Facility maintenance has been turned on its head.

Office buildings are sitting nearly empty waiting for tenants to return, multifamily complexes are suddenly dealing with hundreds of residents who are home all day, and building owners across commercial real estate are facing unique maintenance challenges as they work to keep their buildings safe and operational.

“Right now, building owners need to do everything they can to help tenants feel safe,” Owens Realty Services President and CEO Robert D. Owens said. “This means they need the right people in place who can ensure that the ventilation systems are working properly, surfaces are being properly disinfected and the facility is meeting the highest standards.”

At a time when many building owners are looking for ways to cut costs, hiring a new in-house team or retraining existing staff can be time-consuming and expensive. Owners need knowledgeable and financially minded facility management executives on-site, which Owens said is a rarity in most buildings. His solution is to hire accredited professionals to manage these complex facilities, which is their core competency.

Owens said that facility management and maintenance professionals have the knowledge and experience to optimize financial performance and building operations, knowledge that a company's in-house staff may not have. Owens Realty Service employs a team of maintenance experts that can come in and handle everything from equipment repairs to energy-saving measures to janitorial services, keeping buildings running at optimum performance, all while saving owners money.

“On average, our team saves clients 10% to 20% in facility operating expenses while at the same time improving operations,” Owens said. “Our team understands the importance of excellent ‘curb appeal,’ effective preventive maintenance and disinfecting strategy, and strict security protocols.”

He said that the company takes an asset management approach to facility maintenance that is based around financial performance and preventive maintenance, ensuring that equipment is maintained correctly, to protect warranties and to prolong life cycles.

When the New York State Office of General Services had 1.4M SF of buildings that needed to be maintained, it turned to Owens to get the job done. The company put a maintenance plan in place that saved the state $2.73 per SF. The five-year net savings totaled over $3M, and to date, Owens has saved New York $8M in operational costs over a nine-year term. Along with that, the company’s energy conservation efforts led to the buildings achieving Energy Star Rating Certifications approved by the Environmental Protection Agency.

Owens has worked with several sophisticated real estate portfolios in both the public and private sectors, including professional athletic facilities, world-renowned family theme parks in Central Florida and the city of Orlando.

Owens believes that building owners, especially those who operate a business out of those buildings, have too much to focus on to have to role in facility maintenance. By outsourcing to professionals, these owners can focus on their business operations.

“Many building owners hire and manage their own maintenance teams, but that can be very inefficient,” Owens said. “We can come in and say, ‘You should be focusing on your business, your clients and your area of expertise. Let a company that lives and breathes facility management, that knows all the best practices, focus on keeping your building running.’”

He compared working with Owens’ facility maintenance to outsourcing any other part of a business, such as IT or staffing. While companies can create in-house teams to handle these parts of the business, if they don’t have the expertise to train or manage them properly, things won’t run efficiently.

Owens added that on average, the company achieves cost savings of $1 per SF for its clients.

“As asset managers and facility managers, we understand the importance of implementing industry best practices to establish maximum life cycles for critical capital investments,” Owens said. “Our goal is to provide a healthy and safe environment for all building tenants and visitors, all while creating substantial cost savings.”

This feature was produced in collaboration between the Bisnow Branded Content Studio and Owens Realty Services. Bisnow news staff was not involved in the production of this content.