Wendy Fok, Principal
Ms. Fok is the founder and principal of OpDesigned LLC, a real estate services practice in New York City that provides value add solutions for project development and management. She has over 18 years in the building industry, and leads world class teams and organizations of property owners, investors, managers and occupiers in a wide range of projects in real estate, design, and construction. Ms. Fok is recognized for leading complex assignments with multidisciplinary stakeholders including private, public, non-profit and governmental entities. Her work encompasses office, residential, retail, hospitality and mixed use projects at premiere properties such as the Empire State Building, Grand Central Terminal, and One World Trade Center in New York City.
Most recently, Ms. Fok created the overall strategy and spearheaded development and execution of the ULI Tenant Energy Optimization Program (formerly TEAM) from 2011 – 2016. Initially known as Tenant Energy Analysis & Metrics (TEAM), this collaborative project between landlords and major tenants aimed to create a design and financial template for integrating energy efficiency into office space design and construction. She delivered a portfolio of 1.5 M SF and led the creative and technical direction of education materials including case studies, guides, presentations and multimedia resources designed to target market audiences and foster large-scale adoption of integrated building best practices. ULI has assumed leadership of promulgating use of this innovative approach and tools.
In prior roles, Ms. Fok served as owner's representative for Empire State Realty Trust (ESRT) from 2008-2009, in the groundbreaking energy retrofit of the Empire State Building as part of the $550M repositioning. As the Director of Design & Construction, from 2005 - 2008 at Grand Central Terminal at the Metropolitan Transportation Agency (MTA), she oversaw tenant improvements and landlord’s strategy and implementation for capital improvements in over 150,000 SF of retail and restaurant space at a landmark mixed use property with daily traffic of over 750,000 people and annual sales totaling over $175M. In earlier architecture and design experience, she developed and managed projects at the Rockwell Group, Arquitectonica in New York and Enric Miralles Benedetta Tagliabue Arquitectes in Barcelona, Spain and HOK in Hong Kong.
Ms. Fok is an industry speaker and thought leader featured in premier industry events and publications including Greenbuild, CoreNet, Clinton Global Initiative, Real Estate Roundtable, BOMA, ULI, New York City Mayor’s Building Technical Working Group. She made key contributions to crafting the Energy Efficiency Improvement Act of 2015 (S535), which created the national Tenant Star framework (the EnergyStar of office design/buildout).
Ms. Fok is a Registered Architect and LEED Accredited Professional. She holds a B. Arch. from the University of Texas at Austin.