CELEBRATION
| Even though a million bucks ain't what it used to be, that NAIOP Million Dollar Club still commands status—170 were on hand yesterday morning at the Buckhead Intercontinental to see who did the best in '09. | |
 | |
We snapped CB?s Chris Port, named top office producer (total deal value: $67.8M), while Childress Klein's Connie Engel won the coveted Award of Excellence (formerly known as Lifetime Achievement—which clearly makes recipients sound too old). The face of Galleria, Connie?s been with Childress 24 years. Chris, who's so successful that his previous career with the Saints is no longer his claim to fame, has been with CB for 10 years. On the industrial side, Duke?s Brian Sutton was named top producer for the second consecutive year, with deals valued at more than $23M. And this year?s Work Horse Award was given to Calvin O?Keefe of Shaheen & Co, who posted 144 transactions—17% of all industrial deals completed in '09. | |
 | |
A brief reality check offered a reminder of the difficult market. In industrial leasing, the number of deals went up 18% in 2009, but the value of these transactions went down by 30%. Office deals held their value better, with little change. The organization recorded 1,600 office deals totaling 14.8M SF last year, with a total value of $910M. | |
 | |
Coach and Roach: Before the awards, guests heard from Georgia legend Vince Dooley, here with PM SVP Chip Roach. The audience (most of whom grew up following Dooley?s Dawgs) gave him their rapt attention as he shared life lessons from his 40-year career as head coach and athletic director at UGA. His apt theme? The value of preparation during tough times. |
