Entering Your Building
Entering Your Building Into TOBY
The TOBY® Awards: Recognizing excellence in commercial real estate.
The Outstanding Building of the Year (TOBY®) Awards are the commercial real estate industry's most prestigious and comprehensive recognition program, honoring excellence in building management, operations, and tenant service.
The competition begins at the local association level and progresses through regional and international competition, recognizing the industry's highest-performing buildings and management teams.
Why Enter?
Benchmark. Improve. Be recognized.
Participating in the TOBY® Awards gives property management teams the opportunity to evaluate building performance, benchmark operations, and receive meaningful feedback from experienced industry professionals.
Benefits include:
- A structured, comprehensive review of building operations
- Objective scoring and feedback from industry peers
- Constructive insights that support continuous improvement
- The ability to benchmark performance year over year
- Recognition among the commercial real estate community
- Competition within comparable building categories for fair evaluation
The TOBY Choice Awards: A practical first step toward TOBY recognition
Recognizing that not every property is ready to pursue the full BOMA International TOBY® competition, BOMA Fort Lauderdale/Palm Beach created the TOBY Choice Awards—a pre-qualifying program that offers many of the same educational and professional benefits in a more accessible format.
The program follows evaluation criteria closely aligned with BOMA International standards, but does not require BOMA 360 designation or written narratives.
What to Expect: An organized, fair, and educational judging process
Each property is evaluated by a trained panel of volunteer judges made up of experienced property managers and service providers. Every judge is screened for conflicts of interest before category assignments are made.
Property tours are typically scheduled in late August or early September. During the site visit, judges independently evaluate key areas of building management, including:
- Life Safety & Security
- Risk Management
- Training & Education
- Energy & Environmental Sustainability
- Tenant Relations
- Community Involvement
After all site visits are complete, judging scores are compiled to determine each category winner.
Recognition & Advancement: Celebrate excellence and continue the journey.
TOBY Choice Award winners are recognized during BOMA Fort Lauderdale/Palm Beach's annual TOBY Choice Awards Gala.
Properties meeting BOMA International eligibility requirements may continue through the official TOBY competition, advancing from the local level to regional and ultimately international competition.
Resources to help you succeed.
Entering the TOBY® Awards doesn't have to be overwhelming. Throughout the competition, BOMA Fort Lauderdale/Palm Beach offers TOBY Prep sessions, networking opportunities, and guidance designed to help your team prepare with confidence and gain valuable insight into the judging process.
For more information about the TOBY Awards process or entering your property, please contact Marty Busekrus.
Latest TOBY News
Call for Entry Now Open
The 2026-2027 TOBY® Choice Awards Call for Entries is now open. Submission requirements, eligibility details, and official entry manuals are available below. We strongly encourage all entrants to begin preparing their submissions as early as possible.
Building Categories
- Earth
- Industrial
- Mixed-Use
- Public Assembly
- Renovated Building
- Office Building Categories
- Under 100,000 Square Feet
- 100,000–249,999 Square Feet
- 250,000–499,999 Square Feet
- 500,000–1 Million Square Feet
- Over 1 Million Square Feet
- Suburban Office Park – Low-Rise
- Suburban Office Park – Mid-Rise
- Historical Building
- Corporate Facility
- Medical Office Building
- Life Science
- Retail Categories
- Enclosed Mall – Under 1 Million Square Feet
- Enclosed Mall – Over 1 Million Square Feet
- Open Air/Strip Mall
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