500 W. Madison in Chicago, managed by Transwestern and owned by KBS, was selected as a regional winner of The Outstanding Building of the Year (TOBY) Award. The building, located in the Chicago Loop, will now advance to the international competition, where winners will be announced June 26, 2018, in San Antonio.
“This regional recognition is a testament to the efforts of the management, engineering, security and custodial teams each and every day,” said Micah Larmie, Tranwestern Senior vice president of asset services. “Transwestern is thankful to continue to partner with KBS to operate 500 W. Madison at a level that consistently excels beyond industry standards.”
Constructed in 1987 and designed by Helmut Jahn, 500 W. Madison is a 40-story, 1.46 million-square-foot, mixed-use, LEED Gold-certified building that sits atop the Ogilvie Transportation Center. The building is comprised of nearly 1.4 million square feet of office space and more than 80,000 square feet of retail on the first two levels with over 45 stores and restaurants. The tower is home to more than 90 companies with 6,000 employees.
“We are extremely proud to win this distinguished award and reconition for 500 W. Madison,” said Dan Park, senior vice president at KBS. “This a direct result of the continuous dedication and hardwork our team provides each day to our tenants and customers. We look forward to the upcoming international competition in San Antonio and to be considered among the best buildings from around the world.”
The TOBY Awards are the commercial real estate industry’s highest recognition, honoring excellence in commercial building management and operations in specific categories of building size or type. Judging is based on community impact, tenant and employee relations programs, energy management systems, accessibility, emergency evacuation procedures, building personnel training programs and overall quality indicators. A team of expert industry professionals also conducted comprehensive building inspections. Applicants from Chicago, Suburban Chicago, Columbus, Indianapolis and Metro Detroit competed for the North Central Region TOBY awards, where a total of 16 properties competed in 11 categories.