As the COVID-19 situation continues to unfold, Cushman & Wakefield’s frontline professionals, including our property management teams, are courageously serving our clients and protecting their investments. In an expected turn of events on March 18, amid the outbreak, Jeremiah Ursenbach, Chief Engineer, truly embodied the “protector” mentality with his swift response to a 5.7 magnitude earthquake that hit Salt Lake City.
Jeremiah was mere feet away from the four class-A high-rise buildings he oversees in downtown Salt Lake City when the earthquake hit. Without a second thought, Jeremiah leaped into action and was in the buildings within minutes to discover a major hot water line had busted. As he worked through the chaos of glycol spraying everywhere from the busted pipe, he was able to isolate the system and turn it off. Without his swift and diligent action, an entire block of buildings, along with neighboring, interconnected hotels and retail spaces, could have been destroyed from flood damage. Instead, only one tenant was affected with minimal damage.
“Jeremiah is one of the most experienced engineers in Salt Lake City. His expertise and in-depth knowledge of multiple building systems, work ethic and communication skills set him apart as an invaluable asset to our clients,” says Brandon Nelson, Senior Property Manager.
Although conquering the broken pipe was no small feat, Jeremiah had more to do. The power was out across all four properties and the total damage from the earthquake needed to be evaluated. Despite vendor shortages due to the pandemic, Jeremiah rallied together water remediation experts and structural engineers to perform the post-earthquake assessments. And a few hours later, an aftershock hit the city, causing the pipe issue to happen in the same building on the opposite side of the same floor. This time, he was able to solve for the problem in half the time.
“Jeremiah’s commitment to our clients is evident. In an already stress-induced situation, he let COVID-19 take the back seat and our clients and their assets take the front seat,” Brandon says. “Without Jeremiah’s can-do attitude and willingness to help, our client’s assets would not have returned to working order as fast and efficiently as they did.”
In such a time of uncertainty and constant change, Jeremiah rose to the occasion and assured our clients their assets were protected and prepared for what’s next.
