M|O Perspectives
Check back here for our thoughts on the latest developments in our industry.
Older vs. newer buildings: What’s really better–and why?
May 31, 2019
Many people will tell you that buildings aren’t built the way they used to be. What does that really mean? And what do professionals in the field believe? Yes, it’s true, of course, that things we did decades ago are very different today. Just like about everything else, building technology has...
Staying on top of common accessibility fails–to avoid noncompliance …and lawsuits
Apr 12, 2019
An old proverb goes, "an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure." As a building owner or operator, you know that accessibility-related lawsuits are not an everyday problem–but they happen frequently enough that you need to be on guard to protect against the expensive possibility of...
When cheap isn't cheap
Feb 01, 2019
I broke a Christmas gift on Christmas day. Actually, I broke part of a gift. I broke a plastic bucket filled with automotive cleaning supplies from a well-known, high quality company. When I went to put the bucket filled with bottles of fluids and micro-fiber rags into the garage closet, the very...
Why construction costs are on the (exponential) rise
Dec 13, 2018
Well before new construction projects break ground, we at Marx|Okubo are often asked to get involved in order to better and more proactively inform owners and lenders. We see a wide range of documentation on nearly every project, ranging from drawings and schedules to contracts and leases and...
Resilience: Proactive considerations will go a long way
Nov 15, 2018
More and more of our clients are asking, “How does my property stack up against others?...What can we do to increase our chances of avoiding new construction problems?...And what can we add to this existing building to improve its resilience?” If you are not aware of what building resilience is, or...
Healthy balcony. Happy balcony.
Sep 17, 2018
Shortly after midnight on June 16, 2015 in Berkeley, California, three men and three women were killed when the balcony they were standing on collapsed. Seven others were injured and, ultimately, a multimillion-dollar lawsuit ensued and was settled by parties involved in the construction and...
Top 4 budget fails to avoid
Aug 22, 2018
Ask anyone involved in developing or building a construction project these days, and most likely they will tell you that one of their biggest challenges is staying in budget. In many cases, the costs are simply higher than developers and investors expected or planned for. Budget issues are...
The lowest hanging fruit
Jul 30, 2018
These days many people will tell you that sustainability has spread far enough across the building owner and manager communities that all the “low hanging fruit” is gone. The low hanging fruit being discussed is a reference to energy conservation measures (ECMs) that building owners undertake to...
Adaptability prevails. In design. In investments. In life.
May 29, 2018
“It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent that survives. It is the one that is most adaptable to change.” –Charles Darwin _ (As appears in NAREIM Dialogues Spring issue, 2018)_ A fallacy of many of today's intelligent sustainable buildings is the inability of...
Understanding impacts of the Access Code Collaborative (ACC)
Apr 02, 2018
Marx|Okubo Senior Associate Soojin Hur has been selected as one of the charter members of the Access Code Collaborative (ACC), a diverse stakeholder group representing building/facility owners, so we wanted to take a moment to raise some awareness and encourage participation. The ACC was created by...