Portfolio occupancy decisions for CFO, COO, and Corporate Real Estate leadership. Grounded in BDO’s own RFP, trial language, and measured Chicago numbers.
Shareable for upstairs · Sep 2026
Chicago already peaks at 180 people on 163 seats while 510 people are assigned to that floor. Local leadership says the office is “full,” but BDO still pays rent Mon/Fri. Across NYC, Houston, and Chicago we can show which floors to right-size, which to keep, and which lease dollars to defend before the Feb–Apr busy season, with live occupancy into Power BI instead of Infoblox/Splunk guesswork.
Chicago measured
180peak
vs 163 seats · 510 assigned · Brian McNeela, Trial Sync
Real · Jun 2026 call
POC markets
5floors
NYC ×2 · Houston ×2 · Chicago ×1 · neighborhood rules live
Real RFP / verbalized use cases · not generic IWMS theater
1
Peak vs seats, not average util
“In Chicago, we have 163 seats… 510 people assigned… Over the last three months, I had a high of 180 people.” Local leadership says “we’re full.” Brian’s read: full Tue/Thu; rent still paid Mon/Fri.
Source: Brian McNeela · Fathom Trial Sync · 2026-06-021
2
Portfolio truth into Power BI
“We have had a request to get redundant data for utilization into our Power BI… our utilization data, we’re having some issues with bringing it over from Infoblox into Splunk.” Ask: can Kadence data replace that feed?
Source: Brian McNeela · Fathom POC Set Up · 2026-06-092
3
Neighborhood rules that differ by city
NYC private offices L9/10 only. Chicago and Houston: L7–10 priority window; L6 same-day from 9am. Policy must scale past one office’s exceptions.
Source: Brian / Samantha · POC Set Up + Slack recap · May–Jun 20263
4
Stack planning data leadership can trust
Cathy and Brian named limited occupancy visibility (IP logins), “squatter” desks, and the need for reliable data for office sizing, construction, and stack planning. Incumbent EMS; early Avuity look.
Source: Cathy McNamara / Brian · intro call Aug 2025 · HubSpot note4
5
Meeting rooms: booked capacity vs actual heads
Brian’s scenario: 8-person room, 5 in-person, 1 remote. Need booked capacity vs actual peak occupancy so CRE does not overbuild rooms.
Source: Brian McNeela · email “Kadence Questions” · ~2026-08-245
6
Decide before busy-season blackout
Hard blackout Feb–Apr (tax season). Deployment window late Oct/Nov or May 2027. Leadership was pushing sooner. Portfolio moves need measured occupancy, not another booking bake-off.
Source: Michael Diaz / team · POC Sync May 18 + HubSpot Jul 22 recap6
7
Nationwide seat baseline from RFP
Formal Hoteling RFP: 9,102 seats · 14,239 employees. Pepsi Challenge trial vs competing vendor (assumed OfficeSpace). Neck-and-neck at leadership.
Source: Mackenzie Linkfield RFP kickoff Nov 2025 · loss Slack 2026-09-037
Why Kadence, by persona
Pain in BDO’s words · decision · why Sense / SpaceOps (not another booking tool)
Pain in BDO’s words
“We pay rent Mondays and Fridays, too” while leadership blocks RTO because Tue/Thu feel full (Brian, Chicago).
Peak already exceeds seats (180 on 163) with 510 assigned: CapEx risk if “full” becomes a lease add.
Interest in department charge-back style utilization reporting (Insights+ path discussed on trial).
Decision they need
Defend or cut lease dollars with peak occupancy, not badge anecdotes.
Separate true capacity shortfall from weekday mix problems before the next expansion.
One finance-readable pack before Feb–Apr blackout.
Why Kadence
Live occupancy → portfolio loop (Sense / SpaceOps): peak vs seats feeds restack and lease defend.
API into Power BI replaces Infoblox→Splunk noise so finance and CRE share one number.
Not a booking UX bake-off: booking is plumbing; the product answers CapEx questions.
Evidence note: CFO was not on calls. Claims above are inferred from Brian’s “pay rent Mon/Fri” language + Chicago peak math + Power BI / charge-back themes + Cathy’s budgeting-window outreach (Sep 2025 HubSpot). Kept thin on purpose.
Pain in BDO’s words
Who is actually here: IP logins and unreliable auto check-in; “squatter” desks on incumbent EMS.
Who is where: 5 expansions on PMO plate; multi-site rules confuse users into tickets.
What next: busy-season blackout; leadership needs a go/no-go before year-end deploy.
Decision they need
Weekday mix and neighborhood priority so 2-day office targets do not blow capacity.
Accurate presence (Wi-Fi / Sense) so no-shows free inventory and ops stop guessing.
Clear ops pack for NYC / Houston / Chicago before competitor narrative wins upstairs.
Why Kadence
Who’s here / who’s where / what next is the SpaceOps loop, not a desk calendar.
Per-city neighborhood rules already proven in POC (NYC vs Chicago/Houston).
Standard utilization, check-in, no-show reporting in trial; Insights+ for ops compliance later.
Evidence note: Strongest on Brian (ops/RE PM) and Michael (PMO). No titled COO quote on record. Frame as operating leadership reading of the same trial language.
Pain in BDO’s words
Cathy / Brian: need reliable data for office sizing, construction, and stack planning; IP logins are not enough.
Infoblox → Splunk utilization feed is broken; CRE asked for Kadence into Power BI as the redundant source of truth.
Meeting-room sizing: are we building 8-person rooms when peak is 5?
Decision they need
Right-size vs consolidate vs keep across NYC, Houston, Chicago, then nationwide 9,102 seats.
Neighborhood / level rules that match Director–Partner reality without manual EMS exceptions.
Replace EMS gaps without another tool that still leaves Power BI on guesswork.
Why Kadence
Occupancy measured at desk and (optionally) room hardware → stack and room sizing decisions.
City-specific neighborhood access already configured in the POC instance.
API path to Power BI was an explicit BDO ask on the Jun 9 set-up call.
Evidence note: Closest titled buyer is Cathy McNamara (Corporate Planning Principal, national RE portfolio). Tracy (head of RE) attended the Aug dinner as an active tester. No verbatim “VP CRE” title quote; persona maps to Cathy / Tracy / Brian’s CRE workstream.
Proof strip
All green badges are BDO-stated · not Sense telemetry
Chicago seats
163
Peak 180 · assigned 510
Real
POC floors
5
NYC×2 · HOU×2 · CHI×1
Real
Nationwide
9,102
Seats · 14,239 employees
Real
Rules live
L9/10
NYC · CHI/HOU L7–10 / L6 day-of
Real
This page is the leadership pack: Chicago peak vs seats, Power BI truth vs Infoblox, city-level neighborhood rules, and a busy-season decision window. Copy the one-liner, then send the URL.
Competitor context: Incumbent EMS; early Avuity; Pepsi Challenge assumed OfficeSpace (never confirmed by BDO in writing). Loss: leadership “slightly better fit,” neck-and-neck (Michael Diaz via Daeton).
Not on this page as live Sense data. Chicago peak/seats are BDO-stated. Weekday % charts from the prior prototype were removed to avoid illustrative theater.