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Contributed by GP PRO

Sage Realty, the leasing and management division of the William Kaufman Organization (WKO), is demonstrating a commitment to tenant experience by deploying GP PRO’s KOLO Smart Monitoring System across more than 400 restrooms in its three-million-square-foot Class A office building portfolio.

The KOLO Smart Monitoring System is a wireless communication platform that alerts facility managers and custodians in real time when something in a restroom needs their immediate attention, which helps to improve hygiene, sustainability, and tenant satisfaction as well as labor productivity. Through connected GP PRO paper towel, bath tissue, soap and sanitizer dispensers, the KOLO System sends notifications about dispenser issues and product levels to help avoid outages, reduce waste, improve custodian satisfaction and ensure a positive tenant experience. Through a task management capability, the KOLO System also sends alerts about specific enhanced cleaning and sanitizing tasks to be completed.

“At Sage, we pride ourselves on having one of the most progressive cleaning programs in the office industry through our use of smart technologies,” says Jonathan Iger, Sage CEO. “Our commitment to sustainability is backed by our GBAC STAR accreditation, which we were one of the first office buildings in New York City to receive. It was an easy choice to partner with GP PRO to offer its KOLO Smart Monitoring System throughout our office portfolio because it provides us with the data needed to improve efficiencies, reduce costs, and save valuable time for our facility managers and custodians so that they can work more efficiently.”

Scott Mager, chairman and CEO of PBM, LLC (Perfect Building Maintenance), the janitorial cleaning firm servicing the Sage portfolio, agreed. 

“The alerts and notifications from the KOLO System help my staff prioritize and manage their time so that instead of chasing down potential problems, they are performing more in-depth cleaning tasks to help give tenants a better experience overall,” he says. “The depth of data and analytics the system collects gives me insight not only into my staff’s productivity but also into how much waste is being reduced, how many product outages are being eliminated, and even which restrooms see the most traffic and need the most servicing.”

Sage’s New York City portfolio includes six different facilities. GP PRO’s KOLO System is currently installed in 1,857 towel, tissue, soap and sanitizer dispensers across 426 restrooms throughout all six properties.

According to Sage’s Director of Tenant Experience Alec Fomin, it was early in the COVID pandemic that Sage saw an opportunity to further differentiate its commitment to tenant satisfaction by putting an even greater emphasis on cleanliness, sanitation, and enhanced safety inside its properties and selected GP PRO and its KOLO Smart Monitoring System to help deliver on those priorities.

“Our investment in the KOLO Smart Monitoring System is greatly supporting our commitment to continually improve the experience of the tenants and employees throughout Sage’s office spaces. This is an exciting addition to Sage's growing list of procedures and products ensuring we continue to provide a healthier and more sustainable environment for current and future tenants,” says Fomin.

Deploying an interconnected smart restroom technology system across six properties in the heart of New York City is no easy undertaking, says John Strom, vice president and general manager of GP PRO’s Connected Solutions. But despite the challenges, Sage has been successful. 

"Sage had the incredible foresight to recognize the benefits that improving technology would provide,” says Strom. “As a result, Sage has set a new bar, a very high bar, in terms of what it means to be a leader in property management, and it’s our great pleasure to be a part of that effort.”