Property managers typically share a frustrating challenge: repetitive tenant inquiries flood their inboxes, while critical information sits buried in scattered project files. Weeding through files and folders manually slows response times, stretches resources thin, and leaves companies struggling to deliver the efficient service that tenants expect.
With a vast portfolio office and high-profile retail lease documents (often spanning hundreds of pages), leading Manhattan commercial real estate company Vornado Realty Trust faced this challenge. Michael Sadowski, SVP of Application Development at Vornado, sought to efficiently manage all this content while improving tenant services and internal workflows.
Key takeaways:
- Vornado cut tenant inquiry response time by 30% using Box AI and Box Hubs
- The company streamlined lease and project management with AI-driven content insights
- Enhanced security and collaboration across properties was achieved through Box Hubs and APIs
Overcoming content chaos in lease management and tenant support
Parking rules? Garbage pickup? Overdue rent payment penalties? Before Vornado tapped into Intelligent Content Management from Box, staff spent a lot of time trying to find answers to questions from within thousands of pages of leases, emails, and other types of unstructured content.
Key data points like rent terms and expansion options for tenants are often deeply buried within folders, and complex projects Vornado manages generate a lot of other content assets like meeting notes and Zoom transcripts that are hard to organize effectively. Within all of this diverse unstructured data lie critical facts and answers.
Security was also a concern. Not every employee at Vornado should have access to every document, and when sharing documents externally with tenants and third parties, Vornado needed to maintain strict access controls. The company needed a robust content platform capable of granular permission settings without compromising ease of use for internal teams.
A secure, flexible partner for Intelligent Content Management
Vornado had been a longtime user of Box as its central content repository, so when Box introduced AI capabilities, it was a natural progression to explore how AI could solve these existing pain points. Sadowski’s team began piloting use cases, including an automated customer service agent powered by Box AI integrated with Microsoft Power Automate. This tool answers common tenant emails by querying FAQ documents stored securely in Box Hubs — replying instantly when confident and deferring tough questions back to humans when not.
Another Vornado AI pilot involves a project management assistant that ingests meeting transcripts and notes from Zoom calls into Box Hubs, then extracts action items automatically — potentially updating project plans without manual input.
We understand well how to provision access to various folders and Box Hubs. Box AI respects all that, in terms of guardrails.
Within these and other AI experiments, Vornado can trust that the content used to train and find answers is securely held in Box. Sadowski shares, “The nice thing is that it leverages Box security that's already been set up. We’ve been a Box customer for a few years, so we understand well how to provision access to various folders and Box Hubs. Box AI respects all that, in terms of guardrails.
30% gains in tenant response times
The results of these AI pilots have been promising so far. Tenant support response times have dropped by 30%, freeing up staff for higher-value tasks. Centralized Box Hubs enable quick access to HR policies and property-specific documents internally. Enhanced security layers ensure safe external collaboration without risk, and workflow automationhints at future gains by automating invoice processing and lease metadata extraction — things that are currently done manually.
Looking ahead, Vornado plans deeper integration between Box’s new workflow tools and its powerful AI agents, aiming for seamless automation across document-heavy processes like invoicing and lease administration. As Sadowski advises, "Just try something small; you’ll learn so much from testing prompts and iterating."
Just try something small; you’ll learn so much from testing prompts and iterating.
This advice resonates beyond real estate, of course, Embracing experimentation unlocks true value from emerging technologies like generative AI embedded within trusted platforms such as Box. With Intelligent Content Management powered by secure cloud infrastructure and innovative AI tools, Vornado Realty Trust is transforming tenant services while streamlining operations behind the scenes — setting a new standard for commercial real estate efficiency in NYC’s competitive market.
Read more about how Vornado builds on Class A content and how other professional services companies use Intelligent Content Management to get their work done faster and better.
