Mark Gallman

2019 | Committee Chair of the YearCompany: Highwoods

Mark A. Gallman, SMA, SMT, LEED GA received the 2019 BOMA Georgia Committee Chair of the Year Award. The award was created to recognize job performance as a committee or task force chair, ethics, credibility, professionalism, team building, ability to lead, and support of BOMA during the year. The award recipient was selected by the BOMA Georgia President, in consultation with the Chief Executive Officer. Mark received the award in recognition of serving as chair of the Government Affairs Committee.

“Mark Gallman is a standout among committee leaders,” said Kinsey Hinkson, 2019 BOMA Georgia President. “Not only did he lead his committee with professionalism and inclusivity, he is also one of the most knowledgeable members of BOMA and the real estate industry. He has also been an active participant and leader in many other BOMA Georgia committees, which shows his strong commitment to BOMA.”

“He is a connector, and his ability to string together topics and trends across the committees he serves on is like no other,” said Gabriel Eckert, BOMA Georgia Chief Executive Officer. “An ardent defender of the real estate industry, his work as chair of the Government Affairs Committee insured that the real estate industry’s voice was being heard throughout the legislative process. Because of his efforts, BOMA Georgia is recognized as a reliable resource for elected leaders and officials at the local, state, and national level when considering legislation that impacts the business and real estate communities.”

Mark joined BOMA Georgia in 2006 as a BOMA Technical Organization member, a category of membership created specifically for building engineers. Mark served as chair of the BTO Council in 2011; chair of the Editorial Board in 2015; vice chair of the Government Affairs Committee in 2017 and 2018; and chair of the Government Affairs Committee in 2019. He served as a member of the BOMA Georgia Board of Directors from 2012 to 2013.

Mark was also an active member of several other committees from 2006 to 2020 including the BOMA Technical Organization, High Performance Building Summit Task Force, Foundation Fundraising Task Force, Building Engineering Development Task Force, and Professional Development Council.

Mark also served as a local TOBY judge and as a member of BOMA Georgia’s BOMA 2017 Southern Region Conference Task Force.

Additionally, Mark served as an instructor for several BOMA Georgia courses, including Building Engineering 101, Fundamentals of Property Management, and several one-time seminars and workshops. He also served as an instructor for several courses developed by the Building Owners and Managers Institute International related to the SMT and SMA designation programs. Mark continued to teach several of these courses during his retirement.

He also represented BOMA Georgia as a member of the State of Georgia’s Elevator Advisory Board for several years. The board was created to advance the safety of the citizens of Georgia in all areas as it relates to the general the use of elevators, escalators, moving walks and other elevator related equipment regulated by the Official Code of Georgia Annotated and the Georgia Rules and Regulations; to vote on all variance requests; and to make recommendations to the Office of Insurance and Safety Fire Commissioner.

Mark was also appointed to represent BOMA Georgia on the Atlanta Mayor’s Office of Sustainability Working Group.

In 2011, Mark received the BOMA Atlanta Engineer of the Year Award. He also received the 2015 BOMA Georgia President’s Award.

Mark started his career in commercial real estate after working as a machinist for more than 20 years at companies such as Lockheed Martin, American Standard, Amoco, and Siemens. As a machinist, he acquired many trade skills, including welding; tool and die making; CNC machining; automation and controls; and fluid power technology.

Mark started his career in commercial real estate in November 2001, joining Childress Klein Properties as a Maintenance Mechanic Level II. While at Childress Klein Properties, Mark was part of the management and operations team that won the 2003-2004 BOMA Atlanta TOBY Award in the 100,000 to 249,999 Square Feet Category for the Dupree Building.

In February 2005, Mark joined the staff of Trammel Crow Company, where he worked as a Lead Operating Engineer through January 2007. He was recruited by Trammell Crow to manage operations for Behringer Harvard’s first Atlanta project, Ashford Perimeter, a 288,000 square feet, Class A multi-tenant office building in Atlanta.

From January 2007 to May 2009, Mark worked for Pope and Land Enterprises as an Area Chief Engineer, where he was directly responsible for engineering and maintenance for three main properties: City View, Cumberland Center 1, and Cumberland Center 4. He was also responsible for capital improvements oversight and project management of $5 million for Cumberland Center 1.

Mark then joined the staff of Tishman Speyer Company as a Chief Engineer in May 2009, where he remained until September 2012, where he was primarily responsible for Alliance Center, a 1,044,000 square feet, Class A office complex in Atlanta. There, he maintained LEED Gold Certification for Two Alliance Center and maintained ENERGY STAR certifications for both One Alliance Center and Two Alliance Center.

Mark then joined Highwoods Properties in September 2012 as Regional Maintenance Manager, a position he continued to hold when he received this award. At Highwoods Properties, his primary responsibilities have included oversight of maintenance teams for 2.9 million square feet of Class A commercial high-rise and mid-rise office assets in metropolitan Atlanta’s submarkets of Buckhead and Cumberland, including managing an engineering staff of 14 individuals.

Mark graduated from Chattahoochee Technical College, earning an Air Conditioning Technology Diploma. He earned the Systems Maintenance Technician (SMT) and Systems Maintenance Administrator (SMA) designations from the Building Owners and Managers Institute International. He earned the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Green Associate (LEED GA) from the U.S. Green Building Council. And he was one of the inaugural graduates of the BOMA Atlanta/Chattahoochee Technical College’s Commercial HVAC Certificate Program.