Condo Media - February 2016 - 12

News Desk

A Sharing of Ideas

The Singapore skyline

International Delegation
From Singapore Visits Boston
[by Peter Golden]

A group of six real estate executives associated with Singapore's Building and Construction Authority (BCA) visited Boston
recently in order to observe firsthand the impact of Boston's Exterior Façade Inspection Ordinance when applied to large-scale
buildings. BCA Deputy CEO Ong See Ho led the delegation.
With numerous high-rise condominiums in their portfolios,
senior members of Barkan Management's condominium team
shared their client experience with the visitors.
The New England Chapter of the Community Associations
Institute, led by Executive Director Claudette Carini,
coordinated the visit. An island state of 5.5 million people,
Singapore occupies the southernmost point on the Asian
mainland. Its dynamic economy and outstanding success in
human development make it a focus of East Asian commerce
and culture. With limited land on which to build, Singapore relies
on high-rise construction to shelter much of its population.
Barkan Senior Portfolio Manager Deb Lucas, Hawthorne
Place Condominium's General Manager Susan Wade, and
Claude Grosso, facilities manager at Whittier Place Condominium, introduced the delegation to practical considerations associated with the ordinance, which requires five-year inspection
cycles. Hawthorne Place, with 505 condominium residences,
and Whittier Place, with 481, made ideal subjects for a discussion during a briefing conducted at Barkan headquarters in the
Seaport district.

After comparing building envelope maintenance problems in
Boston with those in Singapore, which is periodically subjected
to wind-driven precipitation associated with typhoons, delegation members returned to Singapore with a better understanding of municipal inspectional mandates and the benefits they
represent for owners of large residential properties.
With over 9,000 miles of land and sea separating Boston and
Singapore, it is a sign of increasing international collaboration
that property managers and municipal authority members can
share practical insights and best practices in the name of a better quality of life for those they serve. Barkan has been honored
to collaborate with CAI-NE in this effort.

CAI Recognizes Steve Israel
N.Y. Congressman Receives Hero of Associations Award

Community Associations Institute (CAI) recently presented the 2015 Hero of Associations award to Rep.
Steve Israel (D-N.Y.) for his "tireless efforts in helping constituents living in condominiums, cooperatives,
and community associations become eligible for federal disaster relief." Israel began working on disaster
relief fairness to help constituents affected by Super Storm Sandy in 2012. Since then, he has continued his efforts to
ensure equitable treatment of community associations by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).
Rapid debris removal and cleanup after a disaster is a critical public safety task because it ensures that police,
fire, EMS, and other emergency services can reach all citizens. Israel introduced H.R. 3863, the Disaster Assistance
Equity Act of 2015, in October. Currently, FEMA classifies community associations as businesses, making these types
of communities ineligible for federal recovery assistance when disaster strikes. Israel's bill amends the Stafford Act
and requires FEMA to provide assistance to community associations when they're impacted by a major disaster.
"A storm does not discriminate where it hits," Israel says, "and FEMA should not be discriminating against what
type of homeowners it helps."

CONDOMEDIA

Condo Media - February 2016

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