CHALLENGE

It’s where the Pittsburgh Steelers and University of Pittsburgh Panthers call home. But Heinz Field isn’t just a stadium, it’s a hub for sports enthusiasts, music-goers and event guests across the country. Built in 2000, the stadium seats more than 65,000 fans at any one time. The safe, efficient availability of the vertical transportation systems that help get people to their seats is of vital importance. Brian Opacic, Heinz Field’s stadium operations coordinator, said “having two separate service companies – one for the elevators and another for the escalators – under two separate contracts, along with the added cost of additional manpower, was cost-prohibitive.” It was then that Mr. Opacic looked to streamline the stadium’s contracts. With BOCA Group's reputation in the vertical transportation industry, the choice to use their services was easy. BOCA Group, a premier elevator/escalator national consulting firm, provides clients with services that range from design and construction, to maintenance and equipment evaluations, to modernization specifications. Mr. Opacic soon met with BOCA Group at the SMA Convention in Key West, FL, and plans to work together in this effort were established.

WHAT WAS DONE

For Heinz Field, BOCA Group performed maintenance evaluations on 9 elevators and 17 escalators, and the stadium’s contractors were directed to address all deficiencies within a designated time frame. The current service contracts were reviewed, and stadium operations personnel were interviewed to determine the true needs of the client. Once an accurate scope of work was determined, BOCA Group drafted a new maintenance specification that addressed both the equipment and management needs of Heinz Field. From there, BOCA developed a bidders list and orchestrated the entire bid process, analyzed contractors’ bid submittals and held contractor presentations for the client. Once this process was in its final stages, BOCA coordinated negotiations for the client and made its recommendations on the new, best-suited maintenance contract. In the end, the entire process took a mere four and a half months to complete, affording Heinz Field even greater savings.

OUTCOME

In following through with BOCA Group’s recommendation, Heinz Field awarded one qualified contractor the responsibility of keeping the stadium’s elevators and escalators in top shape. The Heinz Field team no longer needed to deal with two separate contractors. Instead of paying double for essentially the same types of services, annual maintenance costs were reduced by more than 42 percent. The Stadium received more services from the maintenance provider without increasing the cost of the service contract. On event days, vertical transportation stand-by technicians – which was decreased from four to two people -- was included at no additional cost. As an added bonus, free skirt brushes for the escalators – valued at $35,000 – were included. Today, Heinz Field rests assured that its vertical transportation systems are working effectively, and the people who use them can rely on the escalators and elevators to transport them safely and efficiently to each destination.

Let BOCA Group take your facility to the next level! Contact us

CHALLENGE

Bank of New York Mellon was experiencing escalating costs to maintain and power the aging elevators at its three-building BNY Mellon Center in Pittsburgh. In particular, the elevator equipment at the 41-story Three Mellon Center building had been installed in 1951 and still employed the original relay logic controllers and power-hungry motor generators, creating high maintenance and electricity costs. Increasing shut-downs were eroding the client’s confidence in the building’s vertical transportation equipment and decreasing the value of the property, as compared to other newly modernized properties in the area. Because each of the three Mellon Center buildings had its own elevator maintenance service provider, maintenance was inconsistent and costly.

WHAT WAS DONE

BOCA Group performed a maintenance evaluation on all the Mellon Center properties, and determined that 22 of the 30 elevators in Three Mellon Center were in urgent need of modernization. Bank of New York Mellon retained BOCA Group to oversee the modernization work. Through a bid process, BOCA Group secured skilled contractors and managed the addition of much more energy-efficient equipment, including new microprocessor controllers, solid-state elevator drives, wiring, door equipment and fixtures. Additionally, BOCA Group rewrote the elevator maintenance specifications for all three buildings in the client’s favor and used a bid process to consolidate all of Mellon Center’s elevator maintenance service to a single maintenance provider, creating service consistency and leveraging volume to obtain highly competitive pricing.

OUTCOME

This $4.5 million, three-year modernization project gave the client the newest, most efficient and reliable electronic elevator technology available, delivering dramatic cost savings on electricity while improving reliability and reducing the need for costly maintenance. BOCA Group provided additional cost savings by consolidating elevator maintenance to a single contractor working from clear, client-defined maintenance specifications.

Let BOCA Group take your facility to the next level! Contact us

CHALLENGE

The owners of this commercial office building in midtown Manhattan wished to upgrade the building in order to improve the leasing rate, which hovered at less than 70 percent. The client retained BOCA Group to oversee the capital improvements to the building, including a lobby and storefront renovation as well as a complete pre-build upgrade of the five tenant office floors. The building would remain open and operable during the renovation, so the work had to be completed with minimal disruption to tenants and visitors.

WHAT WAS DONE

BOCA Group’s project management services team led the interior renovations, scheduling the entire project and securing the required city permits. As project manager, BOCA Group sourced and coordinated the efforts of multiple architects, engineers and contractors throughout the construction phase. BOCA Group also helped the client write new leases with tenants to ensure their needs were met while protecting the client’s interests.

The building’s dated entry wall was removed and replaced with a modern storefront, including a new exterior canopy and revolving and swing doors. The lobby received new signage, a feature wall, interior finishes, lighting and controls, flooring, furnishings, a secure card access system, and HVAC. Work was divided into phases to minimize disruption to the building’s existing tenant base.

On the vacant office floors, interior walls and finishes were completely removed and rebuilt from scratch using the building’s new set of standard finishes. Each floor also received new HVAC, plumbing, bathrooms, lighting, ceilings, carpeting, elevator lobbies and high-end storefronts in the same style as the main lobby. Some floors were pre-built to accommodate single, large tenants, while others were divided into smaller office spaces.

OUTCOME

The facility upgrades and security improvements have made the building more attractive to tenants. The client has leased the renovated floors as soon as they are complete, raising the building’s leasing rate from less than 70 percent to more than 90 percent leased.

Let BOCA Group take your facility to the next level! Contact us

CHALLENGE

As part of a complete $50 million upgrade of the Grand Wailea, a premier Waldorf Astoria resort in Maui, the Pyramid Hotel Group retained BOCA Group to conduct a thorough maintenance evaluation of all elevator equipment. BOCA Group’s assessment revealed that the maintenance provider had failed to conduct necessary work due to the inability to source parts for the 20-year-old, foreign-made equipment. Due to the manufacturer’s refusal to sell the maintenance provider parts, the hotel had been forced to stockpile its own inventory of parts at exorbitant prices, resulting in increased expense and service delays. Without action, major service issues were imminent, resulting in elevator downtime and frustration for guests. At BOCA Group’s recommendation, the property owner chose to replace 15 of the hotel’s aging elevators with new, modern equipment, and retained BOCA Group to manage the project.

WHAT WAS DONE

BOCA Group began by working with the existing elevator maintenance company to ensure that all existing elevators were in peak operating condition before some elevators were taken off-line for replacement. BOCA Group obtained 20-year-low pricing on equipment and labor, and created a five-year plan to replace three elevators each year, beginning with the beachfront and poolside elevators that were most frequently used and had suffered the most damage from exposure to humid, salty air. After sourcing contractors using a bid process, BOCA Group coordinated all work to ensure minimal disruption for hotel guests and staff, overseeing the replacement of all components, controls and wiring to ensure peak performance and user experience, as well as easy long-term maintenance. As modification work was completed, reusable parts of the existing elevators were saved, creating a steady supply of parts for future needs.

OUTCOME

In addition to creating a full inventory of parts to service existing elevators that are awaiting replacement, BOCA Group allowed the Grand Wailea to spread its payments over the five years of the modernization project, while locking in the excellent prices that had been negotiated before work began. The Grand Wailea dramatically reduced its elevator maintenance expenses and can now provide the flawless elevator service its guests expect as part of a premier resort experience.

Let BOCA Group take your facility to the next level! Contact us

CHALLENGE

As part of a complete renovation of two landmark residential buildings at 422 and 424 West Melrose in Chicago, Wirtz Realty Corp. needed an expert consulting firm to lead the modernization of the three passenger elevators and one manual-door freight elevator in the two 15-story buildings, which were connected on two floors. Though they shared one massive machine room, each elevator had different equipment, some of which dated back to 1925. One elevator had been out of service for more than 40 years and had been dismantled for parts, sometimes forcing residents to walk to the adjacent building to use its elevators. Another elevator was in urgent need of replacement and could fail at any time. Because of the building’s age and structural issues, the modernization would mean that the crew would have to work in tight, dark spaces, requiring special skill and creativity.

WHAT WAS DONE

Due to the complexity involved in the project, Wirtz Realty Corp. retained BOCA Group to manage the elevator modernization project and oversee all modernization, ancillary construction, electrical and code work related to the elevator modernization. Because each building had only two elevators, and only three of these four elevators were operational at the start of the project, minimizing downtime was critical. BOCA Group chose to tackle the non-operational elevator first, then move on to the elevator that was most likely to fail. This approach ensured that tenants had at least 75 percent of their elevators working at any time, just as they had for the last 40 years. Through a bid process, BOCA Group secured and coordinated highly creative and skilled technicians and craftsmen to upgrade the elevator cabs, standardize and replace the existing elevator equipment, and partition and fire-proof the machine room.

OUTCOME

BOCA Group was able to obtain extremely low pricing on equipment and labor, keeping the project well under budget. The elevator modernization has completely revitalized the building, giving the tenants four reliable elevators and dramatically reducing elevator downtime. Wirtz Realty Corp. now pays less to maintain its four modern elevators than it did to maintain only three aging elevators, and is able to provide a more attractive residential property for current and potential tenants.

Let BOCA Group take your facility to the next level! Contact us

CHALLENGE

A New York investment firm purchased and set out to renovate the 30-year-old Omni Complex, a three-city-block complex of buildings that includes the Hilton Miami Downtown as well as a five-story office building and a large shopping center to be converted to mixed-use office and retail space.

As part of the renovation, the property owner needed an experienced elevator consulting company to evaluate internal transportation needs, modernize existing equipment and install new elevator equipment – all without disrupting hotel guests or the functionality of the fully operational parking facility. A key goal was to improve traffic handling to the hotel’s lower conference floors and ballrooms, which needed fast, convenient access when hosting large conventions.

The modernization and installation project was complicated by hidden structural challenges that became apparent during work on the aging facility, requiring modification of installation plans to preserve the existing structure of the complex.

WHAT WAS DONE

The property owner sought an elevator consulting firm with a track record of success with larger projects, and selected BOCA Group to assist with the elevator modernization and new equipment installation.

BOCA Group began by surveying the entire property, then provided specific recommendations for the modernization of existing elevators and the addition of new elevators where needed. In conjunction with the property owner’s design group, BOCA Group created plans for:

• The modernization of nine passenger elevators, one freight elevator, and three service elevators in the hotel
• The modernization of two existing traction passenger elevators in the parking garage, plus the installation of three new traction passenger elevators
• The modernization of two traction passenger elevators in the office complex, plus the installation of four new glass-back observation traction elevators, one new hydraulic passenger elevator, and one new service elevator
• The installation of one new hydraulic service elevator in the mall area that was converted to office and retail space

BOCA Group provided project management services throughout the three-year installation and modernization process, handling the entire bid process, contractor interviews, drawing approvals and construction oversight.

OUTCOME

After the modernization and installation was completed at the end of 2010, the hotel was upgraded to a four-star rating from its prior two-star rating. New elevator equipment made the ballrooms more convenient and readily accessible from the rest of the complex, improving the hotel’s conference business. The parking garage improved its leasing rate from approximately 100 cars a day to near capacity on a daily basis. And the office building had improved its leasing ratio to 75 percent of capacity even before the elevator work was complete.

Let BOCA Group take your facility to the next level! Contact us

CHALLENGE

Behringer Harvard was struggling to manage elevator maintenance for a 70-property real estate investment trust spanning 13 cities: All 70 properties had separate maintenance contracts, with differing service specifications and pricing defined by their respective maintenance providers. These contracts were generally written to each provider’s advantage, and tracking and managing them was a hassle, creating internal expense for the company while allowing service providers too much opportunity to “nickel and dime” Behringer Harvard for non-contracted repairs.

Behringer Harvard needed a firm with deep elevator expertise to evaluate each building’s equipment, write owner-focused maintenance specifications for each of the properties, renegotiate the properties’ maintenance contracts, standardize pricing, and reduce the overall cost of maintaining the REIT buildings’ elevator equipment.

WHAT WAS DONE

Behringer Harvard retained BOCA Group to perform a comprehensive assessment of the elevator maintenance needs for all 70 REIT properties, define an optimal service scope for the REIT, and identify contractors to meet those specifications.

BOCA Group deployed its nationwide resources to conduct simultaneous on-site evaluations of more than 400 elevators at 70 properties in 13 cities, identifying any necessary pre-maintenance repairs and establishing a baseline level of functionality. Using this survey information, BOCA then wrote consistent, owner-focused maintenance specifications, including on-site work hours and billing terms, for all the REIT’s properties. Once the scope of work was defined, BOCA Group conducted a RFP to collect bids from five national elevator maintenance service companies. BOCA Group evaluated the bids and recommended that consolidated maintenance contracts be awarded to two national service providers, creating volume pricing discounts as well as efficiencies in contract management. Once contracts were awarded, BOCA Group assisted with the transition process to ensure that work was done to specifications and building operations were unaffected by the change.

OUTCOME

Behringer Harvard expects to save at least $400,000 each year with the REIT’s new maintenance contracts. By creating new, owner-defined contract terms and specifying on-site work hours, Behringer Harvard has been able to improve the quality of service and virtually eliminate costly non-contracted repairs. Billing is now simple and predictable, reducing contract-management time and associated costs for the client.

BOCA Group continues to be a full-service elevator consulting partner for Behringer Harvard, conducting maintenance evaluations and third-party inspections, along with modernization work and due diligence equipment evaluations to protect the client in its real estate transactions.

Let BOCA Group take your facility to the next level! Contact us