McCraney named NAIOP’s Developer of the Year

McCraney Property Company was named Developer of Year Thursday night during NAIOP Central Florida’s Best of the Best awards gala, and CBRE’s Nan McCormick took home the Lifetime Achievement Award for her 36-year career in commercial real estate.

McCraney completed construction last year on 2.3 million square feet of logistical warehouse space at its three Orlando-area industrial parks, representing two-thirds of all new industrial construction in the market for 2019. Those included Phase One of Infinity Park, Phase 2 of County Line Logistics Center and at Ocoee’s Distribution 429 in 2019.

McCormick, executive vice president of CBRE, has been involved in numerous lease and sale transactions totaling over $2.3 billion. She is known as one of the top office brokers in Orlando, having placed first among her peers a dozen times.

McCormick didn’t attend the gala, but last year’s winner Bill Moss accepted the award on her behalf. He said she had been recognized among the firms top five producing brokers 33 years in row.

CBRE Executive VP Nan McCormick received the Lifetime Achievement Award from NAIOP Central Florida. (CBRE)

“I’m a little biased, having worked with her for 30-plus years, but she’s a star. And she’s not only a star professionally, but she’s a star personally. She’s a great person," Moss said.

CBRE also won big in the individual categories, earning six of 10 spots among the region’s top brokers.

McCraney and Tavistock Development Company also took home the prize for Industrial Development of the Year for Infinity Park, the 206-acre business park on John Young Parkway. The company’s completed flex warehouse buildings totaling 862,826 square feet in 2019. When completed, the logistics center will have 1.26 million square feet of distribution warehouse space.

James Marvel, Senior VP of McCraney, credited the brokerage community, the development partner for the mix of uses and the prime location.

“We couldn’t ask for a better location,” Marvel said. “It’s what we call Main and Main.”

Lincoln Property Group earned Office Development of the Year from NAIOP Central Florida for its 28-story SunTrust Plaza at Church Street Station. (Handout)

SunTrust Plaza at Church Street Station won Lincoln Property Company the award for Office Development of the Year. The 28-story mixed-use tower, soon to be renamed “Truist Plaza” added 200,000 square feet of Class A office space to the city’s Central Business District and landed the city’s first AC Hotel. It also has a fully integrated SunRail stop on its ground floor.

An innovative mixed-use student housing tower was named Multifamily Development of the Year. UnionWest at Creative Village, built by Ustler Group and Development Ventures Group, combines 640 beds of suite-style student housing with 102,000 square feet of classrooms and educational support space for the UCF and Valencia College downtown campuses. The $105 million project also features 12,000 square feet of ground floor commercial space and an integrated parking garage.

The $105 million UnionWest student residence hall and classroom tower was completed just in time for the opening of the UCF and Valencia College downtown campus at Creative Village. (Orlando Sentinel file)

The award for Retail Development of the Year went to Tavistock for its 30,000-square-foot Boxi Park at Lake Nona Town Center. The outdoor, dog-friendly hub was built utilizing 12 shipping containers. Boxi Park features curated food and beverage options showcasing different cuisines along with two full-service bars serving a selection of cocktails, wine and beer garden featuring its own craft beer line.

Tavistock President Jim Zboril has said the opening of Boxi Park, which also features live entertainment, actually helped drive an increase in sales at the surrounding restaurants in Lake Nona’s Town Center.

Individual honors went to:

Top Industrial Leasing Broker: David Murphy, CRBE
Top Industrial Sales Broker: Monica Wonus, CBRE
Top Office Leasing Broker: Chris Sproles, CBRE
Top Office Sales Broker: Ron Rogg, CBRE
Top Retail Leasing Broker: James Mitchell, CBRE
Top Retail Sales Broker: Brad Peterson, JLL
Top Multifamily Broker: Shelton Granade, IPA
Top Financing Broker: Michael Weinberg, Berkadia
Top Land Transaction Broker: Robbie McEwan, CBRE
Top Developing Leader: David Vaughan, Marcus & Millichap

Staff writer Amanda Rabines contributed to this report.

Have a tip about Central Florida development? Contact me at lkinsler@GrowthSpotter.com or (407)420-6261, or tweet me at @LKinslerOGrowth. Follow GrowthSpotter on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.