2023 Cresa Awards: Beyond the Transaction

In our service-driven industry, our team is our most valuable asset. Each member of our team is dedicated to maximizing value for occupiers, guided by our strong culture of collaboration. Our annual awards celebrate those who excel not only in terms of production but by going beyond the transaction to “do the right thing”. They work collectively to deliver optimal solutions for our clients and our organization. The individuals recognized below excel in their roles and are pivotal in cultivating the kind of culture and team spirit that we all strive to achieve.

Collaboration Award

As we come together this week, we are here to celebrate our collective wins and our people, both of which make us the strongest occupier centric firm in the world. As a member of last year’s winning team, I am honored to present the Cresa Collaboration Award to a team of people who have collaborated not only across markets and service lines but even utilized CGI’s big entreprenuer of the year initiative to make this large scale project happen and solidify a client relationship. 

Here’s the story behind this year’s Collaboration Award winner.  The client found themselves at a crucial juncture in their business and needed to reassess their location and distribution strategy. With a significant portion of their shipments bound for the East Coast the Cresa client relationship lead engaged our Network Optimization team to complete a full analysis including customer profile, shipping costs, labor analytics and real estate cost, and ultimately landed in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.   

Leading the Cresa team to find the perfect solution for Spoonful of Comfort is Denver’s Rick Door, supported by Ron Spencer for network optimization, Margo Mocarski and Eric Zahniser as the Local Philadelphia transaction team, and Jim McGrath and Freddy Vallecillo for our Philly Project Management team. Learn more about this success story by watching the video. 

2023 Top Transaction Award

The 2023 Top Transaction was decided upon by looking at a combination of total commission and total lease consideration.  The recipient of this award is a true Cresa success story – demonstrating the value of Cresa’s ability to collaborate across service lines and do what’s right for our clients above all else. In this specific example, the team worked on behalf of the client to negotiate a restructure with the current landlord while simultaneously researching the market for relocation options that could accommodate the goals defined through the client’s strategic real estate plan.

Through effective negotiation and commitment to the client’s needs, the team was able to achieve concessions of over $20M and savings of over $12M over the original lease terms. So putting aside the large amount of revenue this deal brought to Cresa, this team is truly representative of what we do by putting their client’s interests and savings first.

Congratulations to the DC Team of Mindy Saffer, Jonathan Harms, LaMean Koroma, Jake Ruben, Natalie Gosnell and Christie Minch for their work on National League of Cities and National Association of Counties. 

Jimmy Scancarella Team Player Award

This award was created to honor and memorialize Jimmy Scancarella, who sadly passed in 2021. The Jimmy Scancarella Team Player award recognizes any person who displays outstanding commitment to doing the right thing and demonstrates loyalty to peers, clients, Cresa and our communities.  It is the definition of a true team member, someone who thinks for the good of the whole, not just themselves.

The class we present to you now have all dedicated over a decade of their lives to Cresa  and are being celebrated for their unwavering commitment to supporting their peers through guidance, encouragement, and mentoring. These remarkable individuals serve as the cornerstone of our organization, binding us together with their passion for the success of others.

• Rich Rhodes, Managing Principal, DC
• Geoffrey Wowk, Vice President, Marketing, Dallas & Corporate
• Michael Lomax, Principal, Toronto
• Zac Conley, Managing Principal, Albany
• Lisa Murray, Business Manager, New Jersey & Albany

Cresa Service Award

Unlike advisors, our service lines and staff don’t always get the recognition they deserve and so this award was created for an individual who has gone above and beyond in service for Cresa over a significant tenure.  And this particular person has gone above the call of duty in her dedication to the Project Management Leadership Team over the years.  She has been instrumental in developing the new workplace and project management marketing materials that are used across the country. We’re all benefited unknowingly from her generous contributions. 

Thirteen years ago this affable young woman came to us from a competitor with a background in interior design.  She was ready like so many of you to move into the tenant advisory side, as a project manager.  Little did we know at the time that she would become a foremost leader in Workplace Strategy in the Washington DC metropolitan area.  Since then, Christie Minch has been partnering with Kathy Thomas the past several years co-running Cresa DC’s Project Management/Workplace Strategy integrated service that continues to grow from both a revenue and personnel perspective.  Many of you know her because Christie makes herself available where and when needed – she truly embraces the Cresa collaborative initiative.    

Congratulations to Christie Minch, Managing Principal, Project Management. 

Bill Goade Memorial

Our next award is an important award for us, it honors our company’s founder and CEO, Bill Goade, who we sadly lost last year.   

The William Goade First Citizen Award is a once-in-a-life time achievement award. This is usually given to one individual each year who has gone above and beyond the call of duty for Cresa over a long career with our organization, served on our councils and Board and giving countless hours to bettering the organization.  

This year’s winner has a tenacious passion for ensuring we are innovative and exceptional at everything we do – not just in their local office, but across our entire organization. He served on the Board for five years from 2017 through 2022 and helped start the Strategic Leadership Council, serving as the SLC Chair for several years. His vision and drive continues to be in the development of a top notch team, in his work with great clients and always doing the right thing which results in a high growth office offering truly integrated services – locally and across all of Cresa.  A current member of the Cresa band, he just celebrated his 25th anniversary with the company! Let’s celebrate his mantra – being “Extraordinarily United” 

Congratulations to Jamie Grossman, Managing Principal of Toronto.