Congratulations to the winners of the 5th Annual Best of the Bay Commercial Real Estate Awards, held on February 15th.
The grand ballroom at the San Francisco Four Season’s literally rocked Wednesday February 15th as NAIOP San Francisco Bay Area Chapter hosted its 5th annual Best of the Bay Awards. Over 300 members and guests were treated to the comic musings of Luis Belmonte and his infamous gong in his fourth stint as master of ceremonies as well as some fabulous entertainment provided by this year’s award nominees.
Click here to view all the photos from the event.
Lively and upbeat, the Best of the Bay is a unique real estate awards competition which allows attendees to pick the winners right there on the spot using wireless keypads. This interactive format gives the crowd a chance to participate and creates a fun and exciting atmosphere. As each award categories is introduced, nominees “pitch” their case. The gong comes into play when pitchers drone on too long or get too cheesy. The crowd begins to chant and Belmonte obliges them by banging the gong! Of course Belmont provided context for the developing leaders in the crowd harkening back to the late 70’s and the TV comedy series The Gong Show.
Tom Nishioka, Thor Equities, pitching 760 MarketSt.- Phelan Building for Investment Transaction of the Year SF
Tom Nishioka stole the show and the award for Best Investment Transaction in San Francisco with a rousing pitch to the tune of Bon Jovi’s smash hit Dead or Alive. To everyone’s surprise, when the category was called Nishioka pulled his electric guitar out from under his table, jumped onto his chair and started belting out his hilarious lyrics which chronicled the story of Thor’s 2008 acquisition of the famed Phelan Building at 760 Market Street and the often challenging journey to get through the recession, transform the 298,124 square foot asset into sought after creative space and with the help of Cushman and Wakefield, re-lease and ultimately sell it to HNW for $1,255 per square foot. Nishioka’s musical performance was almost as impressive as the deal itself, however, rumor has it he will be keeping his day job.
The team from Jay Paul Company
Jay Paul Company won the coveted Office Development of the Year with their stunning 181 Fremont project. Matt Lituchy, Chief Investment Officer at Jay Paul gave a persuasive pitch highlighting the many impressive merits of the deal including its inherent sexiness. The 70 story tower features an iconic design distinguished by its angled top and diagonal bracing and includes:
- +/- 435,000 SF Class A Office Space
- 67 Luxury residential units
- Pre-certified LEED Platinum
- Connection to 5.4 acre Transbay Park via 7th floor sky bridge
- Foundation drilled 260 feet into bedrock
As always, competition was stiff again this year in the Developing Leader of the Year category. Shane Gilroy, Associate Director at Harvest Properties took home the priced trophy. 2015 Developing Leader of the Year, Kathryn Collins delivered a fun pitch highlighting his many differentiating attributes including the fact that with his deep red hair, he is a “ginger”. She positioned Gilroy, who joined the Harvest team in May, 2012, has a versatile “utility player” touting his exceptionally broad experience which already includes acquisitions, repositioning, leasing, joint venture structuring, financing and dispositions. His notable transactions include:
- 814 Franklin – off-market deal in Oakland including creative repositioning with lobby renovations, and seismic retrofit
- 55 Hawthorne – acquisition and full-building lease to Yelp within 60 days of closing
- 555 City Center – acquisition, financing and disposition
- 60 South Market: Worked on the acquisition, financing and disposition
Here is a round-up of the rest of the night’s other big winners:
Shane Gilroy, Developing Leader of the Year, 5th Annual Best of the Bay Awards
Best Lease Transaction – San Francisco: Adobe at 100 Hooper
Landlord – Kilroy Realty Corporation
Listing Broker – Mike Monroe, Mike McCarthy, and Brian McCarthy, Colliers
Tenant Broker – Carter Beim, Colliers
Best Lease Transaction – East Bay: Wells Fargo at Concord Tech
Landlord – Willard Lund, Swift Real Estate Partners
Landlord Brokers – Breck Lutz and Alex Grell, Newmark, Cornish & Carey
Tenant Broker: Whiff Collings, Cushman & Wakefield
Best Lease Transaction – Peninsula: Broadway Station
Landlord – Lane Partners
Brokers – Mike Courson, Newmark Cornish & Carey, Matt Germino, CBRE, and Mike Moran and Brad Altick, Cushman & Wakefield
Best Investment Transaction – San Francisco: 760 Market St. – Phelan Building
Buyer – HNW
Seller – Thor Equities
Broker – Cushman & Wakefield
Best Investment Transaction – Peninsula: Landing at Oyster Point
Buyer – Greenland/Ping Ang Trust/Agile/Poly Sino
Seller – Shorenstein Properties & SKS
Broker – JLL
Best Investment Transaction – East Bay: 2120 University Ave., Berkeley
Buyer – Lionstone Investments and Oregon Publish Employees Retirement Fund
Seller – Soma Capital Partners
Broker – JLL
Multi-Family Transaction of the Year: Woodland Park
Seller – Equity Residential
Listing Broker – Eastdil Secured
Multi-Family Development of the Year: Parker, Downtown Berkeley
Developers – LMC / RREEF
Architect: LPAS
Industrial Development of the Year: Prologis Pinole Point Business Park
Brokers – Greig Lagomarsino and Todd Severson, Colliers International and Darla Longo, CBRE
Developers – Dan Letter and Elizabeth Kauchak, Prologis
Office Development of the Year: 181 Fremont
Developer – Jay Paul Company
Brokers – Karl Baldauf and Lauren Whitlock, Newmark, Cornish & Carey
Developing Leader of the Year: Shane Gilroy, Harvest Properties
