrants as of Dec 2020—and plans to provide them up to 10 years of protective status.

EUROPE (OVERALL 6.4)

Finland remains at the top of the leaderboard as the world’s happiest country. This year’s ranking was also influenced by the high levels of trust in the way the COVID-19 pandemic was handled. The shock of COVID-19 is expected to be short-lived in Croatia, which is the most improved country, partly due to its steady pre-pandemic economic gains. In the unhappiest country of Ukraine, conflicts continue to cause stress on its politics, security, and economy. Government corruption remains a big public issue.

MIDDLE EAST AND CENTRAL ASIA (OVERALL 5.3)

Saudi Arabia is the most improved country in the region, as it continues to reduce its oil dependence, diversify its economy, and bolster its public services. It has also been making some progress toward gender equality. The tourism and hospitality industries make up nearly 20% of Jordan’s GDP, and COVID-19 has caused a prolonged economic decline. Although Afghanistan has had some improvement to basic services and its agricultural economy, the prolonged conflict and violence have been challenging.

EAST ASIA AND OCEANIA (OVERALL 5.5)

Both New Zealand and Taiwan had a very successful COVID-19 response and recovery boosting their positions in the global happiness rankings. New Zealand was the only n0n-European country to make it into the top ten on the global happiness list. Although India remains the unhappiest country in the region, it also showed the most improvement overall, possibly due to its increased access to basic services (though the pandemic caused a sharp economic contraction in real GDP by 23.9% year over year in Q1 2021).

AFRICA (OVERALL 4.5)

Mauritius became the second high-income country in Africa (along with Seychelles) leading to its status as the happiest in the region. Zambia, the most improved African country, has one of the world’s youngest populations by median age, which presents long-term opportunities for labor force participation. Agriculturally reliant Benin struggles with high poverty (with close to 40% of the population living below $1.90 per day).

Zimbabwe, the unhappiest country has had both natural and financial disasters. It experienced hyperinflation of 786% in May 2020, accompanied by an equally sharp rise in food prices. n

THE FACTOR

SIXTY6

PInInfArInA Is An InternAtIOnAlly renowned architectural firm in Italy (which also has offices in Germany, China, and the U.S.). Its Sixty6 was the winner of the 2020 International Architecture Award. The 17-story residential tower in Limassol, Cypress was inspired by the layering of the sandstone cliffs, typical of Cyprus coasts, and by the rich and unique history of the island. The elliptical shape of the building allows a sea view from all the apartments enhanced by the external glass walls and spacious balconies. The uniqueness of the exteriors is matched by the refinement of the interiors. n

REAL ESTATE F THE FU URE

DAVID RICH dnrich@richassoc.com

David Rich is Vice President of Rich & Associates.

PREPARING FOR THE ELECTRIC FUTURE OF PARKING

AmerIcA’s AutOmObIle future Is electric.

In recent months both General Motors and Ford have announced their intention to begin transitioning to electric cars and trucks, with GM aiming to produce only EVs by 2035 and Ford and Stellantis (formerly Fiat Chrysler) setting a goal of 40% of their vehicles being electric by 2030. Other automakers are even more ambitious. For instance, Volvo plans to go all-electric by 2030.

The federal government is pushing for this transition as well. In August, President Biden set a new national target for the adoption of electric vehicles, calling for them to represent half of all new auto sales by 2030.

The anticipated evolution of Ford and GM cars and trucks from gas power to electric will have enormous implications. Of course, the ultimate goal is to be more sustainable. According to NextEra Energy, “America could generate 50% of its total electricity from renewable sources by 2030.” Eliminating exhaust from millions of cars and trucks could have enormous implications for the environment and the health of Americans.

Of course, the transition won’t come without challenges. The change-over will have an enormous impact on individuals and businesses alike. For instance, it takes longer to recharge an electric vehicle than a gas one; how will that impact people who must drive distances beyond the battery’s range? How will America develop sufficient recharging infrastructure? What will happen to gas stations; will they become “juice bars”? These issues will sort themselves out over time, but the answers won’t come without hurdles.

Parking, in particular, will feel the impact. Parking facilities will be the most important charging location, aside from the driver’s home. After all, where else do people leave their vehicles for long enough periods of time to fully charge an electric car or truck?

And parking owners aren’t ready.

Most owners of parking garages and complexes with parking assets don’t have the

infrastructure in place to provide widespread EV charging. Even those that do offer charging usually only have a handful of EV charging stations on hand. That may be sufficient today, when a relatively small percentage of people drive electric cars, but it will fall woefully short when America’s vehicles are primarily electric.

supplied by a local utility (unless you have a self-sufficient solar or turbine system); wiring to convey that power; conduit to house the wires; and of course, charging stations. That’s a lot of infrastructure to add to the multitude of design elements that already go into designing and building a parking facility.

PLANNING

FOR TOMORROW,

TODAY 2035 may seem like it’s far away, but when it comes to facility planning it’s right around the corner. Parking facilities that are being designed today will be in service for 40 or 50 years—perhaps until 2071. That’s why it’s imperative that institutions, developers, and owners include widespread EV charging into their designs right now. In fact, some cities are already pushing owners in that direction by updating their code requirements to mandate that 25 or 30 percent of any new parking garage or surface lot be EV change capable or ready. Of course, this is just a starting point. In 15 years most garages and surface lots will need to significantly exceed that 30 percent number.

The big issue facing owners is infrastructure. You can’t just drop an EV station into a parking space. EV charging requires power

Integrating all of this into the structure poses significant challenges because you need to be sure that the addition of all these elements doesn’t undermine the structural integrity of the parking facility. Multi-story garages serve hundreds—often thousands—of vehicles weighing thousands of pounds; structural damage, particularly to a facility’s floors or support beams, can be disastrous.

This process is particularly challenging with existing structures because you are introducing an entirely new network of infrastructure into a concrete building that wasn’t designed to accommodate EV charging technology. It requires coring directly into the concrete so you can run the necessary piping and wiring from outside into the structure and then into individual spaces. In some cases, it may be necessary to run the wiring and conduits under a garage’s exposed beams, attached to

Veni, Vedi, Visa: I came, I saw, I did a little shopping.

Q: What’s the difference between roast beef and pea soup?

A: Anyone can roast beef.

the ceiling of the floor below, in order to avoid damaging the concreate and steel in the floor itself. This may not be the most elegant solution, but it could provide a safer one.

Mistakes can undermine the integrity of the structure, so it’s essential to have the planning and design handled by an experienced parking design consultant. It also makes sense to have the construction performed by a company that understands parking construction and restoration.

The process is simpler with new construction, but it still requires careful planning. It’s easier to accommodate EV infrastructure with precast structures because the precast panels can be specifically designed and constructed to accommodate the conduit and wiring. With cast-in-place post tension structures, the construction team needs to carefully introduce the conduit that will protect the wires as they are pouring the concrete.

WHAT AND WHEN

While these engineering issues are crucial, they are only part of the equation. There are also the questions of what and when: what type of charging technology to install and when to install it.

There are three basic types of charging equipment. Level 1 is more of an entry level charger. It uses a normal 120-volt connection, similar to a standard household outlet. It’s the slowest charging option available and tends to be more suited to overnight charging. For garage owners who plan to monetize their EV technology, level 1 may be underpowered because it takes so long to fully charge a vehicle that vehicles may monopolize spaces that owners would rather turn over frequently. However, for long-term parking facilities, such as at airports, level 1 may be sufficient. These units

typically cost between $300 and $600 each.

Level 2, the most common charging station, is 240-volt technology that can fully charge a vehicle in about three hours. Level 2 stations cost between $2,500 and $13,000, and average out to around $6,000 each. A level 2 station can typically fully charge a vehicle in eight hours or less.

Level 3 charging stations are by far the fastest and most expensive. They operate at 480-volts and can provide an 80% charge in about 30 minutes. The average cost of a fully installed level 3 EV charging station is around $50,000 and they require a utility company to install a transformer.

The decision about which level charging doesn’t revolve around the types of vehicles that are being charged. Each manufacturer has its own pin configuration (and Tesla, perhaps the best-known electric vehicle manufacturer, operates in a universe of its own), but adapters are widely available to allow vehicles to charge at most stations. The decisions should be based on cost and how the parking owner wants the charging station to impact the use of parking spaces. If more frequent turnover is desired, levels 2 or 3 may be desirable; if long-term or overnight charging will be the norm, level 1 may suffice.

Another consideration is timing. Every parking owner will eventually need to achieve 100% conversion to EV parking spaces, but it doesn’t have to happen overnight. The auto industry plans to be largely (if not completely) electric over the next 15 years, but even then, there will be millions of traditional gas-powered vehicles on the road for another 10 to 15 years. Many Americans drive their cars until they are no longer serviceable—the average car on the

JOHN ABRAAM jabraam@sesnet.com

John Abraam is a principal at Strategic Energy Solutions Inc.

road today is 12 years old—and that trend will continue even after the auto industry completes the conversion to all-electric vehicle production.

Creating a timeline requires careful strategic planning. Owners don’t want to find themselves with too few EV charging spaces to meet demand because they’ll lose parking customers to competitors who can meet demand. By the same token, they don’t want to have dozens or hundreds of spaces with EV charging stations that go unused.

The equipment is expensive, and owners don’t want to invest valuable capital before it’s necessary. Plus, as with any new technology, it’s reasonable to assume that the cost will drop significantly as new manufacturers enter the market. Why spend $6,000 per space today when the same technology may cost $1,000 or less in a few years? Owners should work closely with their parking consultants to estimate what demand is going to be over the next 15 years and how that demand will grow from year to year. Then they can make an informed decision about how many EV units to install each year.

LOOKING TO THE FUTURE

The automobile industry’s electric future is right around the corner, and it will have an especially large impact on parking owners, developers of complexes with parking assets, and institutions like airports and universities with an abundance of parking. Because vehicles tend to be parked for relatively long periods of times in parking facilities and lots, they will be the primary locations for drivers to recharge their vehicles, outside their homes.

Now is the time for parking owners to plan for this transition. The addition of new charging technology throughout parking garages and lots will be expensive and time-consuming, and owners should be strategic to assure that they are investing in the right equipment and creating a timeline that best meets their needs. If owners plan to monetize their charging resources to recoup some of the cost of installing and operating the equipment, or even to earn new revenue, now is the time to begin planning for that as well.

As Benjamin Franklin famously said, “If you fail to plan, you are planning to fail.” Now is the time for parking owners to start planning for their electric future. n

THE 2021 CTBUH AWARDS OF EXCELLENCE

the ctbuh AnnuAl AwArds program recognizes projects and individuals that have made extraordinary contributions to the advancement of tall buildings and the urban environment, and that achieve sustainability at the highest and broadest level. The objective is to deliver a comprehensive and sophisticated view of these important buildings, spaces, and technologies, while advocating for improvements in every aspect of their performance, especially those that have the greatest impact on the people who use them each day.

Award of Excellence Winners in each award category present their projects to an international audience and live juries. Last year, we showed you the finalists in each of the major categories. Here we display/honor the winners, several of which have been featured in .

/01/ BEST TALL BUILDING WORLDWIDE & BEST TALL BUILDING (100-199 METERS) & BEST TALL RESIDENTIAL OR HOTEL BUILDING & STRUCTURAL ENGINEERING AWARD

Vancouver House

Vancouver, Canada

/02/ BEST TALL BUILDING (UNDER 100 METERS) 25 King

Brisbane, Australia

/03/ BEST TALL BUILDING (200-299 METERS)

Telus Sky

Calgary, Canada

/04/ BEST TALL BUILDING (300-399 METERS)

Raffles City

Chongqing, China

/05/ BEST TALL BUILDING (400 METERS AND ABOVE) & FIRE & RISK ENGINEERING AWARD

CITIC Tower

Beijing, China

/06/ BEST TALL OFFICE BUILDING & BEST TALL BUILDING MIDDLE EAST & AFRICA

ToHA Tower 1 Office

Tel Aviv, Israel

/07/ BEST TALL MIXEDUSE BUILDING

Daphne Cockwell Health Sciences Complex

Toronto, Canada

/08/ BEST TALL BUILDING AMERICAS

Comcast Technology Center

Philadelphia, PA

/09/ BEST TALL BUILDING ASIA

Asia Financial Center &AIIB Headquarters

Beijing, China

/10/ BEST TALL BUILDING AUSTRALIA

ARC by Crown Group

Sydney, Australia

/11/ BEST TALL BUILDING EUROPE White Tree

Montpellier, France

/12/ URBAN HABITAT –SINGLE SITE SCALE DUO Tower

Singapore

/13/ URBAN HABITAT –DISTRICT/MASTER PLAN

Hudson Yards-Eastern Yards

New York, NY

/14/ CONSTRUCTION AWARD

Rainier Tower

Seattle, WA

/15/ MEP ENGINEERING AWARD

Museum Tower Kyobashi

Tokyo, Japan

/16/ 10 YEAR AWARD 2021 1 Bligh Street

Sydney Australia

Learn more about the 2021 winners as well as the previous winners by category and year HERE

A NON-TRADITIONAL APPROACH TO BUSINESS COLLECTIONS

Business-to-business debts require special, focused expertise and finesse... and the selection of your commercial collection service is an important decision. It revolves around Service, Trust and Recovery. Rates are important, and recovery is the objective (the bottom line)... but there is more to it.

The company you choose will be handling your money, talking to your customers, and representing you in the marketplace. You want your money as soon as possible – but you don’t want to lose clients.

At Arsenal Business Collections (ABC), you’re never out-of-pocket for our services. We collect (at prearranged terms) and when – and only when –we succeed (i.e., once we collect money owed to you), do we get paid. There is no fee UNLESS and UNTIL we collect!

Our payment is contingent upon your recovery – so our success is integrally tied to yours.

As a privately-owned company, we make decisions based on what is best for clients, not shareholders or outside investors. Our focus is exclusively on improving your bottom line, and we have the knowledge and experience to deliver exceptional results.

Today a man knocked on my door and asked for a small donation towards the local swimming pool, so I gave him a glass of water.

IMAGINE THE COMMUTE!

lOcAted In tOngren, guIzhOu province (southwest China), Fanjingshan (Fanjing Mountain) is 8,430ft above the sea level. It is a sacred mountain for Buddhists since the Tang Dynasty (618AD-907AD), and it was named a World Heritage Site in 2018.

The tiny village of Gásadalur (on the island of Vágar in the Faroe Islands off Denmark), became accessible by car in 2004. In 2012, it. had a population of 18.

Paro Taktsang (a/k/a the Tiger’s Nest) is a Buddhist monastery which sits on a cliff at an elevation of 10,240 feet in the Paro Valley of Bhutan. It was built in 1692 and renovated in both 1958 and 2005.

This church, dedicated to Saint Maximus, sits on top of the Katshki Pillar in Imereti in the country of Georgia. It was restored from 2005 to 2009.

Edinburgh of the Seven Seas is the main settlement on Tristan da Cunha, the most remote archipelago on Earth. As of 2014, the island has a resident population of 297.

This (the only) house on the Vestmannaeyjar Archipelago on Ellidaey Island in Iceland was originally built as a lodge for puffin hunters. Strangely, it is surrounded by a fence.

McMurdo Station is a US research center in Antarctica. It is the southern-most harbor in the world and the continent’s largest human settlement, with a population that can reach 1,200 in the summer.

Puffins

MARY ANN O’BRIEN apedersen@obicreative.com

Mary Ann O’Brien is the Founder and CEO of OBI Creative.

One Of the bIggest mistakes I commonly see commercial real estate marketers make is not understanding who they’re trying to attract to their property. It sounds so basic that it’s almost not worth mentioning, and that’s the problem. Too often, we assume we know our customers’ needs, wants, interests and pain points when in actuality, we don’t know where they truly stand.

DITCH A GENERAL MARKETING STRATEGY FOR A CUSTOMER-CENTRIC ONE

A mix of qualitative, quantitative, and secret shopping is crucial to truly understand who you are marketing to. You want to get inside the heads and hearts of your prospects and customers to understand what they expect to experience at a property like yours and then deliver that experience. With a firm foundation of customer insight under your belt, you can build a strategy and creative execution that’s guaranteed to deliver profitable results. Often marketers must guess whether or not the creative they’re looking at will achieve the results they need it to. Many times it doesn’t; not because the creative design was poor, but because it wasn’t rooted in customer understanding. When you put customers at the heart of your marketing efforts, as well as your operations, your property is destined to become hot.

ALIGNING PROPERTY DESIGN WITH CUSTOMER UNDERSTANDING

My team and I had the opportunity to help a commercial developer market a high-end outlet mall. With a goal of attracting consumers from a 200mile radius to a property we were aiming to make the dominant retail asset in the region, we set out to create a truly smart outlet center. We began by conducting customer research to understand what consumer wanted, what state and local official needed, and what interested citizens demanded. Research revealed a desire for a clean, fresh, safe, technology-oriented center that would recapture a big chunk of the $1.5 billion in shopping receipts going to out of state properties. A four-phase approach helped us target buyer personas with relevant messaging. Our research informed more than just the marketing plan though. It drove the technology plan with the development of an app for the outlet center, as well as the mall design. A customer-centric racetrack design was applied to improve the shopping experience.

Then, as construction was underway, we made sure property developers didn’t overlook the value of applying signage to the fencing around the construction site. Digital billboards and well-placed media buys generated interest and excitement for the opening of the outlet center.

COMMERCIAL REAL ESTATE MISTAKES MARKETERS MAKE

We identified other destination and attraction brands in the area and partnered with them to make package options available that would drive traffic to all properties promoted. A few of the pieces we brought to outlet included:

• Digital marching pylon signs

• Digital wall

• Targeted messaging and flash sales

• Interactive digital signage

• Value vision network

• Self-serve kiosks

• Management office

• Personalized mobile coupons and offers

• Proprietary network

The efforts may seem commonplace now, but years ago when we implemented them they were cutting edge. We were early to the table in implementing the first of its kind architectural technology app designed to improve the shopping experience for visitors.

LETTING CUSTOMER INSIGHT DETERMINE TACTICS

When you allow customer insight to drive marketing strategy, you can have confidence that the tactics you’re choosing for your marketing mix will achieve the ROI you need, and the results you seek.

From a foundation of research, you can apply the right mix of tactics to successfully market your property. Things like using 3D tours, high quality, on-brand photography, and every social media channel your customers are active on all fall into place when you layer them on top of customer understanding. Filtered through the lens of your customers, you can avoid messages that come across as too heavy-handed or sales-oriented and provide value that your target audiences find attractive.

You can emphasize your unique offerings and share your brand story in a way that resonates with your target audiences. Omni-channel marketing and optimized websites are a given in today’s distracted, digital marketplace. But, they are no substitute for customer understanding. They are powerful tools best leveraged in concert with a firm understanding of what your customer wants, expects and experiences while at your property.

CUSTOMER CENTRICITY CONTINUES AFTER THE SALE

A final pitfall I commonly see commercial real estate marketers make is to drop customer centricity after the sale. The world’s most successful brands and businesses are so because they align operations with their brand.

After months of working with local and state officials to gain approval of various tax incentives, we had the hook we needed to attract new brands to the market like Kate Spade, Nike, Under Armour and Michael Kors. A mix of traditional and digital media drove excitement and customer engagement well before the center opened.

After the ribbon cutting, the outlets went on to become one of the fastest-growing outlets in the country and attracted millions of visitors to its stores.

That center wasn’t the only one my team and I helped develop integrated brand strategy for. In every case, we saw brand new or beleaguered properties experience renaissance through smart, customer-centric design and marketing.

Your people and your property are the hands and feet of your brand. Your brand is the soul of your business. To achieve harmony, the two must be aligned. This translates practically into analyzing every aspect of your operations from how the trash is collected to hours of operation to the condition of your parking lot and the security guards you employ to ensure they all align with and express your brand vision, mission, and values.

Everyone, from your tenants to those who help construct or maintain your facility grounds should feel you living out your brand promise when they’re on property. If you value innovation, it should come through in how you construct, maintain, and operate your facility. It should influence purchasing and collaboration decisions. If you value community, the communities in which you operate should know that without you having to say it.

These are the building blocks that brands like Starbucks, Facebook and Zappos have made billions from. You can achieve the same, if you keep your customer at the heart of your operations and keep your operations aligned with your brand. n

Most people are shocked when they find out how bad I am as an electrician.

ADDING SHARED OFFICE SPACE TO YOUR PORTFOLIO

BARRY GREENFIELD barry@localworks.us Barry Greenfield is the founder of LocalWorks.

about how relevant face-to-face communication is when streaming video allows for high-quality meetings without the cost of business travel.

• Open concept spaces are facing headwinds. For years employees have pushed back against the open space model utilized by employers. Noise, lack of privacy and an emphasis on forced team building have been met with resistance and headphones in an effort to be productive. For coworking businesses, this presents a real challenge as profits tend to be driven by selling multiple seat memberships in open areas.

A new rIsk-free shared office space model offers property owners the ability to achieve desired gross square foot rents in 4-5 months.

Through a management agreement and revenue sharing program, owners simply provide second-generation office space in exchange for LocalWorks.us handling all day-to-day responsibilities. No tenant improvements are necessary. How is this different than coworking?

Prior to Covid, commercial property owners were riding a high occupancy trend that had been growing since the 2008 recession.

Amid this trend was a tenant movement towards more shared leasing options and terms, begun in the 1980s by Regus. The past decade brought WeWork, Industrious, and hundreds of smaller local companies signing master leases requiring significant tenant improvement costs in an effort to grow the “coworking” segment of shared space. All of these focused on the top of the pyramid, spending large sums of money trying to reign in high-profile enterprise customers to fill five-star office accommodations.

Very few companies have prospered, and many (including WeWork, Knotel and Serendipity Labs) have filed for bankruptcy. Funded by venture capital, these companies spent considerable sums on high-cost leases and amenities. Unfortunately, property owners took most of the risk when engaging with the coworking model, paying for TI assuming the full leases would be paid out.

While there have been issues with the concept of arbitraging office space using the multiple tenant-in-one-space models, the demand for shared/executive office space remains strong and is showing significant signs of growth. And growth comes at a difficult time for property owners facing downward occupancy trends.

As CRE enters year two of dealing with Covid, property owners are seeing unprecedented numbers of vacancies and sublets coming to market. Add new construction currently under development and the total square footage available is creating downward pricing pressure on rents. While opinions of how hybrid and remote work will impact the full return of office workers in the fall vary widely, there is certainty around the continued growth of shared office space.

Multiple underlying trends are contributing to the significant growth in demand for shared office space:

• The Gig economy. It is easier now than ever to start a company or for an individual to hold multiple freelance positions. In the past ten years, companies like Etsy have enabled individuals to become business owners. As a result, people normally seeking employment at typical corporations are finding ways to earn income on their own terms.

• Technology. Whether Zoom, Salesforce, Slack or social media, tech tools are shifting the landscape further towards enterprising professionals who are willing to start their own business. Additionally, there is a strong debate now

• The growth of Google Business. Online marketing is now the leading source of attracting new business. Google Business is a critical means of marketing and advertising a physical presence for small businesses. While virtual mailboxes can accomplish this task, most companies see the benefits of having an actual office at the address to hold meetings when necessary, or for the nearby employees who want to work in an office environment.

• Productivity improved during Covid. According to data provided by LocalWorks.us, companies of less than 50 employees discovered that remote employees brought increased productivity and significant cost savings during Covid. While this debate is far from over, LocalWorks has the first-hand experience with both public and private companies shrinking footprints.

As a point of reference, LocalWorks.us recently opened a new location in Bethesda, Maryland as a sublet of a publicly traded company. During Covid, the tenant recognized the reduced need for office space and determined it only required 50% of its lease going forward. Rather than try to buy out the remaining 5 years of the sub-divided space, they chose to partner with LocalWorks.us. The company soon will be earning back its cost on the unused space.

The subtenant chose LocalWorks.us because of its unique business model: a management company that partners with CRE office property owners to take existing vacant “second generation” space and rapidly monetize private offices with a monthly rental model, without any tenant improvements.

With LocalWorks.us, office property owners can easily add shared office space/ executive suites to a CRE portfolio. The property owner provides the space and LocalWorks.us handles all other aspects of the operation including marketing, amenities, management of membership, payment collection and reporting. Typically, the company can fill vacant “officed” space within 4-5 months and through the revenue share program generate 90-100% of the desired gross rate. LocalWorks.us currently operates locations ranging in size from 5,000 square feet to 12,000 square feet. For instance, in Reston, Virginia, a LocalWorks client had a second floor 6,000 square foot vacant space with 20 offices. The space had been vacant for nine months with no viable master lease tenants showing interest. Within three months of launch, and no tenant improvement costs, the space is now 85% occupied and generating 90% of the desired gross rent.

Renting individual offices and managing the users in the space is a timeconsuming and expensive process. Finding the renters requires expertise which is completely different from finding a master lease tenant. LocalWorks uses more than 40 different online methods to develop leads and attract new renters, including data mining. There are not a lot of churns - the small businesses and people who rent offices tend to stay in their spaces an average of 18-24 months. The company has plans for multiple Southeast, Southwest, and West Coast locations, with a goal of expanding from 30 current locations to 100 by the end of 2022. n

I find it ironic that the colors red, white, and blue stand for freedom until they are flashing behind you.

SKIDMORE, OWINGS & MERRILL A STEWARD OF GLOBAL DESIGN

skIdmOre, OwIngs & merrIll (SOM) is a collective of architects, designers, engineers, and planners working together to build a better future. Founded in 1936, SOM has created some of the world’s most technically and environmentally advanced buildings and significant public spaces. The firm’s approach is highly collaborative, and its interdisciplinary team is international. Working from a network of creative studios across the globe, SOM applies international expertise at a local level.

SOM believes that design is about more than meeting people’s needs—it is the art of realizing their aspirations and changing the way they experience the world. The best results come from a balance of disciplines: planning, interiors, engineering, and architecture. This total design approach means seamless coordination, from the dynamic initial design stages to the pride in seeing users inspired by the end result.

Celebrating its 85th year as a steward of global design, SOM received the National Building Museum’s 2021 Honor Award for significant contributions to the nation’s built heritage.

MANHATTAN LOFT GARDENS

Manhattan Loft Gardens, located near Stratford International station in London, is a new model for vertical urban living in one of the fastest growing cities in the world. Serving as an anchor for its neighborhood, it mixes residential loft-style and single-story apartments, a five-star hotel, and three sky gardens carved dramatically out of the building’s profile.

MOYNIHAN TRAIN HALL

Most recently, SOM completed Moynihan Train Hall, a monumental civic project that converted the James A. Farley Post Office in New York City into an extension to Penn Station. (See Amazing Buildings in the May-June 2021 issue of .)

Situated across Eighth Avenue from Pennsylvania Station, the Moynihan Train Hall is a critical part of a redevelopment of the entire Penn Station complex. It anchors the burgeoning development of Manhattan’s Far West Side—creating a public space that offers a tangible link to New York’s grand history while adding much-needed capacity to the region’s rail system.

NATIONAL MUSEUM OF THE UNITED STATES ARMY

The National Museum of the United States Army serves as the symbolic front door of the U.S. Army. Spanning 84 acres on the Fort Belvoir Military Installation in Virginia, it focuses first and foremost on the story of the individual soldier. The facade, designed in a grid of stainless-steel panels, reflects the bucolic surroundings— transforming the character of the building through every season and time of day. The building's guiding themes—discipline, modesty, and rigor—are all embodied in the design.

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIAMERCED 2020 EXPANSION

The University of California, Merced 2020 Expansion is an ambitious public-private partnership that nearly doubles the campus footprint to support the enrollment of 10,000 students by 2020. The project, which is targeting triple net-zero sustainability goals, emcompasses a new campus plan, design guidelines, infrastructure, open space, and 11 new buildings, including state-of-the-art research facilities, laboratories, a greenhouse, and a dining hall.

A: 45 minutes.

Q: What’s the difference between a boyfriend and a husband?

HARROW SQUARE

Harrow Square is a mixed-use civic regeneration development in outer London, providing apartments, a public library, retail, and a new public square. It creates a much-needed sense of place and space for the community to gather, setting a benchmark for high-quality, equitable contemporary design for public benefit.

COOK COUNTY HOSPITAL ADAPTIVE REUSE

Originally completed in 1914, the landmarked Cook County Hospital building had been vacant for decades, had fallen into disrepair, and was threatened with demolition. More than a century after the building opened, SOM led a team to carefully preserve, restore, and adapt the former hospital to house a new hotel, food hall, medical offices, and community spaces, serving as a new anchor for the district.

BILLIE JEAN KING MAIN LIBRARY

The Billie Jean King Main Library in Long Beach, California, revitalizes a former dilapidated parking structure into a welcoming, sustainably focused mass timber building as a part of the new Long Beach Civic Center. The building is one of few in Southern California that utilizes a heavy timber structural system. It offers a variety of spaces, including group study rooms, independent study areas, and a technology-driven "makerspace" that features a learning lab and 3D printers.

POLY INTERNATIONAL PLAZA

Located midway between the Forbidden City and Beijing Capital Airport, Poly International Plaza is a striking office tower inspired by the design of Chinese paper lanterns. The design of the main tower’s exterior is formed by a continuous diagrid pattern, with a jewel-like facade that shimmers as it reflects the sky. The elliptical footprint of the tower allows the expansive landscaped park to flow seamlessly through the site, creating connections to adjacent neighborhoods.

See page 58 for how you can win a copy of SOM’s latest monograph n

AMAZ NG BU LDINGS

ANGELA O’BYRNE aobyrne@e-perez.com

LITTLE ISLAND, BIG HIT: NEW YORK’S NEWEST PARK IS

LITERALLY ON THE WATER

twO yeArs AgO, thIs very column previewed Thomas Heatherwick’s Vessel, a sculptural observation deck towering above Manhattan’s Hudson Yards. Conceived explicitly as a tourist destination, the initially popular Vessel has since acquired a complicated reputation, as four suicides at the site have raised serious questions about safety. Multiple rounds of redesigns and operational changes (a ticket price increase and a ban on solo visitors) have been undertaken in the hopes of preventing further tragedy. However, the future of the Vessel is now uncertain. Many have demanded higher barriers throughout the structure, while others have called for its dismantling altogether.

While the Vessel was sharply criticized for its ostentation and commercial aims

well before the tragedies transpired, it’s clear that the market still demands what it offered: a contemplative spot for reflection and perspective. New Yorkers, feeling cooped-up and hemmed-in by the pandemic, long for some serenity in the concrete jungle.

Perhaps serendipitously, that’s exactly what the West Side seems to be specializing in these days. Once a neglected stretch of industrial waterfront rust and rot, the long-maligned left side of the island has slowly turned into something unexpected: a show-stealing, sprawling urban park that dazzles tourists and locals alike. And this past May, that stretch of the island got a new crown jewel.

From the Vessel, it’s a seventeen-block stroll south (along the High Line if you

like) to Heatherwick’s latest attempt to carve out sanctuary in the city. However, this time the structure isn’t strictly on Manhattan at all. Little Island was built on top of the Hudson River.

An entirely artificial island, Little Island is technically an extension of Hudson River Park. It sits where Piers 54 and 55 once did, before they fell into disuse, dereliction, and finally destruction when Hurricane Sandy overwhelmed the city.

The result of years of political and legal wrangling, Little Island was largely bankrolled by the fashion mogul Diane von Fürstenberg and her husband, billionaire businessman Barry Diller. The project recalls the grand-civic-gesture philanthropy of the Rockefeller era, when giving

Q: What’s the fastest way to a man's heart?

A: Through his chest with a sharp knife.

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

My father has schizophrenia, but he’s good people.

New Yorkers new places to sit, wander, and enjoy the outdoors was still a priority for its richest residents.

Elegant and precise, Little Island resembles a whimsical miniature magically brought to life—a sort of bonsai park. Sitting atop 132 concrete “tulip” columns of various sizes, Little Island isn’t merely a fancy pier or a raised platform above the water. Its tulips vary from 12 to 62 feet above the river, creating both a dramatic, undulating topography and a variety of distinct pockets of space.

While the Island’s underpinning structure is Heatherwick’s, its contours are the brainchild of landscape architect Signe Nielsen. Her focus on creating inviting public spaces is made manifest throughout, with the park’s meandering paths, inviting lawns, and 114 trees, ranging in age from saplings to 30–50-year-olds, so the park doesn’t feel immature. Vantage points pepper the landscape, providing views of both the river and the surrounding city.

Although the pandemic has limited the park’s artistic programming, free and affordable live performances will be one of its core offerings. The island boasts two permanent venues, including a 687-seat amphitheater and another, smaller stage for an audience of 200. For the duration of its first summer, Little Island operated as an all-day artistic festival, hosting dance recitals, musical performances, and poetry readings.

At an eye-popping cost of $260 million for its 2.4 acres of space, Little Island is an ambitious swing— even for New York. However, an enraptured early reception seems to indicate that the investment was worthwhile. Currently, capacity is limited to 1,000 visitors at any given time, with (often-soldout) timed tickets controlling the flow of guests after noon.

If there’s a useful comparison to be made between Heatherwick’s Vessel and Little Island, it may illuminate the power of meaningful collaboration in design. If

the Vessel felt like an auteur’s modern art object—a freestanding structure inviting visitors to assign it meaning—Little Island operates more like an exquisitely curated museum.

Between its precise design and extensive programming, Little Island feels engineered to maximize moments of epiphany, serenity, and inspiration. Like a classical Victorian garden, its virtues are precision and control. And in such uncertain and exhausting times, it can feel like a great comfort to experience such expert direction. n

GEORGIANNA W. OLIVER georgiannawo@tour24now.com

Georgianna W. Oliver is the Founder and CEO of Tour24.

MAXIMIZE EFFICIENCIES AND INCREASE REVENUE WITH SELF-GUIDED TOURS

day who can now be freed up to focus on renewals and other priorities.

SIMPLE TO USE

Make it simple right from the start. Incorporate all the scheduling options together, so it’s easy for a renter to find and choose their preference and schedule a tour. Include a description of what to expect during the tour. Have a clearly defined tour path to easily access and locate buildings, amenities and show units. To make it easy for the leasing team, the collection of guest card data needs to integrate with CRM/lead management tools or property management systems. The tour needs to incorporate actionable next steps for reviewing availability, pricing, or starting an online application while on the tour. Finally, everyone needs to be on the same page with consistent promotion of self-guided tours by the leasing team, concierge, and contact center including by phone, email and text.

CONTACTLESS AND CONNECT MORE

the PAndemIc AccelerAted the need for selfservice options across virtually every industry. Companies hustled to come up with new and innovative ways to meet consumer demands. Traditional ways of doing things became outdated, seemingly overnight. Although COVID-19 may have led to rapid adoption of self-service and personalized options out of necessity, the multifamily industry quickly learned these options are here to stay. Operators need to find ways to manage their assets more efficiently and meet evolving renter preferences. Everyone will be looking for smarter and quicker ways to rent apartments.

RENTER EXPECTATIONS

Today’s renters expect to have flexible options and tour times. They want to tour when they want and not during the limited dates and times made available by communities. They are also digitally motivated and want to use their mobile devices to research and experience things in real time and on their terms. They expect a self-service solution and want to interact with as few people as possible to find their next home.

A survey by Tour24 found that nearly 40 percent of tours are taken outside of standard business hours, when leasing offices are closed. In addition, 31 percent commit to leasing immediately after touring. These renters credit their decision to having an opportunity to tour how and when they want.

If you are not offering personal and engaging technology solutions for renters, with flexible timing and touring options, you are missing out on valuable prospects and losing leases. In addition, the survey

found that 78 percent of renters said they would rather take a self-guided tour than tour with a live agent. They want to do everything on their own terms, and don’t like being pressured.

Renters consistently share feedback that they “loved that there was no pressure”, “didn’t feel rushed”, “I could go at my own pace” and that it is “so easy.”

Not all renters share the same priorities. Allowing them to focus on what matters to them while on tour has proven to drive leasing outcomes that often exceed a guided tour experience.

KEYS TO SUCCESS

Self-guided tours have become an integral part of the multifamily leasing ecosystem. They are not being looked at in isolation, but rather as an essential piece of the puzzle that fits into the total customer experience. Industry leaders are looking holistically at what today’s renter wants, and empowering them to connect with communities in new ways that fit their needs. Here are some keys to success:

Best Practices for a Seamless Experience for Both Renters and the Community

FLEXIBLE AND EFFICIENT

Offering flexible touring options outside of standard business hours, makes it easy for renters to tour when it is most convenient for them. It also makes sense for the leasing team. Using technology solutions makes it possible to always have leasing coverage (after-hours, weekends, holidays) without adding headcount. More tours = more leases! It also improves efficiencies for busy agents during the

The tour itself may be contactless, but the renter still wants to feel connected. Provide curated tour content that guides the renter as if your finest leasing agent is by their side. Make it easy for renters to ask a question at any time and capture feedback along the way. Tour24’s data shows that whereas 31% are ready to lease right away, 60% are thinking about leasing. Real-time data collected during the tour helps the agent tailor the communication to the renter’s preferences and focus on a successful follow-up. Engagement with the renter throughout their leasing journey will maximize opportunities to close the lease.

QUALITY CONTROL

A self-guided tour provides high-quality, consistent information to every renter, which showcases the community optimally, as well as helps with fair housing compliance. The most successful communities take a hands-on approach by doing daily walks of the tour path to ensure the grounds, amenities and show units reflect an ideal visualization of the community for renters who are touring on their own. They also provide self-guided tour education for the entire office, leasing, concierge, and maintenance team members.

THE BOTTOM LINE

Self-guided tours are here to stay. Embracing these new technologies and processes, will improve the customer experience, maximize efficiencies for all, decrease operating expenses and increase revenue. Learn everything possible to gain confidence in this tool to lease more units, and lease them faster! You can start with one community to learn what works and go from there. The longer you wait, the more leads you are losing. n

“Don’t talk to me about Valentine’s Day. At my age, an affair of the heart is a bypass.” (Joan Rivers)

DIVERSI NS SMART ASS

It was mealtime during an airline flight. The flight attendant asked passenger John, “Would you like dinner?”

"What are my choices?" John asked. "Yes or no," she replied.

A flight attendant was stationed at the departure gate to check tickets. As a man approached, she extended her hand for the ticket. He opened his trench coat and flashed her. Without missing a beat, she said, "Sir, I need to see your ticket, not your stub."

A woman was picking through the frozen turkeys at the grocery store, but she couldn't find one big enough for her family. She asked a stock boy, "Do these turkeys get any bigger?" The stock boy replied, "No ma'am, they're dead."

As the kid who was stopped for speeding rolled down his window, the policeman got out of his vehicle and approached the kid, "I've been waiting for you all day."

The kid replied, “Yeah, well I got here as fast as I could.”

When the cop finally stopped laughing, he sent the kid on his way without a ticket.

A truck driver was driving along the freeway and noticed a sign that read: Low Bridge Ahead. Before he knew it, the bridge was right in front of him, and his truck got wedged under it. Cars were backed up for miles. Finally, a police vehicle came up. The cop got out of his car, walked to the truck driver, put his hands on his hips and said, "Got stuck, huh?"

The truck driver said, "No, I was delivering this bridge and I ran out of gas."

A college teacher reminds her class of tomorrow's final exam. "Now class, I won't tolerate any excuses for your not being here tomorrow. I might consider a nuclear attack, a serious personal injury, illness, or a death in your immediate family. But that's it -- no other excuses whatsoever!"

A student in the back of the room raised his hand and asked, "What would you say if tomorrow I said I was suffering from complete and utter sexual exhaustion?"

The entire class broke out in laughter and snickering. Finally, when there was silence, the teacher smiled knowingly at the student, shook her head, and sweetly said, "Well, I guess you'd have to write the exam with your other hand."

Why do men like smart women? Opposites attract.

How do men define a ‘50/50 relationship? We cook, they eat; we clean, they dirty; we iron, they wrinkle.

How do you get a man to stop biting his nails? Make him wear shoes.

What did God say after creating man? I can do so much better.

What’s the smartest thing a man can say? "My wife says..."

Why are all dumb blonde jokes one-liners?

So men can understand them.

Why do female black widow spiders kill the males after mating? To stop the snoring before it starts.

Why do men need instant replay on TV sports?

Because after 30 seconds they forget what happened

Why does it take 100 million sperm to fertilize one egg?

Because none of them will stop to ask for directions.

Why is psychoanalysis a lot quicker for men than for women?

When it’s time for the man to go back to his childhood, he's already there.

Q: Why do men want to marry virgins?

A: They can’t stand criticism. BE

ROXANA TOFAN roxana@clearintegritygroup.com

TheGAN GROUP

Think abouT March 2020 when the pandemic hit. How your life changed professionally and personally. What your team, neighbors and family have been through or survived. How much we overcame and how this summer we thought we were finally getting back to normal. Here we are 18 months later dealing with another wave thinking this time we have more tools, more experience and a different perspective. Will that be enough for us to overcome this fall? Will the companies that have survived the first wave, survive again? And how?

I visited with the two owners of The GAN Group, a real estate development and acquisition company that develops, builds, and operates properties that include senior living, multi family, retail, and entertainment projects. Billy Johnson, an architect by trade and Doug Martine a real estate developer, take projects from the development phase to completion and operation. This is their perspective on the current times and how their company will continue to survive.

Roxana: How did COVID affect your business when it first hit?

GAN: We were under contract and in the process of starting a minimum of three Alamo Drafthouses. We had already identified the markets, designed the projects, had contracts on land and signed leases. Construction was ready to start in 2020 and 2021. In a blink of an eye, it all went away last year because of COVID. We had invested a lot of our time and money in these projects, and these projects were to provide the overhead for our business. It all went away.

Roxana: Where did you then put your focus on next to continue?

GAN: We relied on our architecture and development consulting connections for projects to pay the bills. We also worked on senior living and multi-family acquisitions. We were able to finish the development on two senior housing projects in College Station and Deer Park, Texas and now are partners in the deals along with the operator. We had a group of investors that we acquired some multi-family projects as well this year.

Roxana: What really helped you survive?

GAN: Our company’s philosophy. When we started this company in 2015, we wanted our faith to be the baseline for all we do, to serve the people we work with and for, and to serve our residents. Multifamily and senior living is where we, as developers or owners, can truly take care of people at the place they value the most - their homes. GAN in Hebrew means garden and we always want to use our company as a place where we can make a difference as developers and operators. We are owners who care for our tenants and provide a high-quality place to live relative to their situation. When you do the right thing, you can still make money investing in multi family and senior housing.

Roxana: How are things looking ahead?

GAN: We are about to start an Alamo Drafthouse project again, so we are thankful and excited about that. We are also looking at the Houston market for senior housing development, and we are working on a senior housing development in New Anchor, Texas. In addition to that, we look at about three multi-family deals a week. We are ready to do more multi-family. We have to find the right deals to pick up after COVID because now lenders require a COVID reserve, which means more cash is necessary at closing. We are confident that the future looks bright with all the pieces in place.

With more properties coming up for sale, and a second wave of COVID hitting, investors like The GAN Group will have to balance the cost of buying a property which has struggled during COVID with the potential of its opportunity to destabilize with the new rules, rental assistance, better management and care in place. I know they will be able to rise to the challenge and succeed. n

Roxana Tofan is a commercial real estate and business broker and the founder and owner of Clear Integrity Group in San Antonio. She is also a Contributing Editor of

é Doug Martine

é Billy Johnson

the ArchItecture Of AtlAntA is a confluence of classical, modernist, post-modernist, and contemporary architectural styles. Due to the complete destruction of Atlanta by fire in 1864, the city's architecture retains no traces of its Antebellum past. Instead, Atlanta's status as a largely postmodern American city is reflected in its architecture; however, its embrace of modernism has translated into an ambivalence toward architectural preservation, resulting in the destruction of architectural masterpieces, including the /01/ Equitable Building, the Beaux-Arts style /02/ Terminal Station, and the /03/ Classical Carnegie Library. The city's cultural icon, the Neo-Moorish /04/ Fox Theatre, would have met the same fate had it not been for a grassroots effort to save it in the mid-1970s.

Most of Atlanta was burned during the Civil War, depleting the city of a large stock of its historic architecture. Because Atlanta originated as a railroad town, rather than a seaport like Savannah, many of the city's landmarks could have easily been erected in the northeast or Midwest. That is one reason why Atlanta referred to itself frequently as "the New York" or "the Chicago of the South." One of the most important buildings of the antebellum period was /05/ Union Station.

The American Renaissance was a period of American architecture and the arts from 1876 to 1917, characterized by renewed national self-confidence and a feeling that the United States was the heir to Greek democracy, Roman law, and Renaissance humanism. During this period and beyond, Atlantans were amazed at successive waves of ever more impressive hotels, civic and industrial architecture including the /06/ Candler Building (17 stories, 1906), and /07/ Rhodes-Haverty Building (21 stories, 1929). Among the most notable architects active in Atlanta between the Civil War and World War Two were A. Ten Eyck Brown, Francis Palmer Smith and G. Lloyd Preacher.

During the Cold War era, Atlanta followed global modernist trends, especially with regards to office towers and commercial buildings. Examples include the /08/ Westin Peachtree Plaza (1976) and the /09/ Georgia-Pacific Tower (1982). The era's most notable architect may be Atlanta-native John Portman, whose work reshaped downtown Atlanta with his designs for the /10/ Atlanta Merchandise Mart, Peachtree Center,

ATLANTA ARCHITECTURAL CONTRAST IN DOWNTOWN OFFICE BUILDINGS

in the glass-walled modernist vein, while /16/ Millennium Gate (also completed in 2008) is the largest classical monument in the U.S. to have been dedicated since completion of the Jefferson Memorial in Washington, D.C.

/01/ The Equitable Building was designed by Chicago's Burnham and Root, a firm established by Georgiaborn architect John Wellborn Root and his partner Daniel Hudson Burnham. When completed in 1892, it was the tallest building in Atlanta outside the State Capitol. The building was demolished in 1971.

/02/ Terminal Station was designed by architect P. Thornton Marye. It was the larger of two principal train stations in downtown Atlanta, Union Station being the other. Opening in 1905, it was razed in 1972, and the Richard B. Russell Federal Building (built in 1979) currently occupies the site.

/03/ The Carnegie Library, the first public library in Atlanta, opened in 1902. It was renovated in 1950 and 1966 through city bond funding. It was in this building that 20 gay men were arrested following a police stakeout in September 1953, an event known at the Atlanta Public Library perversion case (See History on page 49). It was torn down in 1977 to make way for the current Central Library.

/04/ The Fox Theatre is a performing arts venue in midtown. It was originally planned as part of a large Shrine Temple as evidenced by its Moorish design. The 4,665seat auditorium was developed as a lavish movie theater in the Fox Theatres chain and opened in 1929. It hosts a variety of cultural and artistic events including the Atlanta Ballet, a summer film series, performances by national touring companies of Broadway shows and concerts by popular artists.

the aforementioned /08/ Westin Peachtree Plaza Hotel, and /11/ SunTrust Plaza.

In the late 1980s, Atlanta turned to postmodern designs which reintroduced classical elements to the cityscape, with many displaying tapering spires or otherwise ornamented

crowns, such as /12/ One Atlantic Center (1987), /13/ 191 Peachtree Tower (1991), and at 1,023 feet, Atlanta's tallest skyscraper—the /14/ Bank of America Plaza (1992).

More recently, Atlanta's built environment has been getting more eclectic and diverse. For example, /15/ 3344 Peachtree (2008) is more

/05/ Atlanta's first Union Station, (a/k/a Union Depot was built in 1853–1864 was the original depot of Atlanta, Georgia. It was designed by architect Edward A. Vincent and stood in the middle of State Square, the city's main square at the time. It was destroyed in General Sherman's burning of the city during the Battle of Atlanta. Atlanta's 1871 Union Station was built on the site.

/06/ When the 17-story high-rise Candler Building was completed

A blind man walked into a bar… and a table… and a chair…

é By: Learn From. Build More. - Flickr: Carnegie Libraries, CC BY-SA 2.0

in 1906 by Coca-Cola magnate Asa Griggs Candler, it was the tallest building in the city. The Beaux-Arts building housed the Central Bank and Trust and is now on the National Register of Historic Places.

/07/ The Rhodes-Haverty Building was designed by Atlanta architects Pringle and Smith, and built by furniture magnates A. G. Rhodes (of Rhodes Furniture) and J. J. Haverty (of Havertys), it was the tallest building in the city from its initial construction (in 1929) until 1954. It was converted from office use in 1995-1996 to a Marriott Residence Inn and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

/08/ The Westin Peachtree Plaza is a skyscraper hotel with 1,073 rooms. At 723 ft and 73 stories, a total building area of 1,196,240 sq ft, the tower is the fourth-tallest hotel in the Western Hemisphere, and the 30th tallest all-hotel building in the world.

/09/ Georgia-Pacific Tower is a 697 ft, 1,567,011 sq. ft skyscraper with 52 stories of office space; it was finished in 1982 and was Atlanta's second tallest building from 1982 to 1987. It has a stair-like design that staggers down to the ground and is clad in pink granite quarried from Marble Falls, Texas.

/10/ AmericasMart is one of the largest permanent wholesale trade centers in the world. It consists of three buildings totaling 7,000,000 sf. It opened in 1957 and hosts more than a dozen trade shows every year. Trade show exhibitors rent permanent showrooms as well as temporary booths during trade shows. AmericasMart Atlanta is not open to the public and only employees and guests of registered businesses are admitted.

/11/ SunTrust Plaza is an 869 ft, 60-story skyscraper built as part of the Peachtree Center complex. Construction was finished in 1992, and it has been the second tallest building in Atlanta since then. When completed, it was the 28th tallest building in the world, and 21st tallest building in the United States.(The light on top rotates.)

/12/ One Atlantic Center is the third tallest building in the city, at a height of 820 feet (with 50 stories of office space) and a total area of 1,187,676 sq. It was completed in 1987 and remained the tallest building in Atlanta until 1992 and, when completed, was also the tallest building in the south-eastern U.S.

/13/ One Ninety One Peachtree Tower is a 771 ft 50-story skyscraper designed by Johnson/Burgee Architects and Kendall/Heaton Associates Inc. It was completed in 1990 and is the fourth tallest building in the city, winning the BOMA Building of the Year (TOBY) Awards the next year, and repeating in 1998 and 2003

/14/ At 1,023 ft, Bank of America Plaza is the 21st tallest building in the U.S. It the tallest building in Georgia, and the tallest building in any U.S. state capital, It has 55 stories of office space and was completed in 1992, when it was called NationsBank Plaza.

/15/ 3344 Peachtree is a 50-story, 635-ft, mixed use tower with upscale dining, office space, and 82 condominium units. Completed in 2008, it is the tallest mixed-use building in Atlanta and the tallest building in Atlanta not to be located downtown or midtown.

/16/ The Millennium Gate Museum (a/k/a The Gate) is a triumphal arch and Georgia history museum which opened on July 4, 2008, and cost approximately $20 million. Designed by CollinsCooperCarusi, Atlanta, the arch (which celebrates peaceful accomplishment) was originally intended for a location in Washington, DC, but failed to gain sufficient official support. n

sItuAted At the crOssrOAds of Europe and Asia, Tbilisi has been the capital of the country of Georgia since the fifth century. Today it has a population of approximately 1.5 million people. Because of its location, it has long been a point of contention among various global powers and historically it has been home to people of multiple cultural, ethnic, and religious backgrounds.

Its architecture is a combination of these cultures - medieval, neoclassical, Beaux Arts, Art Nouveau, Stalinist and Modern. Century old baths mix with contemporary skyscrapers, Sovietera buildings, and traditional Georgian houses with colorful wooden balconies.

/01/ Built in 1975, this structure (the former Ministry of Highway Construction) has been the Bank of Georgia headquarters since 2007. The 18-story building consists of

interlocking concrete forms. It is based on a concept called the Space City method, which means covering less ground and giving the space below the building back to nature, allowing the forest to grow within and around the structure – a balance between nature and human space.

/02/ The original Tbilisi State Opera House was destroyed by fire in 1874, rebuilt in 1896, destroyed by fire again in 1973, and rebuilt again in 2010. An elegant and fascinating theatrical construction, the reconstruction has maintained the Eastern and Moorish style of the original building.

/03/ The foundation of Rustaveli Theatre was laid in 1898. In 1949, the interior was destroyed by fire, but the exterior was spared, and everything was restored within a year. The Baroque and Rococo design is captivating.

/40/ Representing the fusion of Classicism, Gothic and Islamic arts, the State Silk Museum was completed in 1892 and is one of the oldest museums in Tbilisi.

/05/ The House of Justice, built in 2011 is an example of modern architecture. It is a government services building, housing several agencies.

/06/ The Rhike Park/Music Theatre and Exhibition Hall began in 2010, but a change of government and priorities delayed its being finished. The building consists of two different soft shaped elements that are connected as a unique body at the retaining wall and now nearing completion. The presidential palace is in the background.

/07/ The Holy Trinity Cathedral of Tbilisi, commonly

known as Sameba is the main cathedral of the Georgian Orthodox Church. Constructed between 1995 and 2004, it is the third-tallest Eastern Orthodox cathedral in the world and one of the largest religious buildings in the world by total area. Sameba is a synthesis of traditional styles dominating the Georgian church architecture at various stages in history and has some Byzantine undertones.

/08/ Now serving as the Authorized School #6, the building is listed among cultural heritage monuments. Formerly, the

The rotation of Earth really makes my day.

Refusing to go to the gym is a form of resistance training.

Women’s Georgian Gymnasium #3 (yes, that’s how they name buildings), it is an outstanding example of the Neo-Gothic style brick building. Built in 1905, the building has undergone major renovations but has retained its mystical atmosphere and most of the authentic architectural details, such as the old marble staircase with beautiful railings, wooden doors and peculiar façade with huge windows.

/09/ Madam Bozarjiantz’s House received a silver medal for the Best Façade in Tbilisi in 1915. It used to belong to a tobacco producer Nikoloz Bozarjiantz who made his wife the

official owner. When communists occupied Tbilisi, they took away the entire mansion and left only 2 rooms for the family. The mansion was supposed to be inherited by their 3 sons; unfortunately, the entire family vanished during the communist era and now descendants of Soviet revolutionaries own small spaces in this magnificent building.

/10/ The Church of the Red Gospel (Shamkoretsots Sourb Astvatsatsin Church) is a ruined 18th century Armenian church which was built in 1735 and renovated during the 19th

century. In 1989, it was either blown up or destroyed, depending on whose account you believe. It was the tallest Armenian church in Tbilisi. Today it stands in ruins, with its cupola gone.

/11/ The Thermal Baths of Abanotubani: Once there were 63 baths; then came the Russian empire and it was reduced to 10 baths. Today it is five, and these are among the most famous. These baths are more than 1500 years old and experiencing them is more than just a way to relax. It is equivalent to becoming a part of rich history and ancient heritage.

/12/ Dating back to the 4th century, the Narikala Fortress has dominated the skyline since the time it was a Persian refuge. The original fortress had beautiful walls built by the Arab emirs that were wrecked by an explosion inside the fortress due to muni-

tions kept by the Russians during the 8th century.

/13/ Freedom Square, in the center of the city, has seen more than a few name changes over the years. City Hall, The Bank of Georgia, Marriott Hotel, and the city government offices are all here. In 2006, the Liberty Monument depicting St George (for whom the country is named) slaying the dragon was unveiled, replacing the statue of Lenin that was torn down (from then Lenin Square) in 1991.

Tbilisi, Georgia is the sister city of Atlanta, Georgia (see pages 44-45). n

THE ARCHITECTURE OF SAVANNAH

sAvAnnAh Is the Oldest city in Georgia. Established in 1733 on the Savannah River, the city became the British colonial capital of the Province of Georgia and later the first capital of the state. A strategic port city in the Amer-ican Revolution and during the Civil War, Savannah is today an industrial center and an important Atlantic seaport. It is Georgia's fifth-largest city, and third largest metropolitan area.

Savannah's downtown area, which includes the Savannah Historic District /09/, the Savannah

Victorian Historic District (which includes the Gingerbread House /10/ and twenty-two parklike squares), is one of the largest National Historic Landmark Districts in the United States (designated by the U.S. government in 1966). Downtown Savannah largely retains the original town plan prescribed by founder James Oglethorpe /11/.

From the Colonial style to the medievalinfluenced cathedrals to the accents of the Victorian period, there are examples of most 18th and 19th century architectural styles in Savannah. In fact, over 40% of the 2,500 buildings inventoried by the City’s Convention & Visitor’s Bureau have architectural or historical significance.

I got a new pair of gloves today, but they’re both ‘lefts,’ which on the one hand is great, but on the other, it’s just not right.

/01/ The Davenport House Museum was completed around 1820 and marked the beginning of Savannah’s historic preservation movement. Throughout its 50+ years as an historic site, it has provided visitors intriguing and vivid Savannah-centric experiences based on tales of courage and determination. It is an example of the Federal style, characterized by prominent square or rectangular exteriors with slender curved iron stair railings and Palladian or Venetian windows. [Palladian architecture is a European style derived from and inspired by the designs of the Venetian architect Andrea Palladio (1508–1580)].

/04/ The First Baptist Church. Built from 1831-1833, is Savannah’s oldest standing house of worship. It has gone through many renovations, and still demonstrates the Greek Revival style with its columns and gabled portico.

/07/ The Cotton Exchange is a restaurant (and former cotton warehouse), in the Romanesque Revival style, uses an arch and dome construction, and features ornate, decorative Corinthian columns and roof balustrades.

/02/ The Olde Pink House Restaurant, which, for over three hundred years was known as the Habersham House, has survived fire and 3 wars. It is an example of the Georgian style with symmetrical square façades and hipped roofs. Chimneys are built on the ends and the corners are often angular.

/05/ The Mercer Williams House Museum is of the Italianate style, inspired by the farmhouses of northern Italy. (It was designed for General Hugh W. Mercer. Construction began in 1860, was interrupted by the Civil War, and eventually completed in 1868, after General Mercer sold the unfinished structure to John R. Wilder. Thus, no Mercer ever actually lived in the house that bears their name. (In Savannah, most historic homes use the name of the home’s original family in addition to the most prominent family.) Decorative brackets supporting low gabled roofs with wide overhanging eaves are characteristic of this architecture, which also often has detailed entrances and rounded windows with hood moldings.

/08/ The Hamilton-Turner House, in the Second French Empire style, is a bed and breakfast in the City’s Historic District. It has picturesque vertical accents on the tops of buildings like castle-like chimneys, pinnacles, and domes reminiscent of French Renaissance architecture in the seventeenth century.

/09/ The Savannah Historic District is a large urban historic district that roughly corresponds to the pre-civil war city limits of Savannah. The area was declared a National Historic Landmark District in 1966, and is one of the largest urban, community-wide historic preservation districts in the United States. Each year, it attracts millions of visitors, who enjoy its eighteenth- and nineteenth-century architecture and green spaces.

/10/ The Gingerbread House is one of Savannah’s leading event venues, the site of weddings, anniversary parties and other festivities. Built in 1899, this magnificent house is considered among the finest examples of Steamboat Gothic architecture in America.

/03/ The Mickve Israel Synagogue is characteristic of the Gothic Revival style with its detailed pinnacles and large entryways. Constructed in 1820, it was the first synagogue built in Georgia.

/11/ James Edward Oglethorpe (1696–1785) was a British soldier, Member of Parliament, and philanthropist, as well as the founder of the colony of Georgia in what was then British America. As a social reformer, he hoped to resettle Britain's worthy poor in the New World, initially focusing on those in debtors' prisons. He was the Governor of Georgia from 1732-1743.

Savannah, Georgia is the Sister City of Bat’umi in the country of Georgia (see page 44) n

/06/ The Telfair Museum of Art (which began with the bequest of Mary Telfair in 1875, and today houses 7,000 works of American and European fine and decorative art in a broad range of media) depicts the Regency style with semi-circular stairs, articulated window openings, ionic columns and classical alcove entrance ways in its architecture.

bAtumI (the sIster cIty of Savannah, Georgia – see page 42-43) is located on the Black Sea coast and is exquisitely framed by exotic subtropical flora, palm trees, cypresses, magnolias, oleanders, bamboo trees, laurels, and lemon and orange trees. It is not only an important seaport for Georgia, but also a tourism center – even though the beaches are stony without sand.

The old part of the city is known for the variety of its architectural subtleties. Buildings are deco-

THE ARCHITECTURE OF BATUMI, GEORGIA

rated with chimeras, mermaids, atlantes, and other mythical creatures - a combination of European and Asian styles, the variety of architectural forms. It is possible to see buildings with elements of Georgian, Turkish, Imperial Russian, Soviet, English, French and colonial architectures; the buildings combining European and Oriental architecture.

Batumi rose into prominence at the end of the 19th Century when a railroad from Tbilisi and a pipeline

from Baku made it Russia’s main oil port in the Black Sea. Hence, the many lavish neoclassical and art nouveau buildings from that period. Since the beginning of the 21st century, the city has changed a lot. The former half-closed borders of the regime have become a tourism paradise. Batumi will remain the city where European and Asian cultures meet; however, new buildings of banks, transcontinental hotels, modern tourist and sports complexes are under construction, and the residential houses being erected conform to world standards. Dozens of ultra-modern and somewhat bizarre buildings mushroomed along the coastline. It’s all somehow a bit bizarre.

Batumi has flown the flag of many nations, entering into history as a Greek/Roman port; it has also been a Byzantine, Ottoman and finally a Russian fort. All that contributes to a history of religious tolerance.

/01/ The Church of the Mother of God a Gothic Revival design, was built as a Roman Catholic church between 1898 and 1902. During the Soviet period the church was closed and converted into a high-voltage laboratory. In 1989 the church was transferred to the Georgian Orthodox Church. The Roman Catholics in Batumi now use the Church of the Holy Spirit /02/, a modern structure consecrated in 2000.

Pollen is what happens when flowers can’t keep it in their plants.

The problem with kleptomaniacs is that they always take things literally.

/03/ The 656 ft tall Batumi Technological University Tower is the tallest building in Batumi and the 57th tallest building in Europe. It began as an idea for a branch of an American university. Read more about its interesting and complex evolution here: FACTCHECK.

/04/ The Alphabetic Tower is a 430-foot-high structure symbolizing the uniqueness of the Georgian alphabet and people. It combines the design of the double helix of DNA, which rise up the tower holding the 33 letters of the Georgian alphabet, each 13 feet tall and made of aluminum. In the middle of the building is an exposed elevator shaft leading a colossal silver ball at the top.

/05/ The Courtyard by Marriott is one of several Marriott hotel brands on the coast. This 41-story building has 150 rooms on the 1st – 5th floors and apartments from floors 6 to 41.

/06/ Perhaps the coolest McDonald’s in the world.

/07/ Sea Towers is an apartment/hotel consisting of two 25-story and one 34-story building about 160 feet from the sea. All apartments have balconies with stunning seaside and mountain views and the top floors are Grand Royal Batumi Hotel

/08/ The Grand Gloria Hotel is an exquisite spectacle, one of many lustrous on the frontline of the Batumi Black Sea shore.

/09/ Face House is a less imposing, quirky looking 1-bedroom, 1 bath and a full kitchen hotel

/10/ The House of Justice is, fittingly, on Hero Square. It was opened on May 26, 2011 in honor of the Independence Day of Georgia. The House of Justice is the most important Georgian invention in the post-Soviet area, where any document can be made. It is divided into several areas: self-service, fast and long-term service.

/11/ The Statues of Ali and Nino were inspired by the famous book, Ali and Nino, by Kurban Said – a tragic love story of the young man and a Georgian princess set in the t time of First World War. The statues move, changing their position every few minutes, and even passing through each other.

/12/ Europe Square is one of the most popular spots in the city; its name reflects the desire of the Georgian people to follow in the steps of their Western neighbors. Legend has it that Medea, daughter of King Aeeta of Colchis, fell in love

with Jason the leader of the Argonauts. After helping him to steal the Golden Fleece, they escaped together on the famous ship Argo. The Golden Fleece is now a symbol of the prosperity and glory of Georgia, and so it is only fitting that in the center of Europe Square stands Medea Monument. The sculpture portrays Medea proudly clutching the Golden Fleece, a depiction of Argo etched on her gigantic pedestal. The square is a conglomerate of elegant 19th -20th century architecture and smattering of 21st-century additions - a mix of old and new, reflecting a city which straddles past and present. n

é The view from its top floor.

VIEWS OF THE CITY

tOurzAzz, A new reAl estate platform and showing solution, is releasing its Tour Management app to Austin area agents. It is a resource for agents tired of the archaic, clunky, time-consuming inefficiencies of planning and scheduling clients’ property tours. The app was created by longtime Austin real estate agents to streamline and speed up the home buying process in the city’s super-charged market and deliver a concierge-level experience to clients.

For buyer agents, building tour itineraries, coordinating with listing agents, and working within client constraints will now be a breeze. The TourZazz platform uses modern tech-

AUSTIN-BASED COMPANY RELEASES APP FOR REAL ESTATE AGENTS

sAntA clAus, As we know him, didn’t originate from Clement C. Moore’s popular poem, “The Night Before Christmas,” as is often thought, or from Washington Irving’s History of New York (as suggested by Berkeley historian Charles W. Jones).

Our American Santa Claus was, in fact, created by a New York printer in 1821 in a booklet called The Children’s Friend, explains author Tom Jerman.

His fascinating new book, Santa Claus Worldwide: A History of St. Nicholas and Other Holiday Gift-Bringers is a comprehensive history and homage

nology such as artificial intelligence (AI), geolocation, and data standards to reduce manual processes that often take agents hours down to mere minutes. For homebuyers, having a modern interface -- compared to printed MLS datasheets -- means that notes can be taken online, tours and property information can be shared with family and friends, and collaboration with their agent is efficient, clean, and effortless. For brokerages, TourZazz offers transparency into buyer agency and helps visualize tour activity individually and across the organization, leading to better forecasting, recruiting and retention, as well as increased training opportunities.

Several of Austin’s leading brokerages, including Realty Austin and Moreland Properties, are already making TourZazz available to their agents, and showing appointment requests have been going out to listing agents all over Austin for the last few months. Brigitte Thompson, a REALTOR® in Austin, says that the platform has made her job a lot more efficient: “It just really cuts down hours of my time, especially if we're looking at more than five to six properties,” Thompson said. She’s used the platform with every client she’s worked with in the past year and a half. She said that once she shows them the interface, they’ve all taken to it easily and eagerly.

One of Thompson’s clients embarked on a months-long process of looking for a home in Austin earlier this year. She says TourZazz helped her keep track of all of the properties she was considering: “Sometimes we would see four or five different places, and I’d have a timeline of what we did, so I could go back and refresh my memory,” she said.

“We are already seeing the value of the TourZazz tour management app, as we begin implementing the platform

BOOK REVIEWS

to the world’s midwinter gift-givers, showcasing their extreme diversity as well as the many traits these characters share. It tracks the evolution of these figures across thousands of years, eventually landing on how an untitled poem by a wealthy New Yorker in 1822 gradually created an enduring tradition in which American children awaken on Christmas morning to see what Santa brought.

The product of years of exhaustive historical research, Santa Claus Worldwide is the first legitimate history of Santa Claus in more than a decade, and the first history in more than 100 years to provide a comprehensive look at the Yuletide gift-givers throughout the world.

Readers will discover:

• How midwinter gift-giving developed over thousands of years;

• The difference between Catholic followers of St. Nicholas and Protestant followers of the secular “terror men” in Europe following the Reformation;

• Historical examples of midwinter gift-givers who were female, Black, rich, gay, atheist and communist;

• When and how a New York printer named William Gilley created the “American Santa Claus” in an 1821 booklet, The Children’s Friend;

• How a wealthy New York professor, Clement C. Moore, bought a copy of The Children’s Friend and, in 1822, wrote “The Night Before Christmas;” and

• How The Children’s Friend disappeared from history until it was rediscovered in 1953.

“Santa indisputably exists as the symbol of Christmas, and Christmas represents our most noble virtues,” Jerman says.

company-wide,” says Liz Tanner, Operations Manager, Moreland Properties. "Our agents’ and clients’ time is our most valuable commodity. TourZazz will enable our agents to spend more time fostering client relationships and communications as we utilize this tool to coordinate the many logistical details of building tour itineraries.”

What’s more, TourZazz will soon release its Listing Management app for listing agents, enabling them to manage showing availability, track showing activity, and collect showing feedback. These tools enhance the company’s vision to provide exceptional concierge services to all agents, buyers, and sellers. The app will be free to MLSs, brokerages, and agents.

In the fall, the company anticipates the release of its Client Experience app, which will enable agents to offer an enhanced home shopping experience, tethering the agent-client relationship for life. The app offers a free trial for agents and brokerages. After its Austin launch, there are plans to expand quickly into other regions in the U.S. To learn more, visit TourZazz.ai n

“Symbols are real, and they can be very powerful.”

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Tom A. Jerman, a resident of Asheville, N.C., has bachelor’s degrees in philosophy and journalism and a juris doctorate degree. For more information, please visit acollectionofsantas.com, or follow the author on Twitter at @tomajerman. n

A copy of this work (just in time for Christmas) is available to one lucky contest winner. (Please see the inside back cover.)

I grew up with Bob Hope, Steve Jobs and Johnny Cash. Now there are no Jobs, no Cash and No Hope.

MICHAEL SPICKES michael@tourzazz.ai

Michael Spickes is the Founder and CEO of TourZazz.

SANTA CLAUS WORLDWIDE DOCUMENTS HISTORY OF FAMOUS GIFT-GIVER AND OTHERS LIKE HIM FROM AROUND THE GLOBE

THE FACTOR

CASTELLFOLLIT DE LA ROCA

shoutout to everyone who can still remember their childhood phone number but can’t remember the password they created yesterday. You are my people!

A PIcturesque vIllAge In Catalonia, Spain dating back to the Middle Ages, Castellfollit de la Roca sits atop a rock bordered by the confluence of the rivers Fluvià and Toronell. The crag is over 164 feet high and almost 3,380 feet long and, as of 2019, had a population of 961. The old part of the village dates from the Middle Ages and is made up of squares, narrow streets, and shady corners. The Josep Pla (a famous Spanish journalist who died in 1981) square is on the edge of the cliff and has stunning views. One noteworthy and beautiful location is Sant Salvador Church, which dates to the 13th century.

The houses, as you can see, are precariously close to a cliff. The cliff, however, is the result of the layering of two lava flows which solidified and created a very hard rock known as basalt. The first one is estimated to be 217,000 years old. It comes from Batet de la Serra (population 260). The second is estimated to be 192,000 years old - the result of the eruption of volcanoes. So, it seems they are quite sturdy. And, yes, there are properties for sale or lease right now – probably for less than you are now paying! Check it out here. n

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

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

HEALTH & WEALTH IN TEXAS

mineral water. People came from all over the country to drink the water, and to bathe in it. Glen Rose was about as popular as Mineral Wells in relation to its mineral baths.

shotgun would get clogged up. I'd have to clean it out. That's what Crazy Water does to your system." Many called Jim, "Get your brother off the radio. He's crude." So, Hal was taken off. Then the station was bombarded with calls asking: "Where are Hal and his shotgun. That was the best part of the program."

I've AlwAys APPrecIAted Ben Franklin and all of his memorable truisms. "Early to bed, early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise." That was one of my mother's favorites. So, if Ben will excuse the parody, I'll feature this thought: "Early to Texas, a land of great size, will make a man healthy, wealthy, and wise."

HEALTH IN TEXAS

When I was growing up, my friend across the street was always going with her aunt to Glen Rose to bathe. I thought that was so cool. Driving over 100 miles to take a bath! I asked my mother if we could go to Glen Rose to bathe, but her answer was always the same, "We don't have rheumatism like the aunt."

Ah! Mineral Wells and the grand, glorious Baker Hotel. The hotel stood vacant for years, but now it is being restored, It opened in 1929, just weeks after the stock market crashed, but it survived the Great Depression because of the toptier health spas. Celebrities came to bathe in the healing waters. Soaking in those luxurious tubs were Lawrence Welk, Glenn Miller, Clark Gable, Judy Garland, Lyndon Johnson, and the Three Stooges, just to name a few.

Oil was discovered at a place near the Gulf called Sour Lake, and the drilling started. But long before that, this spot became a health mecca. Frederick Olmstead, the same man who designed New York’s Central Park (and who is known as the father of American landscape architecture), toured Texas and discovered medicinal waters in the area. Sam Houston traveled there in 1863 to "enjoy a mud bath." The grand man of Texas was seeking relief from his many medical problems by bathing in those medicinal waters. Unfortunately, Sam died soon after his visit to Sour Lake.

WEALTH IN TEXAS

huge parties at his home on Garland Road in Dallas. Besides speaking about chili, he would show off his rare book collection. When he died, he willed the house, land, and books to SMU. The university built the DeGolyer library to house the books, and the City of Dallas bought the house and land and created the magnificent and unequalled Arboretum, a favorite visiting spot for Dallasites!

Texans are wise; at least we think we are! Rutersville College was the first institute of higher learning in Texas. It was named for the Methodist missionary and educator, Martin Ruter and was chartered by the Republic of Texas in 1840. Under Mexican rule, everyone had to be a Catholic, but when Sam defeated Santa Anna in 1836, this law was forgotten. The Methodists were the first protestants to establish a church and now this college.

During the first part of the 20th century,

Glen Rose became known for the healing mineral water

Many mineral springs were in the area, and in 1900 the US Geological Survey announced that the mineral water was ‘valuable for medicinal purposes.’ This announcement attracted many doctors and self-styled healers to the area, and the construction of several sanitariums. Some of the little cottages that were built for those who chose to live at Glen Rose for constant treatment are still preserved.

All of this brought recognition to the little town as a health and recreation center. There was ‘power’ in the

Then, when one drank the water (which was called Crazy Water, because a woman drank some and wasn't as nutty as she had been), one was healed of all sorts of ailments. Hal Collins, brother of Jim Collins, Congressman from Texas, crystalized the water. You could buy the crystals, put them in tap water, and enjoy the magical potion at home!

We all know the Bushes, H. L. Hunt, the Bass Brothers, and Sid Richardson, but I've always appreciated the story of Everette Lee DeGolyer, who was born in a sod hut in Kansas, 1886, grew up in Oklahoma, and by the time he moved to Texas in 1936, he was one of the world's most renowned geologists as well as a very wealthy man.

The new Congress of the Republic of Texas approved of the school but didn't want it to be affiliated with the Methodists. So, the charter was revised, and the school finally opened on February 1, 1840, with three teachers and sixty-three students. By 1844, there were 194 students, and, by the way, it was coeducational. (Girl Texans were always smart!)

Hal was on the radio in the 1930's. "Friends and neighbors, when I was a kid, I had a shotgun. That

He helped form Texas Instruments and started the world's leading petroleum consulting firm. But did you know he was a chili scholar? Yes! He would often recite the whole story of the favorite food of Texans. He had

The college struggled in 1846, because the male students were called to fight in the Mexican War. When Texas joined the union in 1845, Mexico declared war on the US, and all males were required to serve. Then, too, there was big competition from the newly founded Baylor University (also in 1845).

“I looked up my family tree and found three dogs using it.”(Rodney Dangerfield)

Hal Collins

Everette DeGolyer

Ruterville College ceased to be, and the campus was leased to the Monumental and Military Institute of Galveston in 1856. In 1872 the charter was revised, and Southwestern University was established in Georgetown, Texas. This school claims to be the oldest university in Texas, and the leaders have that right. The only thing left of the original school is the bell, and that bell is proudly displayed on the Southwestern University campus. n

THE ATLANTA PUBLIC LIBRARY PERVERSION CASE

THE LAVENDER SCARE

In sePtember 1953, members of the Atlanta Police Department's vice squad set up a stakeout at the Atlanta Public Library in downtown Atlanta at the request of library officials. The library's restrooms were considered "tea rooms" in Atlanta's gay community, places where gay men met to have sexual intercourse. On September 4, the police arrested two men for sodomy after witnessing them perform fellatio. In total, 20 men were arrested over the course of 8 days for similar charges. The local newspapers, including The Atlanta Journal and The Atlanta Constitution, both widely covered the incident, and the addresses, names, and places of employment of the 20 men were published. Nineteen of the men lost their jobs following the incident. The name of the incident was coined by The Atlanta Constitution

Charges against the 20 men were brought before a Fulton County grand jury and all pled guilty. The presiding judge accepted the guilty pleas, imposed fines of up to $200, and sentenced them to between 2 and 3 years in prison (though all sentences were eventually suspended or probated). All of the men were barred from ever visiting the Atlanta Public Library again, several were required to leave Atlanta. Many had to report to church officials.

This incident occurred during a larger movement within the Federal government targeting homosexual people in government - the lavender scare.

The Lavender Scare was the federal government's official response to both a visible lesbian and gay community and a perceived homosexual menace. It normalized the persecution of homosexuals through bureaucratic institutionalization of homophobic discrimination policy. In essence, it was a moral panic during the mid-20th century about homosexual people in the United States government and their mass dismissal from government service. It contributed to and paralleled the anti-communist campaign known as McCarthyism and the Second Red Scare. Gay men and lesbians were said to be national security risks and communist sympathizers, which led to the call to remove them from state employment. It was argued that gay people were more susceptible to being manipulated, and therefore posed a threat to the country.

The term for this persecution was popularized by David K. Johnson's 2004 book which studied this antihomosexual campaign, The Lavender Scare. The book drew its title from the term "lavender lads", used repeatedly by Senator Everett Dirksen as a synonym for homosexual males. In 1952, Dirksen said that a Republican victory in the November elections would mean the removal of "the lavender lads" from the State

é The second Red Scare occurred after World War II, and is known as "McCarthyism" after its best known advocate, Senator Joseph McCarthy. McCarthyism coincided with an increased and widespread fear of communist espionage that was a consequence of the increasing tension in the Cold War due to Soviet occupation of Eastern Europe, the Berlin Blockade, the end of the Chinese Civil War, the confessions of spying for the Soviet Union that were made by several high-ranking U.S. government officials, and the outbreak of the Korean War.

Department. (He served as the Senate Minority Leader form 1959-1969.)

McCarthy often used accusations of homosexuality as a smear tactic in his anti-communist crusade, often combining the Second Red Scare with the Lavender Scare. On one occasion, he went so far as to announce to reporters, "If you want to be against McCarthy, boys, you've got to be either a Communist or a cocksucker." In linking communism and homosexuality and psychological imbalance, McCarthy was implying guilt-by-association. McCarthy spoke on the Senate floor about two individual people, "Case 14" and "Case 62", as Communists who were "unsafe risks", and he directly linked that to their homosexuality. He

said a top intelligence official had told him that "every active Communist is twisted mentally or physically", and he implied that these people were vulnerable to recruitment by Communists because of their "peculiar mental twists" of homosexuality.

Due to the image of the State Department now being tainted with homosexuality, many male employees became self-conscious about the possibility of being perceived as homosexual. They often refused to be seen in pairs and would make statements confirming their heterosexuality when introducing themselves. For example, one unnamed employee often said at parties, "Hi, I'm so-and-so, I work for the State Department. I'm married and I have three children."

EXECUTIVE ORDER 10450

In 1953, President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed Executive Order 10450, which set security standards for federal employment and barred homosexuals from working in the federal government. The restrictions set in place were cause for hundreds of gay people to be forcibly outed and fired from the State Department. With a stroke of a pen, President Eisenhower expanded the federal government's anti-homosexual policies and procedures to include every department and agency and every private corporation with a government contract – affecting the job security of more than six million workers and armed forces personnel. The executive order was also the cause for the firing of approximately 5,000 gay people from federal employment; this included private contractors and military personnel. Not only did the victims lose their jobs, but they were also forced out of the closet and thrust into the public eye as lesbian or gay. n

easiest time to add insult to injury is when you’re signing someone’s cast.

é Everett Dirksen.

TARA MULROONEY tmulrooney@zdlaw.com

NEW YORK CITY IS QUICKLY BECOMING A CENTER FOR LIFE SCIENCES

As the lIfe scIence industry shatters records for funding, space demand and employment throughout the country, there is increasing interest in the development of this sector in the New York City real estate market. Although life sciences research and development has been a critical component of the United States’ economy for some time, historically, cities such as San Diego, Boston, and San Francisco have long dominated as life sciences centers. In the past several years, however, New York City, the country’s financial capital, has seen a significant acceleration of growth in this sector, which has only been heightened by the impacts of Covid-19. In the current post-Covid environment, the life sciences industry has become a bright spot in the uncertain commercial real estate market, one that the City’s leaders are counting on to help fuel its growth.

Even prior to the pandemic, the life science sector was on the rise in New York following initial government funding initiatives for this industry. Following Covid, the push for research, therapeutics and vaccines underscored the need for clusters that can support a more accelerated growth model. New York’s real estate owner/developers, investors and

state and local government are working together to claim a share of this growing sector. To attract start-up and early-stage life sciences companies, New York City now provides public funding and tax incentives. On the strength of these funding initiatives and incentives, leasing activity in the sector reached an annual high in NYC before the first half of the year. In June, Mayor de Blasio and the New York City Economic Development Corporation announced a further investment of $1 billion in the sector, through a public funding program called LifeSci NYC, which should serve to further advance the growth trend.

New York City has several inherent advantages in its quest to build a robust life sciences sector–talent, infrastructure, and space. With some of the country’s major research and healthcare institutions as well as tech companies, New York has an abundance of and is attractive to top talent. Key to attracting top talent is New York’s well-developed infrastructure – public transportation, apartments, childcare, as well as lifestyle amenities like gyms, restaurants, theater and other cultural attractions.

Infrastructure also plays a key role in the development of life sciences clusters, veritable ecosystems of work, live, play, micro-neighborhoods. These neighborhood-type developments include the Alexandria Center for Life Science on Manhattan’s East Side and the New York Stem Cell Foundation and the Hudson Research Foundation on the West Side. Across the Hudson River, Jersey City is also home to a new, multiuse life science community, called “The Cove,” which is being designed to share resources with the clusters in Manhattan.

Presently, New York City also has a relative abundance of space, as the city has record

I always take life with a grain of salt. And a slice of lemon. And a shot of tequila.

Tara Mulrooney is a partner at the law firm Zetlin & De Chiara LLP in New York City.

commercial vacancy rates and many companies are looking to downsize their office footprints while moving to hybrid work models. There is approximately 14 million square feet of office space currently under construction the city. Businesses that need significant office space now have more options, as many other workers remain working from home or in a hybrid setting.

However, housing a life sciences company is not equivalent to regular commercial tenants. Due to the unique needs of life sciences facilities, life science companies need property with good “bones.” More than the workspace, it is what is built into the walls, ceilings and floors that make the property viable. Large and flexible spaces are key for life science companies, as their facilities and lab space take up a lot of room – an average of approximately three times the amount of space as equally sized, non-life sciences tenants. Further, life science facilities have significant and unique structural and mechanical requirements. For instance, labs require spaces capable of supporting large and heavy equipment as well as advanced air filtration and ventilation systems.

Examples of key space requirements include:

a. High ceilings to accommodate equipment.

b. Specialized HVAC to maintain sterile and well-ventilated environments.

c. Structural strength to withstand vibration and heavy equipment.

d. Elevators that are large enough to accommodate equipment.

e. Alternate sources of power to avoid outages associated with public electricity.

What these requirements mean to landlords is that life sciences companies will not be able to just move into a typical office building that previously housed desk-bound financial services workers. Spaces for life sciences companies will need costly retrofits and/or new spaces that are more accommodating to their unique needs. As a result, leases for lab space tend to cost considerably more per square foot. Property owners, developers and landlords must be committed to this sector to make the required infrastructure upgrades and changes worth their investment.

Lease and space flexibility are key for life sciences since they grow quickly. One good trial result could lead to an immediate need to double in size which may not work within the confines of traditional five-to-ten-year leases. The expense of moving is daunting, so facilities need to be designed and the lease structured to allow for expansion in as little three years

As New York’s critical commercial real estate sector continues to pivot under the weight of the pandemic, life sciences will play a key role in its growth and recovery. In order to succeed, the City needs to deliver on its incentives and historic strengths– infrastructure, culture, housing stock and amenities, while encouraging and promoting the expansion of the life science sector. To do so, landlords and developers need to create environments that accommodate the unique needs of the life sciences companies. Growing the life sciences sector in New York is a matter of “If we build it, they will come.” n

“The artworks are inscribed in a series, and each series is linked to a certain period in my life. So, there are many factors that are involved. 'Medusa' (the cover work) can best be understood when considered together with the 'Orchid' on the opposite page, even if it has stood out amongst my works.”

ARTCH TECTURE

VICTOR ENRICH IMAGINING A DIFFERENT REALITY

urbAn fOrm, In All its versatility, represents the exploratory core of Barcelona-based photographer Víctor Enrich. Born in 1976, he attended college at the Barcelona School of Architecture, having already manifested a strong devotion to the geometry of cities during his childhood years. That passion has evolved into his actual artistic practice.

Organic deformations, heavy structures set to fly or long-distance displacements are just few of the wide range of actions that Enrich applies to his buildings with the aim to uncover what is hidden in ever structure, a set of actions whose execution wouldn’t be possible were it not for combining two of his passionately loved fields - Digital Photography and 3D Rendering.

With over a decade of professional experience in the 3D architectural visualization field, Victor brings a true sense of photorealism to his improbable (if not impossible) buildings, including a skyscraper split vertically in half, a house turned upside down and a motorway running vertically. He has an extensive 37-image gallery of architectural photographs manipulated to create these highly unlikely

structures on his website. It is very much worth checking out. Enrich said the photographs were not intended as commentary on architecture or urbanism but rather were "simply chosen to become a channel to express myself".

Enrich has achieved major recognition by winning several art prizes such as the T.I.N.A. (This is Not Art) prize (a global platform for the interaction and creation of new projects between galleries, curators and artists), as well as the Encontros da Imagem Festival of Photography in Braga, Portugal, the Latin American Fotografía and the Arte Laguna prize in Venice, Italy (for “Medusa” - the artwork on the cover). His work has appeared in The New York Times, Der Spiegel, The Guardian, El País, Time Magazine and other important publications.

He still dabbles in architectural art, but his real love is photography. Obviously on the surrealistic side, he takes photos of ordinary buildings, and then edits them to look extraordinary and fantastical. He uses his photos to make his viewers see another angle and imagine a different reality. n

See more of Enrich's work on his website: victorenrich.com

To purchase prints, contact Victor directly at: info@victorenrich.com

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.)

THE RES URCE PAGE

é On-demand housing platform Nestpick.com released a study showing the best cities worldwide to live and work remotely from. As first-hand observers of this growing relocation trend, the company decided to investigate further by using data to determine the cities that are not only the most attractive to foreign-employed workers, but also have the infrastructure and legislation in place to make it easy for them to live and work there. The resulting index offers insight into a broad range of factors encompassing costs, infrastructure, legislation, and livability to reveal the cities best prepared to attract this new breed of work-from-anywhere resident. Chicago is the highest-ranking US city in the index, scoring highly for accommodation affordability, healthcare, and culture and leisure activities. Los Angeles and New York rank second and third. Melbourne, Australia tops the global list. (See the May-June issue of for the architecture of Melbourne.) See the full results and methodology here:  nestpick.com/work-from-anywhere-index

DIVERSI NS HOW TO AVOID FALLING

é Why are housing prices so high? One reason is that the building material supply chain is hitting its worst point in 31 years, leading to shortages and spiking prices of houses. The  Thomasnet.com platform data shows that sourcing for building materials is up 115% year over year, and demand for lumber related categories is currently up an average of 81% year over year. See the whole report HERE

THE FACTOR

EVOLUTION TOWER

evOlutIOn tOwer Is A skyscraper located in Moscow, Russia. The 55-story office building has a height of 807 ft and a total area of 1,820,000 sq ft). Noted for its futuristic DNA-like shape, the building was designed by British architect Tony Kettle in collaboration with University of Edinburgh's Professor of Art Karen Forbes. The building reflects two ribbons wrapping around each other - symbolizing the inter-linking of individuals, generations, and families. Each of the floors of the tower is rotated 3 degrees relative to the previous one, so the building is "swirled" by 156 degrees. In this way, the central core and eight columns with nearly 50 feet spans between the axes remain strictly vertical all the way up. Construction began in 2011 and was completed in late 2014. As of today, it is the twelfth-tallest building in Russia, and the 20th-tallest building in Europe. n

ê The Moscow Skyline.

Q: What’s the difference between a bad golfer and a bad skydiver?

A: A bad golfer goes whack, damn; a bad skydiver goes damn, whack.

Melbourne

é With rental prices recently hitting their highest level in two years, the personal-finance website WalletHub released a report on 2021’s Best & Worst Places to Rent in America, as well as accompanying videos and expert commentary. They compared more than 180 U.S. cities based on 22 key indicators of rental attractiveness and quality of life, with a data set ranging from historical rental-price changes to the cost of living to job availability. Sioux Falls, South Dakota topped the list, but breaking into the top ten was El Paso

IN THE N WS

é Billings, MO (2020 population of 181,723) topped the Wall Street Journal’s Emerging Housing Markets Index thanks to its affordability as well as its appeal to remote workers. In the top 10 was Waco (2020 population 274,362), which came in at #7.

é Cushman & Wakefield and WeWork are in negotiations to form a partnership wherein one of the world’s real estate giants would make a $150 million dollar investment in a planned merger of WeWork and a public company late in 2021. Cushman, which declared $4.17 in revenue for the first 6 months of 2021 is banking on its ability to offer landlords and tenants assistance as they confront the rapidly changing office building industry as a result of many employees seeking more flexible work arrangements.

é The median price of a newly built home rose 6.1% in June from a year earlier according to the U.S. Department of Commerce. And, because they have sold more homes than they can build, builders are limiting their sales trying to catch up – and this is pushing prices even higher. Accord-ing to the Commerce department, there was an increase of 29% in home building in June, but sales fell 19%. In spite of the restricted sales, the Standard & Poor’s Select industry index, as of August 9th, is up 31% so far this year, while the S&P 500 showed an 18% gain over the same period.

SH UT-OUTS

é Realty Executives International, a franchisor with over 500 offices and 8000 real estate professionals in North America, announced that 636 of its Realtors® (including over 25 from Texas) participated in the 2021 Digital Marketing Executive (DMX) certification program. The four-week training course, offered annually to all agents, brokers, owners, and administrators, is in its fifth year. Participants in the complimentary course complete two hour-long sessions per week and supplemental coursework, totaling 12 hours of education. Graduates receive a certificate of completion as well as a playbook that includes all the content developed for the sessions. For more information about Realty Executives and agent training resources, visit www.realtyexecutives.com/joinus

é In Cleburne on July 28th, Eden Green Technology’s broke ground on a new vertical greenhouse. The kid-friendly event featured remarks from Eden Green and Cleburne officials, the official groundbreaking, and a tour of Eden Green’s existing R&D greenhouse facility right next door. Guests received totes of fresh hydroponic lettuce grown on-site, seedlings to grow at home, and coloring pages for kids. The new $12 million, 1.5-acre facility will be used as a commercial growing space, producing 500 tons of leafy greens per year. The company’s next-generation farming technology offers savings on space, energy, and water over not only traditional farming methods as well as over other greenhouse technologies. Once completed, the greenhouse is slated to be profitable immediately, sustain 30 year-round, full-time essential jobs, and demonstrate the economic, environmental, and resource-use potential of smart vertical greenhouses.

é Kudos to Ashton Woods, one of the nation’s largest private homebuilders, for winning the Best Design Center award at the 42nd annual McSam Awards ceremony, held in July in Dallas. Hosted by the Dallas Builders Association, the McSam Awards honor builders, developers, and associates who have made a significant and creative contribution to residential marketing.

é A salute to Matt Carthey, Partner and Managing Principal of Fort Worth at Holt Lunsford Commercial, who won CoStar’s Q2 2021 Power Broker Quarterly Deals award. He received the award for his work on the lease with RSI North America – resulting in one of the most impressive industrial deals in the Dallas-Fort Worth market.

é With 27% of people who moved last year citing being closer to family as the main reason, WalletHub compared more than 180 cities across 48 key metrics, including housing affordability to school-system quality to COVID19 cases. Congratulations to Plano which came in 4th behind only Overland Park, KS, Fremont, CA, and Irvine CA. See the whole report along with accompanying videos here: 2021's Best & Worst Places to Raise a Family.

ê Congratulations to Granite Properties on being named by Fortune Magazine as one of 2021’s Best Workplaces for Millennials. Granite owns more than 10 million square feet of high-quality office space in Dallas, Houston, Atlanta, Denver, Southern California, and Nashville. The Best Workplaces for Millennials award is based on analysis of survey responses from more than 5.3 million current employees. Coming in at #22 on the Small & Medium Workplaces list, 99% of Granite’s employees said it is a great place to work (40% higher than the average U.S. company).

My wife likes it when I blow air on her when she’s hot, but honestly… I’m not a fan.

El Paso Waco

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/ Kylie Kendrick joined JLL in the newly established role of Chief Operating Officer.

02/ Greg Bailey joined TD Industries in San Antonio as Business Development Manager for Construction.

03/ Anna Sanchez joined Texas Capital Bank as Senior Vice President and Group Manager in Austin.

04/ Brandon Reyes was promoted to Senior VP of Commercial Loans at Texas Gulf Bank in Houston.

05/ Chris Aaron joined Oaxaca Interests as Chief Financial Officer.

06/ Cliff Booth has taken on the role of Chairman at Westmount Realty Capital.

07/ Brant Brown has been named president of Westmount Realty Capital.

08/ Keith Roddy joined Hartman Income REIT as President of Capital Markets.

09/ Frank Pecorino joined AccessBank as VP of Commercial Lending in Dallas.

10/ Shaun Kirk joined Dunaway Civil Engineering in Austin as Senior Technical Engineer.

11/ Evan Wagner joined Partners Real Estate in Houston as Development Manager.

12/ Bionca Morris was promoted to Property Manager at Lincoln Property Company in Houston.

13/ Will Pender joined Adolfson & Peterson as president of the Gulf States region.

14/ W. Todd Jensen joined Caddis Healthcare Real Estate of Dallas as Executive VP.

15/ Jim Traynor joined Foundry Commercial as Managing Director, Development & Investments in Dallas.

16/ Andrew Elliot joined Granite Properties in Houston as a Leasing Associate.

17/ Josh Carson was promoted to VP/Project Executive at Moss Construction in Dallas.

18/ Taylor Jordan was named Managing Partner at Metropolitan Contracting in San Antonio.

19/ Amy Collins was named Principal and Director of Design in the Austin office of PDR.

20/ Shawna Hills was promoted to

Business Development Director of PDR in Austin.

21/ Emily Mehigan joined PDR in Austin as an Associate and Lead Designer.

22/ Dale Ray joined Foundry Commercial’s Office Agency Leasing team in Dallas.

23/ Matt Hurlbut joined Foundry Commercial’s Office Agency Leasing team in Dallas.

24/ Frances Bruns was appointed an Account Executive at IA Interior Architects.

25/ Ron Rodriguez joined Southwestern Asset Management as Executive VP of Capital Markets.

26/ Sania Shifferd joined IBI Group in Austin as Associate Director/ Office Lead.

27/ Terry Whitman was named Operations Director at ECM International.

28/ Stephen Frazee was named D/ FW City Partner at Morgan.

29/ Lance Clifton joined Ridgeline Property Group as VP of Development in Dallas.

30/ Ben Hentschel joined Raymond Construction as Director of Preconstruction in Dallas.

31/ Trent Slovak, PE, BCEE was promoted to Director of Engineering at K. Friese + Associates in Houston.

32/ Justin Shuart joined Marcus &

Millichap Capital as Senior Director in Dallas.

33/ Mallory Gardner joined ARCO Design/Build in Houston as a Project Manager.

34/ Farhan Kabani joined Four Pillars Capital Markets as a Partner in Dallas.

35/ Taylor Jordan was promoted to Managing Partner at Metropolitan Contracting in San Antonio.

36/ Patricia Hunt was promoted to Associate at McKinney York Architects in Austin.

37/ Michael Furrow joined BWE Investment Sales in Austin.

38/ Matt Hurlbut joined Foundry Commercial in Dallas as Senior Vice President.

39/ Kervin Campbell was promoted to North Texas Regional Executive at Dunaway.

40/ Rena Padachy joined the HALL Group in Frisco as Vice President of Leasing.

41/ Steve Bassett joined Foundry Commercial as Texas Market Leader.

42/ Corbin Blount was promoted to Principal at Lee & Associates in Dallas

43/ Stephen Williamson was promoted to Principal at Lee & Associates in Dallas.

Ed. We thought of calling this new feature ‘I’ll Never Forget Old What’s His Name’ or ‘Where Are They Now?’ but this seemed to say it best. In words and pictures, we’ll look back at people (performers, athletes, politicians) you’ll remember (by name or appearance) but whom you haven’t heard about in a long time. If there’s someone you’re curious about seeing on this page in the future, just let us know.

Carly Elisabeth Simon is a singer-songwriter, musician, and children's author. Born in 1945 in the Bronx, NY. Her father was the co-founder of publishing house Simon & Shuster. She attended Riverdale Country School and Sarah Lawrence College. She rose to fame in the 1970s with a string of hit records (including Anticipation, Haven't Got Time for the Pain. Coming Around Again, You're So Vain, Mockingbird (with James Taylor She has authored five children's books, as well as two memoirs. With her 1988 hit Let the River Run, from the film Working Girl, she became the first artist to win a Grammy Award, an Academy Award, and a Golden Globe Award for a song composed and written, as well as performed, entirely by a single artist. Simon has amassed 24 Billboard Hot 100 charting singles, was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1994. She was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame for "You're So Vain" in 2004 and awarded the ASCAP Founders Award in 2012.

Simon married fellow singer-songwriter James Taylor in 1972; they had two children together, both of whom are musicians and political activists. Simon and Taylor divorced in 1983 and no longer speak to each other. She was married to James Hart, a writer, poet and businessman from 1987-2007. She underwent a mastectomy, chemotherapy and reconstructive surgery for breast cancer during 1997 and 1998, and has been suffering from osteopenia since at least the age of 61. Today, she lives on 175 acres of woods on Martha’s Vineyard. There she enjoys her quiet time with her long-time boyfriend, Richard Koehler and her children.

Bill Bradley (born in 1943) began to play basketball at age nine and became one of the best players in Missouri high school basketball history. At Princeton University (N.J.), Bradley, a forward, was a playmaker and high scorer, averaging 30.1 points a game during three seasons. He led the team to three straight Ivy League titles, earning All-American recognition each time. He was the first basketball player to win the Amateur Athletic Union’s Sullivan Award for the amateur athlete of the year (1965). He played on the U.S. team that won the gold medal at the 1964 Olympic Games in Tokyo. After graduation he deferred a contract offer from the New York Knicks of the NBA in order to study at Oxford University as a Rhodes scholar. He joined the Knicks during the 1967–68 season and played with them until his retirement in 1977. During his career, the Knicks won two NBA championships (1970, 1973). He was elected to the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1983. Bradley wrote two books about his NBA experiences: Life on the Run (1977) covers professional basketball players during two weeks of the 1973–74 season, and Values of the Game (1998) contains essays in which Bradley reflects on the qualities necessary to succeed at both basketball and life.

After his retirement from professional basketball, Bradley immediately turned to politics. Without having held a lesser office, he was elected to the U.S. Senate from (his adopted home state of) New Jersey in 1978 and served three six-year terms. A liberal Democrat, he announced his candidacy for the U.S. presidency in January 1999 but lost the Democratic nomination to Al Gore. He is the author of seven books on American politics, culture, and economy, most recently We Can All Do Better - all New York Times bestsellers. In 2008 Bradley was inducted into the New Jersey Hall of Fame. Currently, he hosts American Voices, a weekly show on Sirius XM Satellite Radio that highlights the remarkable accomplishments of Americans both famous and unknown. He is also a partner in Allen & Company LLC, a New York private investment firm, a corporate director of Starbuck, sand Co-Chair of the Advisory Board of Issue One, a non-profit whose goal is to reduce the influence of money in American politics.

Bradley was married to Ernestine (nee Schlant) from 1974 to 2007. Today, he lives with former LBJ Library director and an Emerita Professor of English at the University of Texas at Austin, Betty Sue Flowers in The Hill Country of Texas.

Alexander Porter Butterfield (born in 1926) is an American retired military officer, public servant, and businessman. He served as the deputy assistant to President Richard Nixon from 1969 to 1973 and is best known as the man who revealed the White House taping system's existence in July of 1973, during the Watergate investigation. (He had no other involvement in the scandal.) It was he who oversaw the installation of the taping system which Nixon ordered for the White House. Next to H.R. Haldeman, Butterfield was the most powerful aide in the White House. He met with Nixon and Haldeman every day at 2 P.M. to plan the following day's activities. He controlled what paperwork Nixon saw, and logged memos. Butterfield also oversaw all FBI investigations requested by the White House, which included routine background checks of potential employees as well as politically motivated investigations. Other than Haldeman, no one had a more intimate knowledge of Nixon's working style, the daily operations of the White House, what Nixon may have read, or who Nixon may have met.

From 1973 to 1975, he served as administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration. After leaving FAA, Butterfield became a business executive working as president and COO of International Air Service Company, and chairman of GMA Corporation and Global Network, Inc. He started his own business and productivity consulting firm, Armistead & Alexander, from which he retired in 1995 and later served as a consultant in the making of three movies: Nixon; Memphis Rising: Elvis Returns, and Watergate. He was a major source for Bob Woodward's 2015 book The Last of the President's Men.

As of November 2015, he was working on a Ph.D. in history, with a focus on the presidential power to pardon. He remains active on the board of directors of several corporations and lives in La Jolla, California with his longtime companion, Audrey Geisel, the widow of Theodore Geisel (a/k/a Dr. Seuss.)

I want to die peacefully in my sleep, like my grandfather… Not screaming and yelling like the passengers in his car.

monographs

mono·​graph | \ ˈmä-nə-ˌgraf

A monograph is “a learned treatise on a small area of learning; also: a written account of a single thing.

Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM) has designed some of the most impactful buildings and urban designs of our time. This is the sixth and latest volume in a series covering every era of SOM’s history, from the studio's iconic Modernist works of the 1950s to the projects of today. This volume documents (in words and pictures) projects ranging from a prototype for a biophilic breathing wall to the new headquarters for NATO in Brussels - work which demonstrates how SOM has come to hold its position as a steward of international architecture. This new volume details SOM’s approach to designing impactful, complex projects in a globalized world — an approach which marries a deep bench of global expertise with a commitment to honoring culture and people in the communities where SOM works.

types and locations, highlighting its unique ability to design and execute complex, technical, and efficient structures - Burj Khalifa -the tallest building in the world; Manhattan Loft Gardens -a new vertical community in London,; the twisting Ningbo Bank of China headquarters; the ‘floating cube’ new Federal Courthouse in Los Angeles; the master plan for the Cornell Tech Campus on Roosevelt Island; the reimagined Strand Theatre in San Francisco; Chicago’s Optimo Hat Company Headquarters; Denver Union Station; and of course, One World Trade Center.

skIdmOre OwIngs And merrIll is featured on pages 30-31 of this issue, and if that made you want to learn more about their work, then SOM: Works by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, 2009-2019 is for you. It presents 40+ of the studio's recent works.

Explore how SOM is working to address the challenges of climate change, pioneering new approaches to adaptive reuse, cultivating emerging technologies including machine learning, and inventing new tools to optimize building performance, and beyond.

Organized chronologically, the monograph encompasses the studio’s most significant projects of the past decade, across all building

architecture that addresses the most urgent environmental and social challenges of our time and is also visually spectacular.

Through in-depth essays, architecture writer and critic Sam Lubell dives into SOM’s radically rigorous approach to design in today’s complex world, exploring the unique ideas cultivated within the studio and how those ideas are transforming spaces across the globe. Featuring 500 images, the book includes thorough profiles and never-beforepublished photographs, plans, and drawings of the studio’s most recent works.

The monograph is available for $60 here through Monacelli, but one lucky reader will win a copy as a prize in this issue’s contest (see the inside back cover)

STUDIO GANG

Studio Gang is an international architecture and urban design practice founded and led by Jeanne Gang. A recipient of the National Design Award in Architecture and numerous other honors, the Studio creates projects that foster interaction and connection. For the last twenty years, they have created bold, visionary

Bringing together 25 of the practice’s signature projects, Studio Gang: Architecture (June 3, 2020; $79.95 US/$99.95 CAN; Hardback) captures the creative sensibility and trajectory of an architecture driven by pressing questions. With offices in Chicago, New York, San Francisco, and Paris, Studio Gang has created a multi-award-winning body of work that spans scales and typologies worldwide. This monograph illustrates a range of exceptional and impactful projects, from reimagining beloved cultural institutions to expanding the canon of iconic skyscrapers, exhibiting their radical insistence on ideas over a trademark aesthetic style.

This book provides Studio Gang a platform to inspire others—to let them know it is possible to accomplish bold, beautiful things with deep ambitions. Organized into six thematic chapters—Rhythm, Flow, Toward Terrestrial, Up in the Canopy, What Are You Made Of?, and Beyond Transparent—Studio Gang: Architec-

ture richly illustrates its 25 projects with 300 sketches, drawings, photographs, and renderings. Short essays by Gang open each of the chapters, delving into the resonant concepts that connect the works.

Studio Gang: Architecture reveals new insights into the practice’s most celebrated work, including the 82-story Aqua Tower in Chicago, which put Studio Gang in the global spotlight for its high-rise innovation and distinctive, undulating appearance; the Writers Theatre, a flexible performance venue in Glencoe, Illinois, whose innovative timber structure seems to float among the surrounding trees; and the Arcus Center for Social Justice Leadership in Kalamazoo, Michigan, shaped like a curving crossroads, which was the world’s first purpose-built structure dedicated to developing and sustaining leaders in the fields of human rights and social justice.

The monograph is e through Phaidon, but one lucky reader will win a copy as a prize in this issue’s contest (see the inside back cover). n

Two Wi-Fi engineers got married. The reception was fantastic.

é Courtesy SOM (c) James Ewing Photography

The kid replied, "Not enough. They want me to come back tomorrow."

A L PH A BET S O UP

The English language has more than one million words including a lot of silly and funny ones. Even if you don’t know all of the answers, by a process of elimination, you can probably figure them out and match’em up.

(The answers are on the BackPage.)

1/ flibbertigibbet

A child came home from his first day at school. His mother asked, 'What did you learn today?"

14/ collywobbles

17/ lollygagging

19/ kerfuffle

A/ a gathering of folk singers

B/ a very gullible person

C/ moving at great speed or very quickly

D/ gossiper

E/ a state of confusion or bewilderment

F/ drunk or heavily under the influence

G/ people who are rich and glamorous

H/ wordy and unintelligible jargon

I/ counterclockwise

J/ run away or scram

K/ the jitters or creeping you out

L/ a killjoy or a Debbie Downer

M/ old-fashioned, unimaginative, or conservative

N/ experiencing a bellyache

O/ a person who is very critical or fault-finding

P/ a stupid or silly person

Q/ an umbrella

R/ a shrewd, unprincipled person

S/ weak or indecisive

T/ underhanded or unscrupulous behavior

U/ goofing off and being lazy

V/ a disturbance or commotion

W/ in a confused, disordered or random manner

X/ lacking enthusiasm and determination; carelessly lazy

Y/ bombastic, pompous, pretentious

Z/ hubbub or uproar

DIVERSI NS HE SAID | SHE SAID – PART IV

Wife: How would you describe me?

Husband: A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K.

Wife: What does that mean?

Husband: Adorable. Beautiful. Cute. Delightful.

Elegant. Fashionable. Gorgeous. And Hot.

Wife: Aww, thank you... but what about I, J and K?

Husband: I’m. Just. Kidding.

DIVERSI NS ACTUAL CLASSIFIED ADS

2 FEMALE BOSTON TERRIER PUPPIES, 7 WEEKS OLD, PERFECT MARKINGS, 555-1234. LEAVE MESS.

lOst: smAll APrIcOt POOdle. rewArd. neutered. lIke One Of the fAmIly.

A SUPERB AND INEXPENSIVE RESTAURANT. FINE FOOD EXPERTLY SERVED BY WAITRESSES IN APPETIZING FORMS.

DINNER SPECIAL -- TURKEY $2.35; CHICKEN OR BEEF $2.25; CHILDREN $2.00.

For sale: an antique desk suitable for lady with thick legs and large drawers.

Four-poster bed, 101 years old. Perfect for antique lover.

Tired of cleaning yourself? Let me do it.

Now is your chance to have your ears pierced and get an extra pair to take home, too.

We do not tear your clothing with machinery. We do it carefully by hand.

FOR SALE -- EIGHT PUPPIES FROM A GERMAN SHEPHERD AND AN ALASKAN HUSSY. GREAT DAMES FOR SALE.

HAVE SEVERAL VERY OLD DRESSES FROM GRANDMOTHER IN BEAUTIFUL CONDITION.

dOg fOr sAle: eAts AnythIng And Is fOnd Of chIldren.

Mt. Kilimanjaro, the breathtaking backdrop for the Serena Lodge. Swim in the lovely pool while you drink it all in.

The hotel has bowling alleys, tennis courts, comfortable beds, and other athletic facilities.

GET RID OF AUNTS: ZAP DOES THE JOB IN 24 HOURS.

tOAster: A gIft thAt every member Of the fAmIly APPrecIAtes. AutOmAtIcAlly burns tOAst.

Sheer stockings. Designed for fancy dress, but so serviceable that lots of women wear nothing else.

ANSWERS FROM THE JULY/AUGUST CONTEST –SHOW ME THE MONEY

THE BACK PAGE

CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL OF OUR CONTEST WINNERS!

Dawn Vernon of San Antonio, TX won a copy of Rethinking Real Estate by Dror Poleg.

Reilly Fite of Dallas, TX won a copy of About Natalie by Christine Naman. Tarim Riggler of St. Louis, MO won a copy of Creative Conflict by Bill Sanders and Frank Mobus.

Mary Anne Case of Cazenovia, NY won a copy of I’ve Seen Dead People by Donna Francart.

Troy Russell of Miami, FL won a Kinivo ZX100 Mini Speaker.

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

Sam Houston had eight children. Whatever happened to them? In Herstory, Contributing Editor Rose-Mary Rumbley lets you know.

Contributing Editor Angela O’Byrne’s Amazing Buildings will look at the Shanghai Astronomy Museum, the largest astronomy museum in the world. Like the universe, it has no straight lines in its design.

Contributing Editor Tony Barbieri’s Legal View will examine legal issues involving tortious interference with contracts. And Contributing Editor Roxana Tofan will talk with Amy House, business consultant and executive coach and owner and founder of Growin' Out Loud Darlin’ LLC. in her Profiles of Survival

We’ll continue our look at the architectural treasures of American and World cities, this time

via Sister Cities – Los Angeles, California and Athens, Greece. On the cover (and in Artchitecture) we’ll feature the detailed and smile-inducing art of Eric Dowdle, much of whose work (to the delight of both children and adults everywhere) has been converted into jigsaw puzzles. And, as prizes in our bi-monthly contest, we will offer several of those puzzles

We’ll have pictures of the 2021 BOMA International’s TOBY Awards, IREM’s REME award winners. And, in words and pictures, we’ll profile a major architectural firm, and we will profile the Real Estate Standards Organization (RESO). We’ll examine the impact of the (Florida) Surfside building collapse on condominiums around the country.

In You Need (or might want) to Know, we’ll explain where insects go in the rain, what’s the

difference (or is there a difference) between a controller and a comptroller, what is a knot and why are nautical wind speeds measured in them – and a whole bunch of other (always) interesting stuff.

We’ll have specially contributed articles from various segments of the real estate industry and, of course, we will have our affiliates’ awards and special events, the Wow Factor, Diversions, True Dat, The History Page, Professionals on the Move, The Resource Page, Shout- Outs, Real Estate of the Future, and much MUCH more.

We get a lot into 64 pages!

ANSWERS FROM PAGE 58: ALPHABET

C NTEST: WHO AM THAT?

There are some faces everybody knows – even if they’re from hundreds of years ago. You have a mental image of George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Adolf Hitler, and Donald Trump for example. Of course, we know people in the news or entertainers, too, having seen their faces hundreds of times. We can even imagine them then (when we first ‘learned’ about them) and now.

The individuals pictured here are a bit more arcane. You certainly know the names, but can you match them to their pictures?

Scan or copy this page and send your entry to editor@crestnetwork.com or fax it to 817.924.7116 on or before September 24th for a chance to win a valuable prize.

__

__

__

James Madison

Ludwig van Beethoven

Marco Polo

Harriet Beecher Stowe

Queen Victoria

Charles Dickens

Annie Oakley

Betsy Ross

Nelson Mandela

Daniel Webster

Ferdinand Magellan

Susan B. Anthony

Sojourner Truth

Mahatma Gandhi

Julius Caesar

Christopher Columbus

Harry Houdini

Marx

Galilei

Carnegie

Arnold

Earhart

Tubman

of Arc

...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.

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?

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.

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.

Leases are highly specialized documents. A few words can make a world of difference. Anyone with experience.