Cresa Turns NAIOP's Head With Tenant-Only Focus

MIAMI—Cresa is smaller in number than Jones Lang LaSalle or Cushman & Wakefield in the local market, but the tenant-focused commercial real estate advisory firm turned heads at this year's National Association of Industrial and Office Properties (NAIOP) South Florida Chapter awards. The company took home two wins and ranked as a finalist on two more, competing against itself in the office category.

NAIOP recognized Cresa professionals for negotiating creative lease deals at its “Celebrating Excellence” Awards gala. The NAIOP annual awards program highlights companies and commercial real estate professionals for their outstanding contributions to the industry.

“Cresa South Florida had a strong year on the office leasing front and launched out into the industrial side of the market with veteran Sky Groden coming on board in January,” says John Marshall, managing principal at Cresa. “By focusing on the tenant's advantage, we're disrupting conventional approaches to leasing. That's driving ROI for our clients and winning the attention of the local industry.”

For its work on the Shutts & Bowen lease, Cresa South Florida won “Office Lease Transaction of the Year. Shutts & Bowen signed a new lease for 69,155 square feet at the Southeast Financial Center. Shutts' relocation within Miami's CBD marked the largest lease signed in Miami's CBD for 2013 at the time. Shutts inked 15-year lease for three floors in the building, which is located 200 South Biscayne Blvd.

The firm was also finalist in the “Office Lease Transaction of the Year” category for the TotalBank headquarters deal. TotalBank placed its name at the top of the Miami Tower, one of the most recognizable buildings in Downtown Miami, as it moved its headquarters to the building. The bank moved into 60,000 square feet at 100 Southeast Second Street, taking up three floors and opening a street-level branch.

The firm took home “Unique Deal of the Year” for advising Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. the public-private partnership between the cruise line and Florida International University. Florida International University and Royal Caribbean finalized a complex business transaction to build a new rehearsal facility for shipboard performers on its Biscayne Bay campus. In a public-private partnership deal three years in the making, the 130,000-square-foot, $20 million facility is expected to open its doors in January 2015.

Cresa was also a finalist in the “Industrial Lease Transaction of the Year” category for its work on the Starboard Cruise Services lease. Starboard inked a 220,000-square-foot industrial lease at the future Flagler Station Building 34. It was the largest lease in the third quarter of 2013.