BOMA/New York takes home two MAC regional TOBY Awards

Hershey, PA The Building Owners & Managers Association of Greater New York (BOMA/NY)  was awarded with two of the eleven honors at this years’ Building Owners & Managers Association (BOMA) Middle Atlantic Conference (MAC) The Outstanding Building of the Year (TOBY) Awards held on April 7th.

The BOMA/NY Awardees

BOMA/NY was given awards for two of its members’ properties – the Operating Office Building (over One million s/f category for the Starrett-Lehigh Building at 601 West 26th St. owned by RXR SL and managed by Mitchell Grant and 900 Third Ave. owned by Paramount Group and managed by Brendan Shanley in the Operating Office Building (500,000 – one million s/f) category. 

The Starrett-Lehigh Building

The Starrett-Lehigh Building is 2.3 million s/f and one of New York City’s largest landmark properties with a history of attracting world-class creative companies and elite brands. Officially declared a New York City landmark in 1986, it was earlier included in the International Exhibition of Modern Architecture in 1932 by the Museum of Modern Art. In 2011, the Starrett-Lehigh Building and its tenants began a multi-year, $50 million repositioning program including a state-of-the-art BMS that monitors the cooling towers, condenser water pumps, HVAC air handlers, boilers and equipment, LED fixtures in all common areas and back of house mechanical rooms, a modern system which averages indoor/outdoor temperature in order to maximize heating ability, and a rooftop garden and apiary – supported by tenants who receive monthly vegetable produce. 

900 Third Ave.

The 36-story Paramount Group property sits at 595,105 s/f. The property received Gold LEED certification this year, and previously received the BOMA/NY “Grand Pinnacle,” the top prize in a competition for its industry-leading environmental and operational standards in 2016. The commercial building was originally built in 1982 and now leases to 34 different entities. 

The TOBY Awards were established by BOMA International in 1985 to honor and recognize the quality in office building operations, tenant retention, emergency planning and community impact, and award excellence in office building management.

The competition consists of three levels. The competition begins at the local association level, winning entries advance from there to the region level, and finally, regional winners advance to the international level.  After winning at this level, BOMA/NY is now situated to enter and compete for the BOMA International Awards which will be held at the BOMA International Conference on June 27th in Nashville, TN.