Page 8 - New England Condominium May EXPO 2019

8 NEW ENGLAND CONDOMINIUM — MAY 2019 NEWENGLANDCONDO.COM E very member of a community as- sociation has a vested interest in the appearance of their property, both inside and out. Residents see the inside of their building every day, so it matters that it’s visually appealing. Equally importantly, they have a large financial stake in their unit, and the aesthetic quality of the sur- rounding common spaces adds value to the unit itself. But when it comes to making decisions about how those shared common spaces are to be decorated, there is such a thing as too many cooks spoiling the broth. For this reason – and to keep remodeling and renovation projects focused on time and within budget – some associations choose to establish a separate design committee to helm projects and guide them through completion. Design committees usually consist of members with some experience in the field, or who just have a keen eye for color, décor, and what makes a space appeal to a broad array of tastes. These committees work with the board, man- agement, residents and outside vendors to make the design choices for the building, and can occasionally command a portion of the association budget. So it makes sense to establish a transparent process by which decisions are made, resources allo- cated, and experts consulted. Managing a Committee While they may have a fair amount of latitude when making decisions, separate committees within an association are still under the supervision of the board and management. As such, managers can help steer a committee in the right direction, and jump in to pump the brakes if things start to drift out of bounds. “Using a committee – or a commission, as they’re often referred to in Chicago – is a very common way of considering inte- rior decorating recommendations and holiday decorations,” says Richard Hiles, Regional Director with Lieberman Man- agement Services, which has offices in Chicago and Elk Grove Village, Illinois. “It’s a great way to engage a small amount of owners to make recommendations out- side of the board.” “In my experience, the board may call their support groups ‘committees,’ but in reality they are commissions, which have no authority to disburse funds,” adds Claudia Oberthier, Regional Direc- tor with Associa Chicagoland in Scha- umburg, Illinois. “The commission meets with vendors, basically doing all of the research, and then presents any propos- als to the board for approval during a board meeting. The manager is the li- aison between the commission and the board. I always recommend that the fewer people involved with choosing colors and themes, the better. And, should there be a designer on hand, the board should abso- lutely listen to that professional’s recom- mendations.” It helps to have a specific charter that delineates a design committee’s scope of responsibility as approved by the board. “If the board-approved scope is only carpet, paint, or adding or replacing fur- niture, those recommendations can usu- ally be handled internally without outside help,” notes Hiles. “If the scope of work involves an entirely new aesthetic or a re- model, then the committee should engage several designers and recommend their best options to the board. Unfortunately, there is no clear threshold as to when one should hire a designer. Several factors must be considered before making that choice. “Interior design is an aspect of our in- dustry where you must start off with the mindset that you cannot please everyone,” Hiles continues. “Someone is going to hate whatever it is that you do! A commit- tee should offer its recommendations to the board, and the board should make the final decision. That being said, mock-up designs are often displayed to owners at annual meetings and other special gather- ings for public comment. While ultimate- ly the decision belongs to the board, it is always good to get a general feeling from the membership.” Committees in Collaboration Hugh Shaffer, General Manager at Harbor Towers in Boston, is currently fin- ishing up a lobby renovation project that involved the input of a commercial archi- tectural firm working alongside the asso- ciation’s design committee. “\\\\\\\[The architectural firm\\\\\\\] met with our trustees and came up with various sugges- tions,” Shaffer recalls. “For this project, we went down to a design center and looked through their facility, sat on couches, put our feet up on ottomans... just tested things for comfort. Based on that experi- ence, the architects suggested types of fur- niture that might be appropriate for our lobby. They also put together plans and specs for wall coverings – we eventually went with Italian marble. But the firm ba- sically led all of the discussions. “We asked them, as a committee and managing agent, to prepare presentation boards for the residents,” he continues. “We then had a meeting of all the resi- dents in which we discussed the planned renovations and gave them an opportu- nity to offer feedback and input, which actually had a clear effect on some of the things the vendor was going to do. “One issue that we did have – if there’s one learning curve aspect of this that I can impart – is that we found out a good way into the project that some of the furniture we’d picked out was not up to the standard fire code, based on the type of fire systems we have in this particular property,” Shaf- fer adds. “So you have to make sure that everything you acquire is up to local and national ordinances.” The Design Side Architects, interior designers, and oth- er relevant professionals have all dealt with their fair share of community association design committees, for better or worse. As such, they’ve developed best practices for how to collaborate with an association’s internal team most effectively. “I’ve worked with numerous commu- nity association boards, and it’s been a mixed bag,” says Wayne Turett, Principal of The Turett Collaborative in New York Design by Committee Using Design Committees for Common Area Projects BY MIKE ODENTHAL DESIGN ISTOCKPHOTO.COM continued on page 38