Dec. 15, 2006

3 GJS Brokers honored at CID Annual Awards Dinner

John Isaacs, Frosty Smith and Carl Russell were honored at the Annual New Haven CID Awards Dinner at the Racebrook Country Club in Orange, CT.  Isaacs is a candidate for the Certified Commercial Investment Member (CCIM) designation and just completed his service as the Chairman of the Commercial Investment Division of the Greater New Haven Board of Realtors.  He was honored by the CID Division and the New Haven Chamber of Commerce for his outstanding leadership over the last 2 years, and for his efforts to help attract and maintain business in the Greater new Haven area. 

Frosty Smith received the award for the largest commercial land lease in the area, over the last 12 months.  He was directly responsible for the ground leasing of a 12-acre parcel to a Chattanooga-based developer, CBL,.  The owners of the property - since 1928 -gave the Smith firm the assignment of finding a developer, who would lease the property and develop an upscale center. It is the largest land lease in Southern Connecticut in recent memory, well in excess of $30 million.  The center will be anchored by a 30,000 square-foot Wild Oats natural food market. Several high-end clothing stores, including Ann Taylor, Chico's, Joseph A. Bank, Coldwater Creek and Banana Republic will also be tenants.

Carl Russell received 3 awards:  The first for the largest office building sale in the region, which was the sale of 183 Plains Road, Milford, CT. This 27,000 sq.ft. Class A office building is situated on over 3 acres of land has been the home of Ikon Office Solutions for over 10 years.  The Buyer is Genvest, and they plan on using the facility for their new headquarters of Spectrum Associates of Milford.  The second award was for the largest land sale in the region over the last 12 months.  And that was the sale of the 109 acres of land at the southwestern quadrant of Exit 15, or I-91 in Wallingford, CT. The site is bounded by Barnes Rd., (Rt. 68), Leigus Road, and Grieb Roads. The Buyer, Mortgage Lenders Network USA, Inc. have received approvals for the construction of a 300,000 square-foot headquarters complex on the site. They broke ground on construction of the complex May, and begin moving workers into the building during the summer of 2007. The complex will allow Mortgage Lenders Network to consolidate 615 workers who are split among 3 sites in the state. The company employs 300 people in Wallingford already and has promised to add an additional 1,000 jobs within 8 years. And finally, the New Haven Chamber of Commerce awarded Russell their highest business development award for helping to bring these 1000 jobs to the area. 

All in all, a very successful and productive year for the George J. Smith team.