Page 10 - CooperatorNews NY January 2021

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Proactive property management for CO-OPS | CONDOS | RENTALS INVESTMENT PROPERTIES | RECEIVERSHIPS Serving: Manhattan, Brooklyn, Bronx, Queens, Westchester | Licensed Real Estate Broker: New York ARCHITECTURE & ENGINEERING SERVICES: - Structural - MEP - Interior Design BUILDING ENVELOPE / RESTORATION / FACADE INSPECTION SAFETY PROGRAMS CONSTRUCTION DEFECT TESTING / INVESTIGATION ENERGY CONSULTING FORENSIC TESTING / LITIGATION SUPPORT NYC SPECIAL INSPECTIONS 5 YEAR CAPITAL PLANNING 350 7th Avenue, Suite 2000 New York, NY 10001 (646) 292 - 3515 info@falconengineering.com www.falconengineering.com ENGINEERS, ARCHITECTS AND ENERGY CONSULTANTS itself in this way. It seemed part science ordered these facilities closed. fiction, part war story—except the en- emy wasn’t an alien invasion (at least, not modeling,” adds Stoller. “Service provid- exactly) or a foreign occupying army. It ers and building staff were under a lot of was an invisible, incurable microbe that stress, both personally and professionally. often brought suffering, and could easily Many ride public transportation to get to bring death. The zombie apocalypse had their jobs, which is scary, and then when arrived. Pandemonium “I’m no longer managing an apartment be stated that most employees did an out- building,” says Daniel Wollman, CEO standing job despite the circumstances.” of Gumley Haft, a residential property management firm located in New York tial business,” says Marsha Nolan, direc- City. “Instead, I’m managing a pandemic. tor of associations for Advocate Property Once it hit, construction projects ceased. Management, also located in Chicago. We closed service entrances. We required “We’ve been able to continue our day-to- new elevator procedures: one family or day operations, though the entire compa- two individuals in the cab at a time. We ny did work from home from mid-March severely limited access for deliveries, through May. We had the proper technol- guests, domestic help, etc. It was a stark ogy in place to make that possible. I did contrast to day-to-day functions before hear from several vendors early on that the pandemic when so much was happen- ing all the time—deliveries, renovations, to pay our invoices on time. Although we etc. Building ops severely changed.” What Woll- man and his staff did in their offices and with their time when not on site at client proper- ties changed, too. “We needed PPE, constantly,” he says. “It was hard to get ini- tially. We had to convert our of- fice conference room into a storage area. We also had to send many of our office employees to work from home, which took time to get used to as well. In addi- tion, we needed to make sure that every- one on our various building staffs was as safe as possible. What if someone tested positive, resident or staff? We had to de- velop a procedure.” Jim Stoller, president and CEO of The Building Group located in Chicago, re- ports a similar experience. “This is un- precedented in its effects,” he says of the pandemic. “From staffing, to money, to psychology. You would learn something about the virus, and then two days later it’s updated and changed. These danger- ous unknowns required management to be on full alert all the time. A lot of what we do in management is managing peo- ple. Building systems are easy—but all of a sudden, we are dealing with emotional issues, health issues, with both residents and staff being affected. Many residents have felt that staff safety is not as impor- tant as their own. That was shocking for me. One person said they want someone wiping the building’s front door handle every time someone touches it. In some properties, residents wanted the spa and pool open, with staff to clean it constant- ly.” Of course, that type of request became untenable once state and local authorities “We stopped all construction and re- they got to work were expected to do their jobs as if nothing had changed. It should “In Illinois we are considered an essen- we were the only company that continued do have COVID protocols in place, we are conducting busi- ness as usual and have been through- out the pandemic.” National Protests Complicate Things In addition to the pandemic, na- tionwide protests spread in the late spring over the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis. This added another layer of complexity and concern to the existing crisis. “We had looting on Madison Avenue,” says Woll- man, “and we had anticipation with re- spect to the \\\[presidential\\\] election. We told our buildings we would double up staff in the lobby and lock up the front doors. We couldn’t put out the garbage till the morning due to the protests in some neighborhoods, and we needed extra fire extinguishers as well as other items dur- ing the protests. Some residents were ner- vous and even asked for armed guards. I didn’t think we needed anyone to shoot someone, and I said so; it was not always well taken. Our buildings were locked. What was the armed guard going to do? In the end, we didn’t hire guards, but did have them on standby. Happily, it all worked out.” Expanding Skills Managers frequently found them- selves in uncharted territory during the first months of the pandemic, adrift in rough seas without a map. “The major- ity of issues we dealt with were people’s emotions,” says Stoller. “A friend of mine who is a psychiatrist told me this is very MANAGEMENT... continued from page 1 “I’m no longer managing an apartment building … I’m managing a pandemic.” —Daniel Wollman continued on page 12