July 2021

Senior Director Named Real Estate Executive for the Americas

BOSTON – July 22, 2021 – The Boston office of Cresa, the world’s largest commercial real estate firm representing tenants exclusively, and Margulies Perruzzi (MP), one of New England’s most innovative architectural and interior design firms, congratulate Rich Bettina, senior director of leasing for Fresenius Medical Care North America (FMC) on being named the Real Estate Executive for the Americas by CoreNet New England.

The End User Leadership Award is designed to recognize a North America CoreNet Global New England member who provides leadership to the success of the corporate real estate industry and of their department, team, and company. Rich was nominated by Marc Margulies, FAIA, LEED AP, principal and senior partner at Margulies Perruzzi, and Tim Myllykangas, managing principal at Cresa.

“I have worked closely with Rich since he joined FMC as the Director of Transaction Management – Lease Renewals for North America in 2018. It is truly impressive what he has done in such a short time,” said Tim. “Rich has a unique skill set not seen in most corporate real estate executives. Beyond basic real estate strategy and portfolio management, he has a strong knowledge and understanding of how to navigate successfully through the many management layers in a very complex and large organization. He quickly maps out the landscape of top stakeholders, builds relationships at key levels, and comes up with a plan to improve strategy, process and measurable results for the company.”

Richard A. Bettina is an experienced professional with over 30 years of director-level management experience in North America, Latin America, and Asia Pacific for companies such as FMC, Dell/EMC, Teradyne, and IBM. Rich has demonstrated expertise in corporate real estate across all aspects of portfolio management including site expansions and consolidations, lease transactions, project management, and facilities services.

“Just as the COVID-19 pandemic hit, FMC was in the early stages of the complete transformation of its 2.6 million SF of non-clinical workspace under Rich’s direction,” said Marc. “Recognizing the enormous opportunity presented by dozens of lease expirations and underutilized sites across the US, Rich assembled a team to investigate consolidation efficiencies that would simultaneously improve collaboration and flexibility. Pivoting rapidly in response to COVID, Rich redirected his team to build leadership and staff consensus around a fully unassigned, highly remote workplace, dubbed the “Future of Work” at FMC.”

Fresenius is the world’s largest integrated provider of products and services for individuals undergoing dialysis because of chronic kidney failure. Recently promoted to senior director of leasing for North America, Rich is responsible for over 3,000 clinic and office sites and for negotiating 380 lease transactions annually. He manages 20 employees who direct and manage office lease renewals, site consolidations, and all aspects of dispositions throughout North America. Rich works directly with all company executives including eight General Managers and 40 Regional Vice Presidents with ~ 30 million SF across 3,500 locations.

“I’m extremely grateful for the opportunity to receive this award which was only achievable by teaming up our Fresenius employees with hand-picked industry partners as part of our “Corporate Core team”. This core team was developed prior to the pandemic and was initially focused on utilization metrics for portfolio optimization,” said Rich. “The arrival of COVID-19 and its effects on the workplace enabled this team to shift priorities and accelerate its efforts toward Future of Work modelling led by our director of corporate facilities and construction, Scott Silva. This team’s motivation caused it to excel on all fronts, ensuring our real estate and facilities teams were well positioned to meet the needs of our employees and our company.”

Rich received a Bachelor of Science from Northeastern University and an MBA in Strategic Business Management from Pace University. An active member of CoreNet New England, Rich has served on the Board of Directors and as a Real Advantage committee member and liaison to the board. Outside of the office he is active with Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central Mass./MetroWest.

BOSTON – July 20, 2021 – Margulies Perruzzi (MP), one of New England’s most innovative architectural and interior design firms, has taken an active role working with health care clients to meet the demands of the COVID-19 pandemic and recently worked with Lahey Hospital & Medical Center (LHMC) in Burlington, Mass., to create a 3,100 SF COVID-19 testing lab.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, hospitals and providers across the Commonwealth worked in numerous capacities to respond to COVID-19, caring for thousands of patients, re-configuring care settings, and endlessly innovating to meet the rapidly changing demands of this pandemic. Throughout this time, hospitals needed to find new ways to meet the growing demands for COVID-19 testing and analysis and support the achievement of the Commonwealth’s goals to grow testing capacity in the state, which was critical to ensuring robust diagnostic testing and surveillance of the spread of the disease.

Lahey Hospital & Medical Center, a world-renowned tertiary medical center known for its innovative technology, pioneering medical treatment and leading-edge research, committed to more than doubling its existing COVID-19 testing capacity to meet the demand. The renovation of existing lab space created a new expanded COVID-19 testing lab with rapid throughput testing capabilities of up to 11,100 tests per day that would allow specimens to be resulted in 24 hours or less.

“To make a project like this happen requires an enormous amount of collaboration and alignment to ensure the entire team is working together to meet the project goals,” said Bob Humenn, AIA, director of healthcare strategy at Margulies Perruzzi. “The project team worked closely with LHMC to be sure the lab design would meet their current testing needs as well as future testing requirements.”

Margulies Perruzzi and Columbia Construction worked with LHMC to create a COVID-19 testing lab designed to accommodate new and larger equipment. The design/construction team was challenged to complete the COVID-19 testing lab as quickly as possible to meet the immediate needs for COVID-19 testing during the pandemic. Multiple sites on- and off-campus were explored, and it was determined that creating the COVID-19 testing lab within the main campus laboratory would have the greatest capital and operational cost efficiency. This approach could also be built in the shortest time because the mechanical infrastructure was already in place. The challenge with this option was restrictions on planning based on available space in the existing lab. Creating sufficient contiguous space needed for the Thermofisher testing equipment involved multiple moves of existing lab services and required renovation within an existing functioning laboratory. There were several strategies to accelerate the process, including team working sessions for material approvals and finishes flexibility to work with materials more readily available. Utilizing quick ship options for materials with unavoidably long lead times and using movable lab furniture to provide more flexibility for delivery, assembling and installation.

“LHMC moved quickly during the pandemic to meet the urgent demand for testing services. It was important that the lab could process a lot of tests quickly, but the space needed to be efficient and functional also. The design and construction teams helped us achieve our goals by taking a more proactive role to address issues immediately as they arose to ensure the new lab could open quickly for the benefit of our patients, colleagues and physicians,” said Michael Slejzer, director of planning, design and construction at LHMC.

Project team members include:

Architect/Laboratory Planning: Margulies Perruzzi
Construction Manager: Columbia Construction
Owner’s Project Manager: Lehrer Cummings
MEP/FP: BR+A
Commissioning: CMTA

About Margulies Perruzzi

As one of New England’s top architectural and interior design firms, Margulies Perruzzi (MP) designs Workplace, Health, Science, and Real Estate projects that inspire and nurture human endeavor. More information may be found at https://mparchitectsboston.com.