NAIOP Maryland Awards of Excellence Committee: Olivia Millspaugh, MRP Industrial; Emily Brown, American Office; Jennifer Taylor, First National Bank; Bill Libercci, NorthMarq Capital; Nicole Wilhelm-Smith; ECS Mid-Atlantic (Co-Chair); Morgan Gilligan, Stewart Title Guaranty Company (Co-Chair); Liz Tarran-Jones, Merritt Properties; Connie Rhodes, Rhodes Development; Spencer Perry, BB&T; Jannine Hayes, Knott Realty Group; Michele Salvino, GLP US Management and Taylor Fields, Knott Realty Group. (not pictured: Ryan Burrows, JLL (Co-Chair); Chuck Brietenother, NAI KLNB; Abby Glassberg, NAI KLNB; Samantha Haines, RS&F; Matt Lenihan, St. John Properties; Lauren Lindsay, Merritt Properties and Todd Summerfield, Liberty Property Trust.)
NAIOP Maryland honored 37 different companies and organizations and 15 professionals in 34 separate categories at its bi-annual Awards of Excellence held last evening in front of nearly 500 people at the Baltimore Marriott Waterfront. The program celebrates and recognizes the innovative achievements of regional commercial real estate developers, as well as the companies and professionals that service this industry in Maryland. Ryan Burrows, JLL; Morgan Gilligan, Stewart Title Guaranty Company; and Nicole Wilhelm Smith, ECS Mid-Atlantic served as Co-Chairs of the Awards of Excellence Committee.
Clark MacKenzie, Gary Gill and Bob Aumiller of The MacKenzie Companies, who combine for more than 130 years of commercial real estate experience, were named winners of the NAIOP-MD Lifetime Achievement Award, an honor that has been bestowed to 10 different commercial real estate leaders since the award was first presented in 2000.
Other individual award winners were Matthew Wessel, Rodgers Consulting, Government Relations Distinguished Service Award; Cole Schnorf, Manekin LLC, F. Patrick Hughes Legislative Award; Cathy Ward, Corporate Office Properties Trust, LLC, Distinguished Merit Award; Richard Story, formerly of Howard Bank, Service Provider Award; Gail Chrzan, Blue & Obrecht Realty, LLC, Broker Award; Kate Nolan Bryden, MRP Industrial, Rising Star Award and Todd Summerfield, Liberty Property Trust, Greg Masi Volunteer Award.
NAIOP Maryland received 70 nominations, representing the highest volume of submissions in the history of the program.
“As always, selecting the winners was a difficult task as the competition was fierce with many impressive and worthy entries,” said Vince Bagli, President of NAIOP Maryland. “Our judging committee believes each award recipient represents the execution of real estate or an individual achievement performed at the highest level. In their own manner, every nominated entry also played a significant role in positively shaping the regional real estate landscape.”
“The record number of nominations and the record number of attendees at last night’s event is just another indicator of the continued strength and health of the commercial real estate sector in the Maryland region,” Bagli added.
The project and transaction award winners were:
Best Adapted Reuse
Project: Sagamore Foundry Baltimore
Company: Sagamore Development Company
Best High-Rise Office
Project: Exelon Tower at Harbor Point
Companies: Beatty Development Group and Armada Hoffler Construction
Best Build-to-Suit Office
Project: The Living Legacy Foundation
Company: Merritt Properties
Best Overall Design Team
Project: BWI Technology Park II
Company: St. John Properties, Inc.
Best Warehouse
Project: BW Gateway
Company: Trammell Crow Company
Best Low to Mid-Rise Office
Project: Rolling Run Technology Park
Company: Knott Realty Group
Best LEED Office Building
Project: NBP 540
Company: Corporate Office Properties Trust
Best Industrial Park
Project: Tradepoint Atlantic
Best Retail
Project: Foundry Row
Companies: Greenberg Gibbons and Chesapeake Contracting Group
Best Office Innovation
Project: CIRQL at 7134
Company: Corporate Office Properties Trust
Best Interior Rehab
Project: Agora Publishing
Company: Merritt Construction Services
Best Interior Rehab
Project: RK&K
Company: MacKenzie Contracting Company LLC
Best Warehouse Redevelopment
Project: Port 95 Industrial Park
Company: Chesapeake Real Estate Group, LLC
Best Office Park
Project: One Merriweather and Two Merriweather
Company: The Howard Hughes Corporation
Best Interior Tenant Fit-Out
Project: Harkins Headquarters Columbia
Company: Harkins Builders, Inc.
Best LEED Interior Tenant Fit-Out
Project: 2811 Dillon Street
Company: JP2 Architects
Best Office Redevelopment
Project: 1201 Winterson Road
Company: Corporate Office Properties Trust
Best LEED Warehouse
Project: 5300 Holabird Avenue
Company: Chesapeake Real Estate Group, LLC
Best Medical Office
Project: 7580 Buckingham Boulevard
Company: Merritt Properties
Best Mixed-Use Development
Project: Greenleigh at Crossroads
Company: St. John Properties, Inc.
Best Mixed-Use Building
Project: Little Patuxent Square
Company: Costello Construction
Best Build-to-Suit
Projects: Sagamore Spirit Distillery and Rye Street Tavern
Company: Sagamore Development Company
Best Build-to-Suit Warehouse
Project: Cefalu-Capital Seafood
Companies: Manekin LLC and AEW Capital Management
Best Transit-Oriented Development
Project: Metro Centre at Owings Mills
Company: David S. Brown Enterprises, LTD
Best Community Impact
Project: Eager Park
Companies/Organizations: Forest City Realty Trust, Mahan Rykiel, Gensler, EBDI, The Annie E. Casey Foundation and The Charlesmead Foundation
Best Investment Sales Transaction
Project: Principio Commerce Center
Companies: Trammell Crow Company and CBRE
Best Transaction
Project: Howard County Non-Profit Center
Individuals and companies: Abby Glassberg, NAI KLNB; Mike Bradley, Greenfield Partners; Amy Lacock, JLL; Joan Driessen, ACS; and Allan Kittleman, Howard County.
Corporate Office Properties Trust was recognized with the most number of winning entries with four. Chesapeake Real Estate Group, The MacKenzie Companies, Manekin, Merritt Properties, Sagamore Development Company, St. John Properties and Trammell Crow Company each won two awards.
The evening concluded with the presentation of the Lifetime Achievement Award to the three executives from The MacKenzie Companies, who talked about their start in the industry, the growth of the company and their ability to survive various real estate cycles.
“After industry challenges in the early 1990s, we recognized the extreme importance of pivoting to a full-service platform and we continue to operate that successful model to this day,” explained Clark MacKenzie, Chairman of The MacKenzie Companies. “We were approached by a national real estate group interested in a partnership or acquisition but that is not who we are, as evidenced by our corporate slogan ‘We Know Local Matters.’”
“I was the eleventh employee and came to the company from the legal industry. I told my wife that I was not happy in my job and intended to take a pay cut with this new position. She fully supported me and it was the best decision I ever made,” added Bob Aumiller, Principal, MacKenzie Development. “Among my fondest memories was serving as President of NAIOP. Together with Patrick Hughes, we started the legislative initiative.”
“Real estate is the most congenial industry I can imagine,” stated Gary Gill, President of MacKenzie Venture. “Each of us compete hard for real estate deals when the whistle blows, but are also friends and can enjoy each other’s company after the work day. The success of MacKenzie was our ability to remain nimble and attract outstanding talent because, after all, real estate is a people business.”
NAIOP Maryland has more than 420 members and is comprised of individuals working for real estate development companies, brokerage firms and affiliated companies such as financial institutions, architectural firms and engineers.
NAIOP is the nation’s leading trade association for developers, owners, investors and other professionals in industrial, office and mixed-use commercial real estate. Comprising 19,000 members in 55 chapters, it provides networking opportunities, educational programs, research on trends and innovations and strong legislative representation.
For more information about NAIOP Maryland, visit www.naiopmd.org.
