Leadership in Real Estate Asset Management

Caribbean Commercial Real Estate and BOMA

Caribbean Commercial Real Estate and BOMA

International businesses interested in renting office and other commercial space in the Caribbean would greatly appreciate knowing that owners of commercial real estate space in the Caribbean all use the same yardstick for assessing the rental value of their properties.

The Building Owners and Managers Association International (BOMA) was founded in 1907 and has since endeavored to make its floor measurement standards as clear and universally applicable as possible. It is inevitable that some business-related or architectural peculiarities may not be directly addressed by a BOMA floor measurement standard. In such cases, questions may arise on the proper interpretation of a BOMA standard.

The main difference between IPMS for Office Buildings and the various BOMA office standards is that IPMS is designed primarily for valuation purposes and not leasing purposes. One of the key goals of IPMS is to ensure that international investors of property are conducting business on a level playing field. For example, if the exact same building existed in Kingston and Port of Spain, the size of the two buildings would be exactly the same when IPMS for Offices is used.

This equity is not necessarily the case prior to IPMS because a local standard would likely be used in each market, yielding different areas. Requests for interpretation must be submitted in writing to BOMA International by sending an email to floorstandards@boma.org. The Interpretations Subcommittee of the BOMA International Floor Measurement Standards Committee will review all requests for interpretation.

Interpretation requests will receive a written response within 10 business days, and all interpretations will be posted to the BOMA website. Note: The Interpretations Subcommittee will address questions of interpretation only. Neither the Interpretations Subcommittee nor BOMA will respond to general questions that are addressed within the standard itself or provide consulting services.

EHL has been setting the standard for BOMA performance standards across its entire real estate portfolio.