Cheers And Jeers At CIASF First Annual Awards Gala

The Commercial Industrial Association of South Florida honored the top performers in commercial real estate last Thursday evening, March 19th, in its first-ever awards ceremony, a rollicking event hosted by Michael Baiamonte, the longtime arena announcer for the Miami Heat.
 

“It was an absolutely amazing evening,” said Jorge Pena, CIASF’s president and the managing director of ASI Florida. “We accomplished our goal to recognize the top performers in the industry, and we made it happen with a team effort.”

The “Not Your Usual Awards Gala,” held at Douglas Entrance in Coral Gables, recognized the year’s best office and industrial sales and leases as well as achievements of a lighter nature, such as the Peanut Award for smallest transaction.
The nonprofit commercial real estate trade group also saluted Michael Silver, first vice president of CBRE, for lifetime achievement in the industry.
 

“I’m very honored to have received this lifetime award from this great organization,” Silver said. “We had an outstanding turnout, an incredible evening.”

About 150 people were on hand for the gala at Douglas Entrance, a historic Coral Gables site built in 1924.
Awards given included:

• Lifetime Achievement Award: Michael Silver, CBRE, and two-time president and longtime board member of CIASF.
• Lorenzo Arce Award (given to the person who embodies the ethical and professional legacy of the late Lorenzo Arce): Horacio Aguirre, HS Aguirre Associates.
• Rising Star Award: Carlos Rivero, Regions Security. A true entrepreneur, Carlos started his business with one client and one property and now employs more than 200 to staff more than 65 properties.
• Networking Award: Jorge Pena, managing director of ASI Florida. A community-minded professional who is always imagining ways to create synergy, Jorge recommended Regions Security to a property, which resulted in a hefty six-figure contract.
• Lucky Dog Award (for the professional who knows that timing can sometimes be everything): Robert Given and Gerard Yetming for the sale of 300 Biscayne for $125 million, retaining the listing after failing to sell the lot for a percentage of the price three years earlier.
• Old Man and the Sea Award: Andrew Easton of the Easton Group, who started out representing One Sale a Day for a 25,000-square-foot 10-year deal on Brickell and ended up doing a 1,497-square-foot deal for three years on the beach.
• Peanut Award: Jack Lowell and AJ Rosillo, for the 12-month, 515-square-foot transaction for Pacific National Bank. Not only did Jack and AJ have to split the commission with Flagler for this minuscule deal, but they had to split the leftover with each other, and then Jack paid for lunch.
• Office Lease of the Year: Stuart Gordon and Matt Bittel of Flagler Real Estate, and Diana Parker, Richard Bamonte and Janette Driggers of CBRE, for the 276,000-square-foot expansion and renewal of Norwegian Cruise Lines at Airport Corporate Center.
• Office Sale of the Year: Jeff Morris, Jubeen Vaghefi, Dennis St. Ramain and Noël Steinfeld, for the sale of Courvoisier Centre for $146 million.
• Industrial Lease of the Year Award:  Jose Juncadella, SIOR, principal of Fairchild Partners, for the 336,000-square-foot new-to-market Amazon lease at KTR.
• Industrial Sale of the Year Award:  Gian Rodriguez and Wayne Ramoski of Cushman & Wakefield for the sale of Westpoint Business Park.

 

————————-

Get the latest industry news and information from CRE-sources delivered right to your email inbox! And we promise…no more than one email each morning. Just follow the instructions below.

Enter your email address: