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— Property Management Quarterly — February 2015
by Michelle Z. Askeland
If you look at Daunine Mandar-
ich’s professional bio as a senior
real estate manager with CBRE,
the extensive list of duties reads
similar to many property managers’
responsibilities. However, it’s her
approach and attitude, which are
hidden between the line items, that
helped Mandarich rise through the
management ranks. The 38-year-
old mother of two oversees more
than 685,000 rentable square feet
of office property in two buildings
in the Union Station District, as
well as a six-story parking garage.
Her hard work, constant drive for
improvement and genuine approach
to work, all of which stem from her
love of the job, factor into her suc-
cess.
Talk to Mandarich for any length
of time and it’s not hard to recog-
nize the passion she feels for her
building, 1900 Sixteenth St., which
she jokingly refers to as “her baby,”
and how she sees her multitenant
office building leading the way in
sustainability efforts in Colorado.
The self-described architecture
junkie takes a lot of pride in the
building’s uniqueness and innova-
tions. “It’s a David Tryba design,
it’s a development from Trammell
Crow Co., you have something that’s
considered a designer label in this
industry and this time,” she said.
“Architecture tells a story, and Tram-
mell Crow Co. and David Tryba are
building our story in this day and
age. It’s an amazing thing to be a
part of.”
As soon as the
building was
turned over from
the developer five
years ago, Man-
darich became the
property’s senior
manager. At that
time, the building
was essentially
just core and shell.
She and Roger
Bell, CBRE chief
building engineer, were the only two
people there on a daily basis.
“I spent the first two winters
wearing layers upon layers,” Man-
darich said with a laugh, recalling
the time she worked in the build-
ing’s core and shell units that were
kept at just above freezing before
the offices were complete.
Her first responsibilities at 1900
Sixteenth St. came with a variety
of challenges. She worked on the
construction plans, lease forms,
building design guidelines, LEED
spec requirements, and dealt with
building signage, including stop sign
placement and pedestrian cross-
walks. “I even had to set up the
address for the building,” she said.
“I did so many really bizarre things
that you normally would never do. It
was a whole different environment
and experience compared to now
that it’s occupied.”
These types of new challenges are
new opportunities in Mandarich’s
eyes. “I see it as education that no
one can take away from you once
you have it,” she said.
With that same approach, Man-
darich fully embraced the sustain-
ability vision set out by the building
ownership, which saw that the core
and shell of the tower was built for
LEED Gold certification. CBRE’s leas-
ing team and management team,
under Mandarich, helped ensured
that all 21 of the building tenants
are 100 percent LEED certified for
commercial interior.
In September, the building crossed
a major milestone in sustainabil-
ity, becoming the first multitenant
office building in Colorado to gain
Platinum LEED certification. The tri-
fecta of LEED certifications set 1900
Sixteenth St. further apart. “We’re
the first known in existence globally
to have all three distinctions,” she
said.
In search for this achievement’s
recognition, Mandarich has set her
eyes on the 2015 prize: Building
Owners and Managers Association’s
Outstanding Building of the Year
Earth Award. “The Earth award is
the most interesting to us because
we have a huge dedication to sus-
tainability and being green.”
Never one to shy away from more
work, Mandarich organized a lunch
with other property managers who
have gone through or judged previ-
ous TOBY awards. At the lunch, she
made a confession: “I just want to
do it, and I just want to win,” she
said with a laugh. “I treasure this
building. It’s my baby and there’s
been such a commitment to this.
It deserves the recognition. It’s my
job to put it on that stage. We have
a story to tell that most people any-
where can’t tell.”
The LEED Platinum certification
was Mandarich’s team’s goal for
2014. She smiles when talking about
what her team will think about the
TOBY goal for this year. “I think it’s
important to stretch your team out-
side what one might consider, and
do things that are not necessarily
expected,” she said. “When the team
stretches together, you become a
stronger team. We’re building every-
one’s resumes together.”
Always Improving
Mandarich manages a team of
eight people, with plans to add one
more once an on-site manager is
hired for the Gates Building. The
Gates Building is a second build-
ing on the Bentall Kennedy campus
Mandarich now manages.
Judy Duran, director of CBRE asset
services, is Mandarich’s boss. Duran
oversees properties for several own-
ers and spends her time among
the properties. Mandarich says
she enjoys when Duran is at their
office. “I appreciate having another
set of eyes,” she said. “The more I
have Judy, the better it is. The more
insight I get, the better the results
will be.”
Complacency is an enemy that
Mandarich is always trying to
defeat, be it within her team, her
buildings or her professional rela-
tionships. After being appointed
manager of the Gates Building in
April, she quickly went about bring-
ing the building up to her standards.
“A portion of the assignment is to
synchronize the teams,” she said.
“We have weekly staff meetings that
alternate buildings and we’re really
working to feel the benefit of hav-
ing both buildings operate together.
When the ownership decided to
give the building to us, we were
delighted because it says we must
be doing something right at 1900.”
After taking over management,
there was a snafu with the fire
alarm drill at the new building –
namely that the communications
plan between the two buildings had
not been fully vetted, the on-site
manager was not in the building
at the time, and Mandarich was
unaware the drill was taking place.
“We have resolved the issue by get-
ting all of us the same radios,” she
said. “We now have that instant
gratification of being on the same
page at the same time.”
While those in place at the time
of the drill handled it fine, the drill
exposed a weakness that could ding
her credibility and that bothered
her, she said. “There’s always some-
thing that we can do better,” she
said. “We’re always evolving, and
you learn from your mistakes more
than anything else, and we’re all
better for it. I love to be the forerun-
ner of stuff we do, but I won’t claim
that we’re perfect.”
She didn’t stop at buying new
radios though. She’s working with
the tenant’s safety specialist to go
over the fire drill plans. It’s impor-
tant for her to know all the fire-
related plans, including evacuation
plans, backup plans and training
plans, she said. From there, she’s
working to make the two buildings’
plans as cohesive and streamlined
as possible.
Under her leadership, 1900 Six-
teenth St. worked with a California-
Profile
Daunine
Mandarich
1900 Sixteenth St. is a multitenant office building in the Union Station District.
The David Tryba-designed building was recently certified LEED Platinum Existing
Operations and Maintenance.
