BOSTON—Real estate veteran Gregory Klemmer was named Broker of the Year and Cushman & Wakefield won for best investment sale of 2009 at the Commercial Brokers Association’s annual achievement awards held Thursday night. Among Greater Boston’s biggest events recognizing CRE professionals, the CBA Awards were presented before a packed audience at the Intercontinental Hotel on Boston’s waterfront.

Other major transactions recognized include Colliers Meredith & Grew (CMG) and Richards Barry Joyce & Partners for Retail Deal of the Year in a 47,000-sf mixed-use lease at Legacy Place in Dedham; FHO Partners and Jones Lang LaSalle for the 203,000-sf Avid Technologies move to Northwest Park in Burlington; and pharmaceutical firm Alkermes taking space in Waltham while subleasing 145,000 sf in its former Cambridge facility, maneuvers that earned CMG recognition for top Life Sciences deal. CMG EVP Joseph Flaherty took the lead on that multi-faceted assignment.

Klemmer joined CBRE/NE in winning Industrial Deal of the Year on a 216,000-sf lease in Billerica. The top Boston office deal of 2009 was Fish & Richardson’s 125,000 sf lease at Fan Pier, a pact negotiated by Andrew Hoar and Tim Lyne of CBRE/NE and Richard Fahey and Barry Hynes of FHO Partners. JLL Associate Brendan Cohn was designated CBA Rookie of the year.

C&W was feted for the September trade of Boston’s 470 Atlantic Ave., a 14-story office building that ironically abuts the Intercontinental. Acquired by Credit Suisse from GE Capital for $106 million, the Class B property sold amidst one of the market’s slowest periods ever for CRE investment activity, an environment so toxic that many experts predicted the asset would wither on the financial vine or require a draconian discount to land a buyer.

In the end, however, so-called Independence Wharf fetched $311 per sf versus the $241 per sf GE Capital paid in 2002. “We’re excited to have won the award,” C&W of New England President Robert E. Griffin Jr. relayed to The Real Reporter after accepting the citation along with colleagues Edward C. Maher Jr., Marci Griffith Loeber and David Martel. Acknowledging the “many naysayers” portending a bad outcome and the harsh conditions in which 470 Atlantic Ave. was marketed, Griffin concurred that coming through on behalf of its client was a “special” result for the Capital Markets Group.

Klemmer, the president of Winchester-based Klemmer Associates, was tabbed as Broker of the Year for both his professional successes and giving back to the community. “I am very honored and appreciative,” Klemmer said after his selection closed out the four-hour program. In a brief acceptance speech, Klemmer credited CRE stalwart Mark Gottesman for mentoring the broker during his early years in the business, a career that has led to his not only becoming a member of the respected Society of Industrial and Office Realtors, but rising to become the current New England chapter president.

The top industrial deal was shared by Klemmer and colleague Tim Brodigan on behalf of the tenant, while CBRE/NE’s David Corkery and Mark Reardon were brokers for the landlord. The suburban office deal went to landlord Nordic Properties for the Avid lease, in which Dan Kollar and Tamie Thompson represented One Network Dr. while Brian Hines and Michael Dalton of FHO advised Avid, which is relocating from Tewksbury to the former Sun Microsystems campus near the Burlington Mall.

On the Citizens lease at Legacy Place, Jay Nugent and Michael Joyce of RBJ negotiated for the tenant, while CMG acted on behalf of the landlord, WS Development, with professionals involved in that venture including John Carroll, James Elcock and David Goodhue.

Industrial Deal of the Year
Pictured L-R:  CBA President - John Barry, David Corkery, Mark Reardon, Tim Brodigan, Greg Klemmer, and CBA President-Elect - Kristin Blount.