CFCAR’s Hallmark Awards Honors Central Florida’s Highest Producing CRE Brokers, Legacies And A CRE Icon

Top CRE professionals and business leaders celebrated innovation, achievement, and excellence at the 2024 Annual HALLMARK Awards, which honored the region’s commercial real estate highest producing brokers and leaders at a gala event held in the Packing District’s newest venue.

“Hallmark was very special this year,” explained Sharisse Walton, 2024 HALLMARK Awards Committee Chair. “On July 24^th, we recognized and celebrated the success of commercial real estate pros across 9 counties, honored some in the business who we consider legacies and awarded The Strickland Lifetime Achievement Award for 2024 to Yvonne Baker, Executive Director FSU Real Estate Center at Florida State University.”

The Annual HALLMARK Awards event, presented by the Central Florida Real Estate Association (CFCREA) in association with the Central Florida Commercial Association of Realtors® (CFCAR). Walton stresses that this year’s event included both unique insights into Orlando’s historic Packing District and a generous donation to 4Roots non-profit farming initiative, also located in Packing District.

“As always, the HALLMARK Awards event honors top commercial real estate producers for the prior year, in the Greater Central Florida market by recognizing innovation, extraordinary production, and industry leadership,” added Walton. “In addition to recognizing top producers in numerous categories and across the different counties, special awards were also announced for Community Service, Deal of the Year, Partner Affiliate, and new this year, Legacy Awards.”

Hallmark Award Winners included:

Circle of Achievement:

• Sharisse C. Walton | iConnect Real Estate
• Mary Frances West, CCIM | NAI Realvest
• Tom Kelley, CCIM | NAI Realvest
• Clay Taylor, ALC | SVN Saunders Ralston Dantzler
• Mike Ullian, CCIM, SIOR | The Ullian Realty Corp
• David Hitchcock, ALC, CCIM | SVN Saunders Ralston Dantzler
• Chris Adams, MiCP | I4 Properties Group
• Ben Brenner| C. Brenner Inc.
• Paul  P. Partyka, CCIM, MiCP, CIPS | NAI Realvest

Top Producers by County:

• Kent Cooper, MAMI, CBI, CCIM, CMAP | Capstone Commercial-Brevard County
• Randy Buss, CCIM, SIOR | NAI Heritage-Marion County
• Jon D. Walls, RLA, MiCP | NAI Realvest-Sumter County
• Robbie McEwan, CCIM, SIOR | JLL Capital Markets-Seminole County
• Ted Lightman, CCIM | NAI Realvest-Volusia County
• John  Trost, CCIM | SVN Alliance Commercial RE Advisors-Flagler County
• Mary “Trish” Leisner, CCIM | SVN Saunders Ralston Dantzler-Lake County
• Lisa Bailey, SIOR | Avison Young-Orange County

Top Producers by Category:

• Amy Calandrino, SIOR, CCIM | Beyond Commercial-Office
• Brian Lightle, CCIM, SIOR, CRE | Lightle Beckner Robison-Retail
• Lee Zerivitz, CCIM, SIOR | CITY Commercial-Industrial
• Lisa Bailey, SIOR | Avison Young-Investment

Dean Saunders, ALC, CCIM | SVN Saunders Ralston Dantzler won three awards, including:

• Overall Top Producer
• Top Producer-Land and
• Top Producer-Osceola County

Two Deal of the Year Awards were awarded, recognizing both an Institutional Brokerage Developer Based team and an Independent Brokerage Team:

• Vincent Wolle, CCIM, SIOR with Results Real Estate Partners, recognizing his success in brokering the sale of 10 industrial buildings from a single seller to a single buyer across three different Florida markets.
• Alexi Fonseca, David Gabbai, and Jeff Johnson with Colliers were recognized under the category of Broker/Developer Alliance, for the revitalization of the Winter Park Village shopping center into a luxury experience. Fonseca and her team at Colliers helped initiate the redesign of Winter Park Village and also worked closely with owner Casto as they attracted popular, high-end brands to the property and increased NOI.

Specialty Awards included:

• Tara Tedrow | Lowndes Law: CRE Partner Affiliate of the Year
• Chris Cucci, CCIM | Climate First Bank: CRE Partner Affiliate of the Year
• Ben Brenner, Col. (Ret.) David Benner, CCIM & Charlie Brenner, CCIM | C. Brenner, Inc: Legacy Award
• Trevor Hall Jr. | Colliers: Legacy Award
• Chere Roane | Nicole & Hudson Realty Corp., CCIM: Legacy Award
• Ken Robinson | Dr. Phillips Charities: Community Service Award

The Strickland Lifetime Achievement Award was presented to Yvonne Baker, Brett C. Lindquist Executive Director, Real Estate Center, Florida State University. Baker, who successfully led numerous brokerages in Orlando for decades, was humble in accepting and honoring those who came before her in the highly competitive Central Florida CRE market.

Rafael A. Mendez, Jr., CCIM, 2024 President of CFCAR/CFCREA, believes the awards reflect the unique strength of the Central Florida commercial real estate markets.

“The 2024 Hallmark Awards showcase the resilience not only of the commercial real estate practitioners participating in the market but also of the entire Central Florida region, which is blossoming with business and investment-grade real estate,” Mendez commented. “The value of production from this year’s recipients offers a glimpse into what our market has to offer, highlighting the value and opportunity in the region.”