NAIOP Upstate New York Chapter celebrates Excellence in Development

On November 12, the NAIOP Upstate New York Chapter celebrated their 16th Annual Awards Program where they paid tribute to many award winners. The sold-out event was held at the new Embassy Suites Hotel located in the Avant Building. The theme for this year's awards program was "Economic Impact on our Cities." Winning projects were credited with changing the economic climate to the better, including the cities of Buffalo, Rochester and Syracuse. Six projects throughout upstate N.Y. were honored with the chapter's esteemed Award of Excellence. Four projects won the Award of Merit, and a young professional was honored with the "Developing Leader" Award. The honorees were: * Award of Excellence: Avant Building, Uniland Development Co., Buffalo; Watkins Glen Harbor Hotel, The Krog Corp., Buffalo; Jefferson Clinton Commons, Washington Street Partners, Syracuse; Elmgrove Crossings, Gallina Development, Rochester; 250 South Ave., 250 South Development, LLC, Rochester; and 208 Mill St., Plainsight Collateral, LLC, Rochester. * Awards of Merit: Grider St. Project, TVGA Consultants, Buffalo; TriVeterans Housing, Rochester's Cornerstone Group/Rochester Management Inc., Rochester; Kennedy Olean Revitalization Project, Providence Housing Development Corp., Rochester; and Upstate Golisano Children's Hospital, Upstate Medical Center, Syracuse. * Developing Leader Award: Brendon Crossing, NAIOP board member, and VP, Canandaigua National Bank, was honored with this award. This award is given to a young professional in the commercial real estate industry, under the age of 35, who has made an impact on the office and industrial markets as well as in the community. The awards presentation was followed by guest speaker congressman Christopher Lee who spoke to the members on his perception on the issues regarding Cap and Trade, Card Check and Health Care. On the issue of Cap and Trade, Lee feels it is nothing more than a huge government tax on all energy used in the U.S. and that the average increase to the American taxpayer will be at least $2,500/year if it passes. He said that it is not good for industry, will cost jobs, and will cost more to all taxpayers regardless of what they earn. With the issue of the proposed Card Check Bill, the congressma feels that the average worker will be unduly pressured into voting for unions whether they really want one or not. He is against any rule that does not allow for a secret private vote. On health care he feels that any bill as an important as this one should have at least a minimum of a 72 hour period so every one has a chance to read the bill and comment. Lee also thinks that congress should not be allowed to put add on's into the bill such as $550 million that is in this current bill for Veterinarians and should stay single focused. He said the congressional budget office pegs the cost of this bill at $1.3 trillion but with all the unfunded mandates going out the states the true cost is between $4 and 5 trillion which none of us can afford. He feels we should fix what's wrong with our current program and scrap this congressional program. The chapter would like to thank the following sponsors for helping make this event a success: Uniland Development, platinum; Gallina Development Co., gold; The Krog Corp., gold; Ticor Title Insurance, gold; Hunt Engineers & Architects, bronze; and NorthMarq, bronze.