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TOBY Awards |
The Office Building of the Year (TOBY) Awards Program is an international competition that recognizes properties that exemplify superior building quality and excellence in office building management. The award is the most prestigious and comprehensive award in the commercial real estate industry.
Participants are judged on the effectiveness of their overall management in various categories, including community impact, tenant relations, energy management, emergency preparedness and training for personnel. Detailed property inspections, floor plans, building standards and photographs complete the entry portfolio and allow the judges to thoroughly examine all facets of the property and management.
This year, BOMA Greater Minneapolis is exceedingly proud to have eight TOBY competitors who have advanced from the Local to the Regional and now the International competition!
And now we can announce that at the International competition we had...
FOUR TOBY WINNERS!
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Four Minneapolis Area Properties Win
“The Office Building of the Year” International Honors
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Besting competitors from around the world, four BOMA Greater Minneapolis member
properties brought home the gold from this year’s BOMA International Conference
in Philadelphia. Actually, the TOBY awards were crystal, but a bystander might
have assumed they were gold based on the reaction of the ecstatic BOMA Greater
Minneapolis delegation.
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BOMA Greater Minneapolis was well represented at the International TOBY Awards
Banquet. Left to right: Alan Wilczek and Kevin Fossum from Piedmont Office
Realty Trust, Tom Heimer from Carter, Dave Dabson from Piedmont Office Realty
Trust, Carl Awalt from Duke Realty Corporation, Kim Ihle from CB Richard Ellis,
BOMA staff member Sheila Miller, Katie Tufford from Carter, Don Krook and Jami
Silus from Carlson Real Estate Company, Julie Samuelson, Tami Shroyer and Kevin
Kurpierz from Cushman & Wakefield, and Bruce Koehler from Hines.
Buildings compete in fourteen different categories based on size and facility
type. And our winners are . . . |
The 601 Tower, (601 Carlson Parkway in Minnetonka), managed by CB Richard
Ellis and owned by TIAA-CREF, won the TOBY International Award in the “250,000 –
499,999 Square Feet Category.” 601 Tower, a 15-story Class A+ high-rise,
consisting of 288,000 rentable square feet, is considered a landmark that can be
seen for miles in the Minneapolis Metropolitan area. Being actively involved in
the local community is important to the management team and the tenants. To
date, they have donated more than 10,000 pounds of food to Second Harvest
Heartland Food Shelf.
ENERGY STAR® benchmarking and their Building Management System are utilized to
watch for trends and inefficiencies in building energy usage. These management
tools have allowed 601 Tower to reach an ENERGY STAR performance rating of 90.
601 Tower has also implemented a food recycling program. Both food waste from
preparation and food scraped off plates are picked up by a local pig farmer. As
a result, they have reduced their trash by about 10%. |
 
Carlson Center, (Intersection of I-394 and I-494 spanning
Minnetonka and Plymouth), managed by Carlson Real Estate Services and owned by
Carlson Real Estate Company, won the TOBY International Award in the “Suburban
Office Park (Low Rise) Category.” Carlson Center is a master-planned,
multi-tenant office park located in a beautifully landscaped setting of lakes
and wetlands in suburban Minneapolis. This park includes office, industrial,
residential, retail, recreational, dining, medical, lodging properties and a
park. There are five office buildings within Carlson Center, all built between
1988 and 2002, which range from two to five stories.
Twice a year the management team hosts “commuter fairs,” which promote
alternative commuting options. Carlson Center was awarded the Property
Management Commuter Choice Award from Metro Transit for their efforts. All five
buildings are ENERGY STAR® benchmarked with scores between 66 and 83. The
management team is also in the process of obtaining LEED–EB certification for
the properties. To further their sustainability efforts, the management team has
partnered with the café provider on a low-carbon diet initiative.
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Crosstown North Business Center, (Southeast quadrant of Highway 169 and
Highway 610 in Brooklyn Park), owned and managed by Duke Realty Corporation, won
the TOBY International Award in the “Industrial Office Park Category.” Crosstown
North Business Center is an 87-acre, eight building, master-planned, mixed-use
industrial office park consisting of 1,186,000 square feet of flex, warehouse
and office space. Duke Realty Corporation gives each of its associates two paid
community service days annually, resulting in 400 hours of volunteer service.
Both building staff members and tenants receive training on the HVAC system
during space turnover. Training includes the proper and efficient use of
programmable thermostats and managing expectations with Xcel energy unit saver
switches.
Duke’s safety program is corporately sponsored. All Duke employees participate
in monthly safety conference calls to discuss new programs and ideas. The safety
program is run by technicians, with a safety chairperson and two safety team
members in each market. |
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Fifth Street Towers, (100 and 150 South Fifth Street in Minneapolis),
managed by Carter and owned by Strategic Real Estate Advisors, won the TOBY
International Award in the “Over 1 Million Square Feet Category.” Fifth Street
Towers, a two-tower Class A office complex, is located in downtown Minneapolis.
The 100 Tower was built in 1984 and consists of 25 stories at 435,000 square
feet. The 150 Tower was built in 1988 and consists of 36 stories at 630,000
square feet.
Fifth Street Towers participates in the local utility’s voluntary load reduction
program. This cooperative energy curtailment program reduces energy consumption
and related costs, translating to $90,000 in annual operating expense savings.
Through various upgrades made over the past five years, both towers have ENERGY
STAR® certification and scored impressive ENERGY STAR ratings of 92 and 96 in
2008.
Fifth Street Towers also collaborates with The Caring Tree on its annual
back-to-school campaign by collecting supplies and funds ensuring that low
income students have adequate school supplies. |
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