The Greater Buffalo Building Owners & Managers Association (BOMA) celebrated its annual BOMA Awards during a recognition luncheon at the newly remodeled Webb Building in downtown Buffalo. Over 70 BOMA members and colleagues attended to celebrate the outstanding performance of commercial real estate professionals and companies in nine categories.
Dennis Cannon of CBRE Buffalo/Comvest Consulting was honored as BOMA Property Manager of the Year. Cannon has worked for CBRE Buffalo/Comvest Consulting for 10 years. Under Cannon's management, the portfolio has grown from 40,000 s/f to close to one million s/f today.
Hotel @ The Lafayette, Signature Development's most recent masterpiece, was named BOMA Property of the Year. Developer Rocco Termini spent $42 million restoring the eight-story, 245,000 s/f complex to capture the vision of architect Louise Blanchard Bethune, when designed 108 years ago.
Real Estate Development of the Year: William R. Greiner Hall, State University of New York at Buffalo. William R. Greiner Hall was designed to provide a living and learning environment that is sustainable in design and operations and that exceeds accessibility standards. Located on the University at Buffalo's North Campus, Greiner Hall was designed to earn a Gold rating under the U.S. Green Building Council's Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) rating system. Designed and engineered by Cannon Design and built by LP Ciminelli, the building took almost two full years to complete at a costof $57 million.
Board Member Service Award: Lois Richter of 69 Delaware Avenue Associates, LLC. Richter has been a board member of Greater Buffalo BOMA for over 10 years and has supported BOMA Buffalo for over 15 years. She will be completing her second three-year term on the board in December. Richter works on numerous BOMA committees.
Member of the Year: Shelley Unocic of Uniland Development Co., Inc. Since joining BOMA in 2007, Unocic has shown her support for BOMA in many ways. She not only is an active member and attends monthly meetings on a regular basis, but she goes beyond her dedication to BOMA by helping with other aspects of the association. Several years ago Unocic took on the responsibility of coordinating the raffle for the BOMA Golf Outing. With her guidance, the raffle has evolved and has brought our fundraising to record breaking numbers.
Special Project of the Year: Jet View Center Property Conversion, 55 Amherst Villa Rd. in Cheektowaga. Now home to Integrity Office Supply, 55 Amherst Villa Rd. in Cheektowaga has been branded for its views of the Buffalo/Niagara Airport runway. Integrity renovated general warehouse property, an expansion off their second floor office, to create class A office space to accommodate a lease for ComDoc Inc. This need was met by two non-professional developers, Ron Raccuia and Tom Naples. These professionals demonstrated vision and entrepreneurial spirit to solve a space need where no one else could.
Vendor Member of the Year: Ronald Schlegel, R.E. Kelley, Inc. Schlegel began his career with R.E. Kelley, Inc. over 30 years ago and has been leading the company as president since 1994. Schlegel is the steward for the overall strategy and growth of the business. He is instrumental in pursuing new products and technologies for the specialized services that R. E. Kelley, Inc. offers and spends much of his time in the field, monitoring the progress of work at job sites.
Property Renovation of the Year: New Era Cap Company, Inc. New Era started a multimillion dollar renovation in the headquarters building on Delaware Ave. in early spring 2012 and completed the work in August 2012. The renovation has made room for over 90 new hires. The first and second floors were configured to add more space for employees. The 4,900 s/f café on the 3rd floor is was totally remodeled to add more space and to upgrade the kitchen. The 4,514 s/f penthouse was transformed from an old mechanical space into a showroom that has the new product lines, in addition to a conference space and design team workstation.
Contractor of the Year: Ed Simoncelli, Simoncelli Electric, Inc. Simoncelli Electric was nominated by Parkland Professional Park, LLC. "Simoncelli consistently provides extraordinary service in a timely, ethical and friendly manner. Over the years, Simoncelli has suggested new ideas that reduce costs, increase revenue, increase quality and increase the efficiency of our business," said Andrea Harvey, Parkland Professional Park managing member.
As president of Simoncelli Electric, Simoncelli also leads by example. He volunteers his time and resources throughout the community through his support of Wings Flights of Hop, and Our Lady of the Sacred Heart, Immaculata Academy High School, St. Francis High School, Gerard Place and Kenmore Mercy Hospital.
The BOMA awards represent both the companies that help grow the region by developing or renovating commercial buildings, creating jobs and servicing their tenants, and also the individuals who excel in their jobs and contribute to the success of their companies.

Greater Buffalo BOMA is a not-for-profit trade association providing an array of services to commercial property professionals including education, networking opportunities, benchmarking data, legislative and regulatory advocacy and professional development. Greater Buffalo BOMA's membership consists of approximately 100 property professionals including building owners, facility managers and developers, as well as those providing services and supplies to the industry. Greater Buffalo BOMA is a federated chapter of BOMA International.

Founded in 1907, the Building Owners and Managers Association (BOMA) International is an international federation of more than 100 local associations and affiliated organizations. The 16,500-plus members of BOMA International own or manage more than 9 billion s/f of commercial properties in North America and abroad. BOMA's mission is to enhance the human, intellectual and physical assets of the commercial real estate industry through advocacy, education, research, standards and information. Tags: