Elaine Kennedy, director of administration for the Tampa, FL office of Advantis, has been elected president of CREW's Tampa chapter. Paula A. Buffa, an office broker in the same Advantis office and a past president of CREW, will be sworn in Jan. 19 as president of the Gulfcoast association. She will be only the second woman president in FGCAR's 12-year history.

Kennedy joined GVA Advantis in November of this year, leaving Cushman & Wakefield of Florida Inc.'s Tampa office where she was portfolio manager overseeing one million sf of office and industrial property. Among her clients are CIGNA, NationsBank, John Hancock and Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Co.

At Cushman & Wakefield, Kennedy was recognized as the Top Asset Services Professional for Central Florida for 2003 and Top Asset Services Professional for Florida for 1999; won a Service Excellence Award for 2000; and was a finalist for BOMA's 2001 Property Manager of the Year Award. She moved to Florida in 1990 from her native Houston.

Buffa began her commercial real estate career in Nashville, TN in 1986 as an office specialist. She relocated to Tampa in 1997 and continued her office representation for both building owners and tenants with various firms. Buffa participated in more than one million sf of office sales and leasing transactions before joining Advantis in 2001. Among her corporate clients are American General Insurance, Paradyne, Walgreens, Prudential Insurance, Emdeon, Advantage Sales & Marketing and Primedia/Haas Publishing.

During her term as FGCAR president, Buffa tells GlobeSt.com she will focus on "making sure all members and non-members understand the value of being active in FGCAR and the assistance this organization can give them to help their business; continued education opportunities; and presenting varied and informative monthly luncheon programs."