When it comes to security in commercial buildings, there is no rest for the wary.
“It’s something we as property managers talk about all the time,” acknowledged Dennis J. Callahan, who oversees Meredith & Grew’s property management services team. While not as frenetic as in the days immediately following the 2001 terrorist attacks on the United States, security measures are an ongoing concern in facilities management, said Callahan.
Behind the scenes, individual managers and industry trade groups alike are striving to assess and improve security systems and the response programs that would be needed in the wake of a widespread disaster.
The Building Owners and Managers Association has been at the forefront of preparing and informing its membership on terrorist-related trends and incidents. The local chapter has held a series of educational programs and face-to-face meetings between real estate professionals and emergency response leaders, from local police and fire personnel to national security experts and safety service providers. Among other key decision-makers, property managers have convened recently with members of both Homeland Security and the Democratic National Convention to discuss terrorist threats and major programs such as the DNC event, which is slated to grip the Hub the last week in July.
Convention Chaos
“Our role is to convey accurate information to people,” said BOMA Boston President Richard Horgan, whose membership will be as impacted as much as any by the DNC, the first national political convention since Sept. 11. BOMA has met regularly with appropriate city, state and federal agencies to ensure commercial properties are secure and accessible during the convention, said Horgan, and to keep property owners and managers abreast of the potential roadblocks ahead, both literal and figurative.
“There is a well-designed planning effort involving lots of people,” said Horgan, who stressed that BOMA is not dictating how any given building is operated, either during the DNC or on a day-to-day basis. Callahan said Boston properties managed by Meredith & Grew will not close next month, with the company opining that each tenant should be allowed to decide whether to work normal hours or make other arrangements to cope with the event.
“We’ll heighten our security, but we will be open for business,” explained Callahan, who added that properties from the Back Bay to the North Station district where the convention is being held will be subject to the higher safety precautions. Boston’s real estate community is taking the prospect of a terrorist incident during the event seriously, said Callahan, who agreed that the daily control of access to Boston buildings has not been as heavy-handed as it was immediately following the 2001 incidents.
Although some office properties in Boston have curtailed accessibility, others have returned to the free-flowing approach which dominated the city prior to Sept. 11. In the Financial District, the Fleet Bank headquarters at 100 Federal St. has installed an automated system which has virtually eliminated its lobby as a cut-through property, whereas the abutting 75-101 Federal St. tower complex is again open to the public.
The divergent features of commercial buildings makes it virtually impossible to develop one set strategy, said Callahan, with technology appropriate in one situation but perhaps not in another. Tenant mix is one variable, as is the cost of added security, which typically is passed along to the occupants. While managers are constantly evaluating their programs and seeking better solutions, Callahan said he feels Meredith & Grew has adequately addressed the issues throughout its management portfolio of nearly 8 million square feet of space. “I do believe we are at a comfortable security level in our properties,” he said.
Beyond the scope of an individual building, property managers are also preparing to assist in coping with a catastrophe that might extend to an entire district or city. One problem emanating from the World Trade Center attacks, for example, was the inability to say who should be allowed into the impacted zone; many property managers and key facilities personnel were blocked from getting to their properties at the time they were most needed. To prevent a repeat, BOMA is participating on an emergency task force developing an identification system that would allow such professionals access to restricted areas when necessary.
BOMA Boston leaders working to develop the Corporate Emergency Access System for the region include industry veterans Alan Snow and Rick Barnes. According to Snow, the system would not only be useful during a manmade disruption, but also a natural disaster such as the Blizzard of 1978.
The identification program is one of three goals the task force aims to accomplish in establishing an efficient public/private partnership dedicated to security response issues, said Snow, with the entity also supporting the creation of a communications network that can offer accurate and timely information on potential safety problems or threats as they become available.
Such information networks are currently being established at both the regional and national levels, said Snow, while the task force is also focusing on ways to coordinate multi-building evacuations. “The whole premise is being proactive and pre-planning, to be thinking ahead,” said Snow. The emergency planning task force, which has been in place since the end of 2002, has helped build ties between the business community and such agencies as the Boston Emergency Management Agency, the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency and the Federal Emergency Management Agency, said Snow, adding that he believes the chasm which existed prior to Sept. 11 is narrowing for the public and private sectors.
“I feel we’ve made great strides in the past few years,” he said. “It’s a process that needs to be continually refined, but the partnering and the cooperation is tremendous right now.”
According to Horgan, security remains a critical topic on a tenant’s checklist when leasing space, but gloomy theories that the World Trade Center attacks would curtail interest in high-rise properties have not borne out. Mid-year figures from CB Richard Ellis/Whittier Partners actually show a tighter vacancy rate for office space above the 20th story than that on lower floors in Boston office towers, while rental rates also remain pricier in the stratosphere. “I think the level of security has helped people come to grips with being in a high-rise,” said Horgan.
