THE ENVELOPE, PLEASE

Last night?s Atlanta Commercial Board of Realtors Million Dollar Club banquet lived up to the hype and even had some surprises (read on).  And based on the crowd at the hotel bar afterward, we can report that the new venue, the Buckhead St. Regis, is pretty popular with brokers—although, face it, any place with a bar would be.

 
Emcee John O'Neill of Cushman & Wakefield deftly mixed fun facts and video clips of his bumbling alter ego Bobby McDougall to produce a well-paced event that centered on revealing lists of top brokers in office, industrial, retail, land and investment sales.

O'Neill followed in the footsteps of Brett Hunsaker, right, who has emceed his share of major events, and as of last month took on extra duties as Grubb?s Atlanta market leader. Here he no doubt shares networking secrets with Metzler?s Ben Blakeley that have earned him the moniker King of Schmooze.

No one was shocked when CB?s John Shlesinger and Sam Holmes topped the board?s annual ranking of office tenant reps. But many were caught off guard when ?John & Sam? tied for No. 2 on the industrial  tenant rep list. When Jones Lang's Clark Gore announced the news, he acknowledged they were ?expanding their empire.? While the board declined to say which deal catapulted Batman and Robin to the win, we hear it was another lease for—surprise—a large media empire based right here in Atlanta. (Not us.)

2010 Commercial Board president Alan Joel of Joel & Granot Commercial Real Estate presided over the big event, which attracted about 350. Next up for Joel: helping oversee the Atlanta Board of Realtors? Centennial Celebration to be held April 22 at the board?s complex on Lake Forrest Drive. Well, next up other than his beloved swim season at Brookwood Hills.

Alan's colleague  Dave Smith  arrived early to support his boss, and a good thing: It allowed him time to beta test his idea of sticking nametags on fingers, until shaking a few hands persuaded
him of the traditional logic that they are better placed on lapels.
 

Of course, the banquet wouldn't have happened without the work of staff. Angi Jerguson, center, was instrumental in planning, and Cushman's Ken Ashley, right, served as co-chair. We let their friend, CresaPartners' Jim Byrd, into the pic to bathe in reflected glory.

Continue reading this story with a free account

Log in or register
Sign up for more articles like this
Subscribe to Bisnow's Atlanta Newsletters
Related Stories

Daniel Negari Buys Downtown LA Hotel For $34M

Downtown Atlanta Improvement Group Picks Food Bank Chief As Next Leader

Stockdale Capital Partners, Hamilton Lane Acquire Chino Hills Shopping Center For $157M

Trump's DEI Crackdown Is Creating New Risks For Landlords That Lease To The Government

California Emerging As Data Center Fallback Market Amid Nationwide Opposition

Airbnb Launches $250M Fund To Invest In Affordable Housing

Brookfield Buys Minority Stake In Hyperscale Data Center Developer AREP

Judge Dismisses Suit Alleging Alexandria Misled Investors Over Portfolio Strength

How Companies Can Eliminate Shadow AI And Gain Value From Artificial Intelligence Tools

Canadian CRE Investors Shrug Off Trade War, Spend $9B On U.S. Assets

Oxford Properties' U.S. Investment Head On Why It's Buying Office Again — And Where

Data Center IPO Wave Reveals A Variety Of New Strategies In Booming Sector