Fred Shaefer

Fred Shaefer served as BOMA Atlanta’s Executive Secretary from the founding of the association in 1913 to 1948.  

According to the August 13, 1918, issue of The Atlanta Journal, Fred “tendered his resignation as manager of the Flatiron building, and secretary and treasurer of the Atlanta Association of Building Owners and Managers, to enter the work of the war Y. M. C. A. He will report to the ‘Y’ training school at Blue Ridge, N.C., on August 28 and after a three week’s course will be assigned duty in one of the home camps.” With World War I ending a few months later, Fred was soon welcomed back to his position serving the Atlanta Association of Building Owners and Managers.

Fred was instrumental in creating the infrastructure of BOMA Atlanta. Maintaining effective and timely communication among BOMA members was one of his top priorities. As a result, he wrote and distributed the association’s first newsletter. In the August 1940 newsletter, he wrote, “Atlanta continues in the eyes of the business world as the ideal location to reach the south’s territory. In the heart of the south, with unexcelled climate conditions, 15 trunk line railroads reaching out into all sections, and the best of office building accommodations are attractions that’s winning new firms from every section of the nation.” This quote also highlights the interconnectedness between BOMA Atlanta and the economic development of the metropolitan Atlanta region.  

During the February 25-26, 1946, BOMA Southern Conference, held in Jackson, Mississippi, Fred was presented with life membership in the conference. The inscription on his life membership sterling card, read, “For Extraordinary Service to the Southern Conference of Building Owners and Managers, Fred Shaefer is Elected a Life Member.” Fred was instrumental in organizing the Southern Conference in 1922 and consistently maintained active involvement in it until his retirement. 

Fred was further recognized by the BOMA Southern Conference three years later. During the twenty-seventh annual Southern Conference of Building Owners and Managers, held March 13-15, 1949, at the Biltmore Hotel in Atlanta, the Monday, March 14 Banquet was named “Fred Shaefer Night” in his honor.  

When Fred retired as BOMA Atlanta Executive Secretary at the end of 1948, it was written in the December 5, 1948 issue of The Atlanta Constitution, “He has worked very closely with this, the largest taxpaying industry in our State, and has rendered the service of his office in many civic undertakings, in addition to working closely with the National Association of Building Owners and Managers in which he made a host of friends throughout the country for himself as well as Atlanta. Mr. Shaefer has seen the office building industry grow steadily from a very humble beginning to its present membership of forty-odd office buildings. As a matter of fact, Atlanta has more office space per capita than any city in the country, New York’s and Chicago’s giant skyscrapers notwithstanding. The membership and hundreds of other friends throughout the country join in wishing Fred Shaefer all the pleasures and comforts that reward a man’s retirement from a job well done.” 

In an article written by William C. Clonts, BOMA Atlanta President, and published in the December 5, 1948, issue of The Atlanta Journal, William wrote, “Thirty-five years ago when Atlanta’s sky line was beginning to take the shape of a metropolitan city, the Atlanta Assn. of Building Owners and Managers was formed to represent the interests of this essential segment of a city’s makeup. Fred Shaefer was then manager of the Georgia Savings Bank Bldg., which still stands as a familiar landmark known as Atlanta’s Flatiron bldg.

“Mr. Shaefer, who was instrumental in the formation of the Building Owners and Managers Assn., became its first executive secretary, a position which he has served well and continuously for these 35 years. He has worked very closely with this, the largest taxpaying industry in the State, and has rendered the service of his office in many civic undertakings, in addition to working closely with the National Assn. of Building Owners and Managers in which he made a host of friends throughout the country for himself as well as Atlanta.

“Mr. Shaefer has seen the office building industry grow steadily from a very humble beginning to its present membership of 40 odd office buildings. Atlanta has more office space per capita than any city in the country, New York’s and Chicago’s giant skyscrapers notwithstanding.”

After his retirement, Fred was recognized again by BOMA Atlanta during the May 11, 1949, BOMA Atlanta annual dinner meeting at the Capital City Club, as reported in the May 15, 1949, issue of The Atlanta Constitution. During the meeting, BOMA Atlanta President William C. Clonts honored Fred by saying, “Our most important task, of course, was occasioned by the loss of the services of perhaps the association’s best friend, faithful Fred Shaefer. Much to the credit of this group, satisfactory retirement provisions were made, and an excellent replacement has been provided. It is indeed encouraging that we still have the presence and counsel of Fred, whose help and confidence we cherish very highly.”   

Fred also served as a member of the College Park, Georgia City Council. He died in October 1954.