Yesterday, hundreds of commercial real estate professionals tuned in for the first annual IREJ Real Estate Awards. The event also honored the career of Jim McShane with a Lifetime Achievement Award.
Independent judges sifted through the masses of nominations for companies, individuals and projects. This year’s judges included Collete English Dixon, executive director of the Marshall Bennett Institute of Real Estate at Roosevelt University; Manny Flores, president and CEO of SomerCor; Jack George, partner at Akerman LLP and Goldie B. Wolfe Miller, president of Millbrook Corporate Real Estate Services and founder of the Goldie Initiative.
Among the corporate awards, Eastlake Studio won Architecture Firm of the Year, Colliers International Chicago won Brokerage Firm of the Year and the Village of Schaumburg won Municipality of the Year. The Developer of the Year award went to Chicago Neighborhood Initiatives with BEAR Construction Company winning General Contractor of the Year.
Three transactions from the past year were highlighted as the most significant in the Chicago market. The winners in this category were Bridge Development Partners for Bridge Point Franklin Park in the Industrial sector, Interra Realty for Shorewind Towers in the Multifamily sector and among retail transactions the standout was CONLON Commercial’s deal for 2121 N. Clybourn.
A number of awards were given out to individual developments from the past year. Winners included OSO Apartments for Affordable Housing, NorthPoint Avenue O in the Industrial / Manufacturing / Science category and CareerBuilder in the Interior Design – Office / Industrial category. Among multifamily projects, 727 West Madison came out on top with 110 North Wacker winning in the Office category. The Draper won Interior Design – Housing, Hospitality, Restaurants and Retail, the Old Chicago Post Office won in the Redevelopment / Reuse / Historic category and for Retail / Restaurant the winner was Starbucks Reserve Roastery.
In addition to the Lifetime Achievement Award given to Jim McShane—during the acceptance of which he announced his retirement and the elevation of Molly McShane to CEO of The McShane Companies—there were several individual awards.
The Broker of the Year award went to Brian Kling of Colliers International, the Emerging Leader of the Year award went to David Michael of Peak Construction, Lori Olson of Zeller was awarded the Property Manager of the Year and the Real Estate Lawyer of the Year award went to Linsey Cohen of Gould & Ratner LLP. Christina Brown of Eastlake Studio won Woman of the Year and the prestigious Executive of the Year award went to David Schwartz of Waterton.
Did you miss the awards show? The full broadcast is available right now on our YouTube channel. Each of these individuals, companies and projects beat out a field of very worthy finalists. Congratulations to all and good luck at next year’s awards.
