August 2026 BOMA BRIEFS
News and Views for CRE
In This Issue: From the BAE - BOMA Updates
The Outstanding Building of the Year The Distinction of Commercial Management and Operations
Summer Island Networking Party Photos Emerging Professionals Event Photos
The Invisible ROI
CRE News You Can Use
SAVE THE DATES & REGISTER TODAY
September 14 - Autumn Open September 23- Fox Theatre Tour
October 16- PULL for BOMA Clay Shoot December 2 - TOBY AWARDS SHOW
BOMA Briefs Sponsors
From the BAE - BOMA Updates
August 2026
From the BAE
BOMA Members,
July 29 – WOW! What an incredibly unique networking event. Over 170 CRE professionals joined in the fun and collegiality of the Island Networking Party. Yes, the rumors are true, BOMA had a great American cookout on a private island and yes, there was helicopter sightseeing rides. Check out the photos on page 15 and thank you to all of our awesome sponsors: MarbleLife/GroutMaster, Premier Paving, U&S Companies, Sciens – Elite Fire Division, Rolls Mechanical, Four Seasons Kanga Roof, Titan Security, Prudential Alarm, 360 Fire & Flood, Bruttell Roofing, CENTIMARK, CB Asphalt, Zolman, BELFOR USA, All Inclusive, and The Professional Group. All fantastic BOMA members! August 13 - BOMA’s Emerging Professionals hosted a uniquely engaging networking event at the Detroit Shipping Company. Emerging Professional leaders Amanda Bastien (Bedrock), Jahmar Rashad (Bedrock), Thomas White (Dominion), Nick Ferris (Thomas Duke) and Brandon Powell (REDICO), created an environment where a diversity of CRE professionals met and got to know each other. This is how we build business for the short and long term. Check out the photos on page 17.
If you have missed out on the excitement, friendship and business building opportunities, you still have a few chances in 2026. • September 14, Autumn Open Golf Event • September 23, Fox Theater Tour • October 16, PULL for BOMA Clay Shooting Tournament • December 2, The TOBY Awards Show.
Register today at BOMADet.org.
LOTTERY WINNER! Now that I have your attention, read on…
The BOMA Foundation is a 501 c 3 charitable non-profit that provides you and members of your family members a chance to win a $2000 scholarship. Visit BOMADet.org to learn more about the Foundation and to apply for a 2026 scholarship! I am proud to introduce the Foundation’s first ever “Thanks for Giving Raffle”. This fundraising campaign pays out $250 every day in November 2026 and $500 every Saturday in November 2026. If your ticket matches Michigan’s three digit evening draw, you win! That’s 30 chances to win and a ticket is only $20 bucks! “Thanks for Giving” raffle tickets make great early holiday and company recognition gifts that truly keep on giving. You can purchase with cash, check or credit card from BOMA Foundation board members Scott Milligan, Karly Hoehn, Dan Fitzgerald, Ian Studders, Trevor Duke and Bill Gilbert, or from the BOMA office by emailing Rachel at RSalliotte@BOMADet.org or me at RTroy@BOMADet.org.
TOBY The Outstanding Building of the Year (TOBY®) Award is the commercial real estate industry’s highest recognition honoring excellence in commercial building management and operations in specific categories of building type or size. Property Managers, NOW is the time to enter your building, and we are here to help you through the process. All applications must be completed by September 9. The online portal makes the application process super easy too. Contact me, Rachel or TOBY Co-Chairs Laura Marble LauraMarble68@gmail.com or Renee Ware at RWare@LibertyPropertyMgmt.com for assistance.
Your work is important. Your partners that make your building wonderful are important. It’s time to recognize your achievements.
Thank you for your membership. Together, we are advancing our industry, strengthening relationships, and ensuring that BOMA Detroit remains the premier resource and voice for commercial real estate professionals across the region.
TOBY Applications Are Open!
What are the TOBYS?
The Outstanding Building of the Year (TOBY®) Award is the commercial real estate industry’s highest recognition honoring excellence in commercial building management and operations in specific categories of building type or size. Whether winning at the local, regional and/or international level of the competition, you gain the opportunity to showcase your buildings strengths and gain recognitionfor best-in-classoperations and management with the most prestigiousand comprehensive award of its kind in the commercial real estate industry. Judging is based on criteria that include community impact, tenant and employee relations programs, energy management, accessibility, emergency evacuation procedures, building personnel training programs, and overall excellence. Building inspections are conducted by a team of industry experts.
Be a TOBY SPONSOR - contact Rick at RTroy@BOMADet.org and discover unique opportunities for your company
TOBY AWARDS SHOW Wednesday, December 2, 2026 all new venue, all new experience The SEVEN
AWARD CATEGORIES
Corporate Facility Category
Earth Category Historical Building Category
Industrial Office Building Category
Medical Office Building Category
Mixed-Use Category
Life Sciences Building Category
Renovated Building Category
Retail Category Suburban Office Park Low- Rise Category
Suburban Office Park Mid- Rise Category
Under 100,000 Square Feet
500,000 to 1 Million Square Feet
OFFICE
100,000 to 249,999 Square Feet 250,000 to 499,999 Square Feet
Over 1 Million Square Feet
How Does It All Work?
The TOBY competition consists of three levels, beginning at the BOMA local association level. Winning entries advance to the regional level and then to the international level, where TOBY Awards are presented at the BOMA International Conference each year. The Outstanding Building of the Year (TOBY) Awards program is BOMA Metro Detroit’s premier recognition event, celebrating excellence in commercial real estate and the professionals who make outstanding buildings possible. Hosted each year in distinctive venues throughout the region, the awards show honors the achievements of exceptional properties while recognizing the dedication, innovation, and leadership of the people who manage and operate them. The evening brings together industry leaders, property professionals, and service partners for a memorable celebration of best practices in building management, operations, sustainability, and tenant relations. Through the TOBY Awards, BOMA Metro Detroit highlights the buildings that set the standard for excellence and the teams whose commitment elevates the entire commercial real estate industry.
Wanting to enter to win a BOMA TOBY Award but have no idea where to begin?
We have resources to help you! The TOBY Buddy Program was initiated in 2025 to help first time entrants with entering their building and getting the hang of things. We are keeping this program going as we had great success last year!
If you have any questions, need any help. or need advice; Please Contact Laura Marble at lauramarble68@gmail.com
AWARD CATEGORIES
Annual Awards Property Manager of the Year Facility Manager of the Year Building Engineer of the Year Allied Member of the Year Principal Member of the Year Corporate Member of the Year Rising Star
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Summer Island Networking Event Photos
Emerging Professionals Event Photos
The Invisible ROI: How BOMA Has Protected You Over the Decades When a property manager reviews an annual budget, the ROI of a new chiller or an LED retrofit is easy to calculate. What is much harder to quantify—but arguably much more valuable—is the cost of a disastrous regulation that never became law. Every code cycle, hundreds of well- intentioned but commercially impractical proposals are submitted to the International Code Council (ICC). These can range from mandates requiring total building electrification regardless of local grid capacity to overly aggressive structural retrofit triggers for minor tenant improvements. Left unchecked, these proposals become published code and are rapidly adopted by local jurisdictions, transforming from theoretical ideas into mandatory, multimillion-dollar burdens. BOMA’s Codes team serves as the industry’s first line of defense. By reviewing thousands of code change proposals, providing expert testimony at ICC hearings, and leveraging years of engineering expertise, BOMA actively strips out unfeasible mandates before the ink is ever dry. When you do a simple tenant build-out in 2028 and don't have to unexpectedly upgrade your entire floor's ventilation system, that is the direct, monetary ROI of BOMA’s current advocacy work. Advocacy as a Strategic Partner BOMA’s seat at the ICC table is powerful, but it is backed by the collective voice and real-world data of its members. By engaging with BOMA’s advocacy efforts, property owners and managers are not just bracing for future codes; they are actively writing them. This proactive stance ensures that the transition toward healthier, more efficient buildings happens at a pace the supply chain and capital markets can support. In an environment where regulatory shifts are constant, BOMA’s "invisible" ROI is the assurance that your portfolio remains competitive, profitable, and prepared for the future.
BOMA SAVES THE INDUSTRY
MILLIONS
BOMA International protects the commercial real estate industry from costly and unnecessary regulatory burdens by actively representing CRE interests during the International Code Council's (ICC) code development process.
up to $8.65 per square foot SAVED by advocating against unnecessary proposals
Why it matters for YOU
Building Size
Potential Costs Avoided
50,000 sq. ft.
Up to $432,500
100,000 sq. ft.
Up to $865,000
BOMA is a founding strategic partner of the ICC, serving as a trusted voice for commercial real estate to ensure new code requirements are practical, effective, and cost-conscious. Thanks to our active role in the consensus-based development process, we are also proud to report that the 2027 codes ensure safer, healthier buildings without creating additional complexity for our members.
250,000 sq. ft.
Up to $2.16 million
500,000 sq. ft.
Up to $4.33 million
1 million sq. ft.
Up to $8.65 million
www.boma.org
House Bill 4582 – The Fight to Restore Open and Obvious By Samantha Clark, Property Management Intern, Thomas Duke Company, Senior, University of Michigan Ford School of Public Policy
If your commercial liability premiums have gone up every year since 2023, there’s a reason – and the fix is pending in the Michigan Senate. In 2023, the Michigan Supreme Court overturned Michigan’s Open and Obvious premises liability doctrine. Since then, commercial liability exposure and insurance costs have risen by double digits every year with no sign of slowing. House Bill 4582, which would restore the doctrine, has passed the Michigan House of Representatives but is currently stuck in the Senate Committee on Finance, Insurance and Consumer Protection.
Property owners, property managers, business owners and anyone else who has been affected by the 2023 overturn need to rally behind HB 4582 and get the Michigan Senate to pass it. Michigan had an “Open and Obvious” Doctrine for over 20 years before the Michigan Supreme Court’s Kandil-Elsayed decision overturned it. The doctrine held that when a condition on a property was clearly visible and an average adult could reasonably notice and avoid it, the property owner had no legal duty to warn visitors about it. This allowed Michigan judges to automatically dismiss frivolous injury and other premises liability lawsuits before they ever reached a jury.
These costs don’t stay with property owners. As BOMA members, we know that property costs get passed down the chain, causing tenants, small businesses, and residents to see higher costs, in the form of higher rents and operating costs. Vendors and contractors also face more legal exposure and raise their rates accordingly, compounding costs up and down the chain. After the Michigan Supreme Court overturned the Open and Obvious Doctrine, property liability insurance skyrocketed for companies across the state. Since 2023, companies have reported double digit year-over-year increases in commercial liability insurance. Thomas Duke Company saw a 24.4% increase in liability insurance from 2023 to 2024 alone. Insurance companies are afraid to litigate during premises liability suits and instead are settling cases that they would have won under Open and Obvious. This causes insurance rates to increase, and companies have seen deductibles that more than doubled. House Bill 4582 restores the Open and Obvious Doctrine to the standard in place prior to 2023. The bill returns predictability and common sense to premises liability law and reduces risk exposure for properties in Michigan. It would slow – and hopefully bring back to pre-2023 normalcy – insurance rates and allow owners, managers, and tenants to make maintenance and investment decisions without constant rising rates and unmitigated legal exposure.
BOMA and 10+ other large-scale Michigan organizations have rallied behind this bill. The bill passed the Michigan House with one Democrat crossing party lines. Our Senate outreach campaign has focused on the 20 Michigan Democratic Senators, and we only need 2-3 “flips” to pass the bill. So far, we have sent personalized letters and emails to every Senate office, held meetings with staffers for Senators on the Committee on Finance, and driven to Lansing multiple times to have face-to-face conversations with legislators and show support for this bill. Time is not on our side. If House Bill 4582 doesn’t pass before December 31st, 2026, we will have to restart our efforts from scratch. As a BOMA member, you can help change that. The only way this bill passes is if we show the Senate how hard we have been affected by the removal of Open and Obvious. If your State Senator is a Democrat, or hasn’t shown interest in this bill, we can connect you with staffers. If you have seen frivolous lawsuits, rising insurance rates, or have a story that would get the attention of your Senator, email me at sclark@thomasduke.com and I will make sure it gets to Lansing.
Open and Obvious: The Case to Restore Property Owner Protections
The Problem
In 2023, theMichigan Supreme Court overturned the longstanding "open and obvious" defense in premises liability cases. Michigan is now one of just nine states without this safeguard — a national outlier. The result: more litigation exposure, greater uncertainty and higher costs for property owners of every size.
Definition
The " open and obvious" doctrine was a longstanding premises liability protection for hazards on properties deemed “open and obvious” to the average person, like a slippery patch of ice on a sidewalk or a pothole in the parking lot. This standard protected Michigan from courtroom backlogs, and discouraged frivolous lawsuits against property owners.
The Solution
Restorereasonable protections that curb lawsuit abuse while preserving fair recourse for people truly harmed by negligence. The Michigan Alliance for Legal Reform supports efforts to reinstate key elements of open and obvious and return balance and predictability to Michigan’s legal system.
House Bill 4582 is a needed step — delivering protections for property owners while keeping legitimate claims intact.
How does open and obvious impact me if I don't own property? Without an open and obvious safeguard, Michigan employers face higher liability and insurance costs — forcing tough trade-offs like fewer jobs, delayed investments or higher prices. Property owners face the same squeeze, with costs often passed on to renters and commercial tenants. Do other states have open and obvious property protections? 41 states retain some form of open and obvious safeguards in premises liability. Michigan is among just nine without it — making our state a national outlier and magnet for frivolous lawsuits.
Business Community Supports HB 4582, Urges Additional Changes to Premises Liability
On behalf of a broad coalition of Michigan job providers, we write to express our deep concern with the current state of Michigan’s premises liability law and urge legislative action to restore fairness and predictability for residential, commercial and industrial property owners. In 2023, the Michigan Supreme Court overturned Michigan’s longstanding open and obvious doctrine, marking a major shift in Michigan’s premises liability law. For more than two decades, Michigan’s open and obvious standard protected property owners from liability when a hazard was “open and obvious.” This standard deterred frivolous lawsuits and provided stability for property owners. With the Court’s elimination of this doctrine, property owners can now be held liable—and sued—no matter how obvious a hazard might be to a reasonable person. Judges must instead conduct a full fault analysis in every case, creating new and costly legal hazards for Michigan property owners. Other impacts: More lawsuits – The Court’s 2023 ruling paves the way for nearly every “slip-and-fall” claim to proceed, fueling more filings and driving up litigation.
Higher costs – More claims and lawsuits are driving up expenses for property owners, pushing premiums higher at a time when families and business are already stretched thin by workforce issues and economic pressures. More uncertainty – This new standard creates uncertainty for property owners and exposes them to risk even when a hazard is obvious to a reasonable person. This risk is heightened for high traic businesses like hospitals and restaurants, and for small businesses who do not have access to sophisticated compliance and legal teams.
For Michigan’s property owners, this is not just an abstract legal debate. Left unaddressed, Michigan will quickly become a national outlier for costly premise liability litigation. Other states who have abandoned consistent liability standards have seen sharp increases in insurance costs firsthand, leading many of them to backtrack. We hope Michigan’s lawmakers address this issue now before it spirals out of control, as it has elsewhere. We thank Representative Neyer for introducing House Bill 4582 and Chair Lightner for holding discussion on this vital issue. We look forward to engaging further in this conversation to ensure that Michigan law properly addresses the shortcomings of current law.
The True Cost of Deferred Cleaning: How Preventive Janitorial Programs Protect Building Assets Buildings When operational budgets shrink, facility directors face an immediate, high-stakes ultimatum — where to cut? In search of quick line-item reductions, the commercial cleaning budget frequently finds itself at the top of the chopping block. On paper, reducing the frequency of carpet extractions, delaying hard-floor refinishing, or scaling back daily janitorial rounds may look like an immediate, victimless operational expenditure savings. Read more. Treasury tension: Despite the Fed holding rates at 3.5%, rising Treasury yields and inflation concerns are keeping CRE borrowing costs elevated, increasing refinancing pressure even as transaction activity rebounds.
Wildfire exposure: More than 2.5M properties across 10 states face wildfire risk, representing $1.4T in reconstruction costs, with California accounting for the largest share.
Campus conversions: As more financially distressed colleges close, their campuses are becoming valuable redevelopment opportunities while location, condition and local opposition shape their fate.
What’s Next for the US Office Market? Rebusinessonline
The office sector may never be going back to pre-pandemic utilization levels, but enough time has elapsed and data compiled to make the case that the asset class is stabilizing. According to data from CoStar Group, leasing activity remained steady in the second quarter of 2026, with 115 million square feet of new leases signed. That remains approximately 9 percent below the quarterly average from 2015 through 2019 but is far above the leasing volume from 2020 and 2021. Read more.
Thank you for being a member of BOMA Metro Detroit and for taking the time to read BOMA Briefs. Your support, involvement, and engagement help make our organization stronger every day. We are grateful for each and every one of you. Your BOMA Team, Rick and Rachel
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