Ellen Lynch: young executive tapped to lead BOMA Westchester.

For Ellen Lynch, being president of BOMA Westchester provides another opportunity to utilize the management and communications expertise she's gathered during her 14 years in the real estate industry.

As Director of Construction and Operating Services for Schulman Realty, and then as Vice President of Albert B. Ashforth, Inc. and Director of Property Operations for EastRidge Properties, Lynch has learned to manage growth, down-sizing, restructuring and success.

"Over the past 10 years, the real estate industry has seen tremendous change, and I've been fortunate to be in a position to learn from those changes and put those lessons to work for both Ashforth and EastRidge Properties," says Lynch.

In fact, she deals with a wide variety of internal and external issues for both companies. EastRidge Properties is a two million square-foot portfolio of 17 commercial office buildings located in four office parks in White Plains; Albert B. Ashforth is the managing agent for EastRidge.

"All aspects of the management process changed when EastRidge and Albert B. Ashforth, Inc. took over the portfolio in 1992," says Lynch. Not only was the portfolio going through change, but so was the industry. "The 70s and 80s had a fast - paced atmosphere. There was an abundance of money, and frankly, less attention was paid to details, reports and analyses. However, the change in the industry brought a greater emphasis on detail and control, and different skills were required for success," says Lynch.

Lynch had the right skills, and as a result, the change afforded her several opportunities that she probably would have been unable to take advantage of had she not been in the middle of the transition. Those who could manage a variety of projects did well, and Lynch was among them.

"I found myself working for an institutional owner for the first time and that's a very different focus," say Lynch. "In this case, it has been a very exciting assignment because it's been a turnaround project. I've had the opportunity to be instrumental in re-developing and releasing a portfolio which had become outdated in its presentation to the market and, as a result, had high vacancy rates."

Lynch gets involved with lease negotiations for EastRidge, working to ensure that deal terms are operationally possible and that time-frames for construction are reasonable. "We are expected to deliver a constructed space and on-going building services on behalf of the landlord. It's important to the future relationship with the tenant that their expectations are realistic," says Lynch.

Once a deal is struck, there are a variety of people from Lynch's department involved in getting the space built on time and on budget, and then moving the tenant in to the space. Lynch oversees these steps in the EastRidge process and is pleased with how the process has worked for the past four years. "We have worked to effectively adapt the process in response to changes in size and volume of the deals, the nature and needs of tenants, building code requirements and even federal legislation," she says.

While constant change can be one of the hardest things to manage, Lynch has found the changes at Ashforth to be interesting because they are the result of exciting growth. From 1991 - 1996, The Ashforth Company has expanded from 118 employees to its current count of 190, including its newest office in Portland, Oregon.

The growing number of employees in different geographic locations presents a challenge to Ashforth management. "I am fortunate to be directly involved in managing that long-term growth for the company," she says. Lynch works with a team of department heads to develop policy, integrate the offices, disseminate information, and even bring the corporate culture into the 90s by introducing summer hours, dress-down days and telecommuting, all of which, she says, have had a positive impact on employees and morale.

Lynch has been a factor in implementing positive change for both companies. "It has been very gratifying to be involved with the EastRidge Property portfolio and be a part of the transition and ultimate success of those buildings," she says. "The portfolio offers tenants amenities that companies can't find anywhere else, and the result is happy tenants and nearly full buildings."

Lynch will use her strong management and communications skills to further the mission of BOMA Westchester. "We want to take the organization to a new level by increasing the principal members and the numbers of first-line and second-line managers involved in the chapter," she says. "If we get them involved early in their careers, they will grow with the group and take it into the future." She also believes by increasing the membership base and thus the operational funds, BOMA will be able to provide more educational programs.

BOMA currently provides information and education on new regulations concerning telecommunications, clean air, transportation and safety, to name a few. The organization is responsible for ensuring members are aware of the building owner's obligations under the law.

"Aside from legal and regulatory concerns, we must focus on effectively and efficiently running our businesses," Lynch says. "Staying on top of advances in technology and management techniques are critical to success in every business, and real estate management is no exception. You must be an educated professional to survive. With a greater membership base and more funds, we will be able to provide diverse programs and afford members an opportunity to share information and learn from each other."

So while she already wears many hats. Ellen Lynch's leadership and team-building skills should prove valuable to BOMA Westchester, and thus to the Westchester commercial real estate market, as she wears one more hat for the next two years.