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Renewal<br />
comes in<br />
many forms<br />
A new generation of<br />
buildings — and of people<br />
— drives our industry<br />
Lloyd Suchet<br />
Executive Director<br />
BOMA Calgary<br />
BOMA<br />
Calgary has<br />
decided that<br />
the best way<br />
to begin the<br />
process of<br />
renewal is<br />
to engage<br />
not only<br />
those young<br />
professionals<br />
already in<br />
the industry,<br />
but also<br />
those whom<br />
we would<br />
like to bring<br />
on board.<br />
IN COMMERCIAL REAL estate,<br />
we tend to think of renewal<br />
in physical terms. When an<br />
object’s useful life comes to an<br />
end, it is replaced or renewed,<br />
restarting the cycle. Indeed<br />
this is the case with most components<br />
of a commercial building,<br />
including the structure<br />
itself. But the redevelopment<br />
of buildings and the renewal of<br />
their sites is just one aspect of<br />
renewal in this industry.<br />
In fact, the reason renewal<br />
is so universal is because the<br />
very same cycle a physical<br />
structure like a building goes<br />
through is evident in almost<br />
all other aspects of our lives,<br />
including the natural world<br />
around us.<br />
But while nature tends to<br />
have the ability to renew itself<br />
without human intervention,<br />
the same cannot be said<br />
of commercial real estate.<br />
Within the industry, deliberate<br />
attention must be paid to the<br />
renewal of another asset —<br />
people. Developing the tools<br />
to attract new and recent<br />
graduates to commercial real<br />
estate is essential, and requires<br />
thought and effort.<br />
People are motivated by<br />
myriad considerations when<br />
choosing a profession, making<br />
it far more complicated than<br />
replacing an object. This<br />
means that the industry itself<br />
needs to do a better job of<br />
understanding what motivates<br />
the next generation of potential<br />
commercial real estate<br />
professionals, and then creating<br />
corresponding mechanisms<br />
to attract them.<br />
BOMA Calgary has decided<br />
that the best way to begin this<br />
process of renewal is to engage<br />
not only those young professionals<br />
already in the industry,<br />
but also those whom we would<br />
like to bring on board. We<br />
want to know their motivations<br />
and aspirations so that we can<br />
better promote commercial<br />
real estate as a viable and<br />
rewarding career. A new and<br />
revitalized NextGen committee,<br />
made up of the very types<br />
of people we want to attract<br />
and retain, is spearheading<br />
this initiative. Through this<br />
committee we will begin to understand<br />
what will attract new<br />
entrants to the industry, with<br />
the goal of creating partnerships<br />
and programs to facilitate<br />
this renewal.<br />
This process will go hand in<br />
glove with the redevelopment<br />
of Calgary’s commercial building<br />
stock, so that a renewed<br />
industry of commercial real<br />
estate professionals will be<br />
working to manage and maintain<br />
the next generation of<br />
buildings. ■<br />
The pulse of Calgary’s commercial real estate industry TM<br />
13
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