NAIOP Honors the Valley’s Most Successful CRE Projects, Companies, Individuals

Commercial real estate’s leading annual awards, the Best of NAIOP, returned to a live event after a virtual presentation last year because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

What a celebration it was. The Arizona Chapter of NAIOP safely handed out awards in 34 categories at the Westworld of Scottsdale on May 12.

“Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, the number of Best of NAIOP applications received for 2020 rivaled recent years, which is a testament to the positive momentum in the Arizona commercial real estate industry,” said Jeff Foster, Prologis and CJ Osbrink, Newmark Knight Frank, Best of NAIOP Chairmen. “We want to extend our utmost appreciation to the NAIOP staff, NAIOP Board of Directors, and the Best of NAIOP committee volunteers for all the hard work and time they have put forth to making this such a tremendous evening.”

The 2020 Best of NAIOP honors the prior year’s most successful projects, companies, and individuals within the commercial real estate industry (office/medical office, industrial, and retail). NAIOP Arizona also presents an Award of Excellence. In 2020 it went to R. Craig Coppola with Lee & Associates Arizona.

Butler Design Group kept its win streak alive, bringing home its ninth straight Architect of the Year award. Willmeng scooped up three awards: Firm of the Year, General Contractor of the Year and Tenant Improvement Contractor of the Year.

Other company winners were Cushman & Wakefield, Brokerage Firm of the Year; Phoenix Design One Inc., Interior Architect of the Year; and Lincoln Property Company, which repeated as Owner/Developer of the Year.

In the brokerage awards, CBRE captured three honors.

“As expected, our members and corporate sponsors rose to the occasion resulting in an event marked by camaraderie, high-energy, and world-class sophistication,” said 2021 NAIOP Arizona Chairman Danny Swancey, ViaWest Group.”

2020 Best of NAIOP Winners:

• Award of Excellence: R. Craig Coppola, Lee & Associates Arizona
• Architect of the Year: Butler Design Group
• Brokerage Firm of the Year: Cushman & Wakefield
• Firm of the Year: Willmeng
• General Contractor of the Year: Willmeng
• Interior Architect of the Year: Phoenix Design One, Inc.
• Owner/Developer of the Year: Lincoln Property Company
• Tenant Improvement Contractor of the Year: Willmeng
• NAIOP Arizona’s Official Branding Sponsor: TRADEMARK
• Developing Leader of the Year: Michael Strittmatter, CBRE
• Emerging Broker of the Year: James Cohn, CBRE
• Healthcare Broker of the Year: Perry Gabuzzi, Margaret Lloyd, Bill Cook and Mike McWilliams, Plaza Companies
• Industrial Broker of the Year: Tony Lydon, Marc Hertzberg, Riley Gilbert and John Lydon, JLL
• Investment Broker of the Year: Will Strong, Cushman & Wakefield
• Office Broker of the Year: Kevin Calihan and Bryan Taute, CBRE
• Retail Broker of the Year: Dave Cheatham and Darren Pitts, Velocity Retail Group, LLC
• Rookie Broker of the Year: Matt Baniszewski, Colliers International
• Tenant Representative Broker of the Year: Pat Williams, JLL
• Economic Impact Project of the Year: Novus Innovation Corridor – Phase III
• Industrial Build-to-Suit Project of the Year: Amazon Final Mile Facility (DPX7)
• Industrial Tenant Improvement Project of the Year: Amazon GYR3 IXD
• Medical Office Project of the Year: Wexford PBC1
• Mixed-Use Project of the Year: The Collab
• Office Build-to-Suit Project of the Year: Helios Education Foundation Campus and Vince Roig Convening Center
• Office TI Project of the Year (Less Than 60,000 SF): Carvana HQ3
• Office TI (More Than 60,000 SF): DoorDash
• Redevelopment Project of the Year: ADOT Flagstaff offices
• Retail Project of the Year: Volvo Arrowhead Dealership and Site Development
• Spec Industrial Project of the Year (Less Than 365,000 SF): Gilbert Crossroads
• Spec Industrial Project of the Year (More Than 365,000 SF): Chandler Airport Commerce Park
• Spec Office Project of the Year: Union Building 1
• Sustainable Project of the Year: 777 Tower at Novus Innovation Corridor
• Transaction of the Year: Grand2
• Talk of the Town: 777 Tower at Novus Innovation Corridor and Grand2/DoorDash (tied)

NAIOP, the Commercial Real Estate Association, is a 20,000+ member organization in North America that promotes responsible commercial real estate development and advocates for effective public policy. It is the leading organization for developers, owners and related professionals in office, industrial, retail and mixed-use real estate. NAIOP provides unparalleled industry networking and education, and advocates for effective legislation on behalf of our members.