Gold Circle Award Profile: Andre Wiggins, 2021 Property Management Professional of the Year

Andre Wiggins, Senior Vice President, General Manager with MB Real Estate at the Daley Center, was named 2021 Property Management Professional of the Year.

How did you get started in the commercial real estate industry?
我第一次接触房地产行业是在2002年，当时我大学毕业，开始在十大网赌靠谱网址平台北部的一家小型房地产开发商工作.  我当时是会计，负责一个有200个单元的一室公寓大楼的会计工作.  Working in residential for 2 years, 我最终在南瓦克311号的Insignia ESG公司找到了一份商业地产会计职位. After Insignia was acquired by CBRE in 2003, 我在南河滨222号的约翰巴克公司找到了另一份财产会计的工作.

我在南河滨222号和南瓦克200号的约翰巴克公司工作，直到2008年我调到理查德戴利中心担任总经理助理.  Over that past 20 years I’ve worked in residential and commercial real estate as an accountant, assistant general manager and currently general manager.

What qualities do you look for when hiring building team members? Once they’re on your team, how do you support them to ensure they’re at their best?
When looking to hire new building team members, there are several things that I look for.  First, I want someone driven, looking to grow within the real estate industry.  This will ensure they are able to sustain motivation, always looking to learn and get involved in new aspects of property management.  In turn, this helps make the overall management team more efficient, learning from and working with one another.

另一个需要考虑的重要因素是候选人应对和处理像理查德·戴利中心这样的建筑可能带来的许多挑战的能力.  At its core, the Daley Center is a public serving asset, serving close to 20,000 visitors per day.  许多有不同兴趣和需要的人每天都要光顾这栋楼，我们的团队成员必须灵活地与人打交道，并具备有效的解决问题的能力.  The building is highly customer service oriented.

The nature of the building is not something we hide during the interview process.  Most of the interview process is spent walking through the building and exterior plaza.  我希望候选人在我们讨论他们的资格和总体职业目标时，能在个人层面上对这栋大楼有积极的感觉.

Constant communication is key once new members join our team.  所有团队成员之间持续的交叉培训也是一个重点，以确保团队成员之间建立健康的关系和信任.  团队成员总是被鼓励参与项目会议，我们每周的员工会议确保所有团队成员都知道大楼的活动.

As young professionals think about advancing in their careers, what advice can you share with them?
As a young professional advancing in your career, 你要确保你获得了所有必要的证书和执照与房地产管理相关的早期.  As you become a full-time employee within the real estate industry, you are immediately immersed within a very busy, fast paced work environment.  你最不需要关心的是经纪人执照或其他行业认可的认证，这些可能是你在事业发展之前所需要的.

Also, 在你的职业生涯早期加入像BOMA/Chicago这样的组织将是一个很好的主意.  BOMA/Chicago有许多委员会和平台，提供对职业发展至关重要的社交机会.

Finally, be inquisitive.  Always ask questions.  Never be afraid to let someone know that you don’t know or understand something.  Try to take a small piece of something and understand the bigger picture.  Sometimes young professionals may be caught up in their own day-to-day tasks, while missing out on opportunities to expand their knowledge of property management as a whole.  Push your managers and supervisors to get you involved with different things.  At the end of the day, this not only helps you grow, but it also helps the entire management team grow.

COVID has created a great deal of challenges for everyone in the commercial real estate industry. 请告诉我们你们在大流行期间遇到的一些障碍，以及你们在应对过程中率先开展的防范和缓解工作.
新冠肺炎疫情是我物业管理生涯中面临的最大、最困难的挑战.  A few of the challenges faced are business continuity during the pandemic, 确保建筑物租户和居住者的安全，并对意外的COVID相关费用进行成本管理.

疫情期间，我们面临的最大挑战之一是确保这座建筑继续为公众提供典型的服务, while ensuring health and safety for the public and tenants.  Constant communication with corporate office staff, consultants, health experts, government officials, and countless numbers of stakeholders helped us develop a plan to do just that.  The plan provides exterior tenting, health screening services, disinfectant, and facial coverings to all building occupants. The plan was replicated at other surrounding government facilities and is still in effect today.

我们还将继续与租户密切合作，确保他们的空间配备适当的缓解措施, such as social distancing decals and protective shields.  租户也有机会通过建造公共区域来扩大他们的空间，因为他们在工作空间内促进了社交距离.  我们还帮助租户向大楼的所有3个房间分发面膜和消毒剂,000 full time equivalents.

Finally, 我们与一家环境服务提供商合作，制定了COVID-19确诊病例的应对计划.  该计划包括在接到通知后24小时内对所有受影响地区进行静电消毒, regardless of tenant space or building common areas.  这种即时反应确保了租户空间被消毒并迅速移交，以便租户第二天可以继续营业.

With these additional services came unanticipated expenses.  As a result, we were forced to curtail many other services necessary to run an efficient building.  Luckily, we were able to fund all COVID related expenses without increasing operating expenses.  Also, 我们与客户密切合作，确保通过政府的《十大网赌靠谱网址》将这些费用报销给物业.

In your spare time, you coordinate workshops to encourage minority business participation at the building. 我们的大楼可以采取哪些措施来增加少数族裔承建商的数量/百分比?
There are many different approaches to procuring minority participation within building operations.  一个很容易实现的选择是要求你现有的承包商和供应商在他们现有的合同中满足某些少数人参与的要求.  这为建筑物提供了一定的性能保护，因为您现有的供应商或承包商作为主要执行者，少数供应商在他们之下工作, collectively achieving any minority participation levels you require.

另一种办法是征求少数族裔供应商的建议，直接承包建筑服务.  This is best achieved through your Request for Proposal and new contract procurement processes.  You can solicit proposals from minority vendors and contractors directly, giving those vendors the opportunity to contract with you directly, versus acting as a subcontractor.

But it all starts with becoming more familiar with reputable minority firms and their capabilities.  As the private sector, it would be best to connect with buildings such as the Daley Center for referrals.  Or you can surf the City of Chicago minority vendor directory and research the approved vendor listings as well.

What is some of the best advice you have ever received?
Back when I was working with Insignia ESG, our Managing Director at the time was Sam Delisi.  他向我们的会计团队宣布，我们将被世邦魏理仕收购，所有的会计工作都将搬到纽波特比奇, CA.  After the announcement, 我们有机会和Sam交谈，我问他我怎样才能从会计领域转到建筑管理领域.  He recommended that I start with getting my salespersons license and take some BOMA RPA coursers.  I have to say he was right. 我很快发现许可证是房地产管理的要求，BOMA RPA课程在学习建筑物如何运作和功能时证明是非常宝贵的.

What are some of your personal interests and hobbies? Or what projects are you working on at home?
A lot of my personal interests are centered around my family.  I have a wife and five boys that are very active in sports.  I assist in coaching the basketball teams of my 15, 12 and 10 year-old kids.  There is a lot of traveling involved with the games, so we usually make a family trip out of each tournament.

In my spare time, I like working with my hands.  Although I’m not the best carpenter, I would give any project a try.  I have three residential rental properties where two of my sisters and my mom are the tenants.  Between the three homes, there are always opportunities for new projects, not to mention what I need to tackle at my personal residence.