Columbus REALTORS® held its 14th annual Commercial Reception and COCIE Awards celebration on Thursday, May 12, 2022, at Strongwater Events Center. Nearly 100 commercial movers and shakers, supporters and leadership were on hand to applaud the outstanding accomplishments of our 2021 honorees.
Dan Sheeran, Jr., this year’s chair of the Commercial Advisory Board and last year’s chair of the Commercial Recognition Committee, took to the podium to present awards to the following honorees:
2021 Erika Blumenstein Memorial Award – Robert “Bob” Long, Vision 1 Real Estate Advisors
For his professionalism and outstanding commitment to the commercial real estate industry and to the central Ohio community, we were honored to present Robert “Bob” Long, with the 2021 Erika Blumenstein Memorial Award.
Bob is president of Vision 1 Real Estate Advisors, a full-service brokerage serving Columbus, Ohio and the greater Midwest. It has a long history in real estate development, built-to-suite, and leasing commercial property sales.
Bob has been in real estate for 37 years and has a robust career’s worth of residential, commercial and industrial development experience, and a portfolio totaling over $250 million in mid-rise, residential, medical and office projects.
Prior to joining Vision 1, Bob founded and was President of Long & Wilcox during which time he was named Developer of the Year in 2005 by the Central Ohio Building Industry Association (BIA). He was also a partner in Harmony Development Group and spent 12 years with The Daimler Group.
Bob has also served as a past president and is a current member of the Columbus Commercial Industrial Investment REALTORS®. He is also a past president and current member of the Upper Arlington Rotary.
Bob holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration and Management from Miami University.
2021 Commercial Community Service Award – Robert “Skip” Weiler, Jr., The Robert Weiler Company
For his professionalism and outstanding commitment to service, the commercial real estate profession and the central Ohio community, we were honored to present Robert “Skip” Weiler, Jr., with our first newly established Commercial Community Service Award.
A strong proponent of paying it forward, REALTOR® Care Day – Columbus REALTORS® day of service and giving back to the community was Skip’s brainchild. Since its inception 18 years ago, REALTOR® Care Day projects have provided almost $600,000 worth of improvements and repairs and hundreds of hours of service to local communities all around central Ohio.
His generosity extends beyond real estate and includes serving two terms as president of the largest Big Brothers Big Sisters chapter in the world, and as president of the Suburban East YMCA, The Columbus/Franklin County Joint Housing Commission, The Community Housing Resource Board, and on the City of Columbus Land Bank Committee.
His charitable work also includes serving as a board member for several non-profit organizations including the Community Foundation of Delaware County, Cancer Support Community of Central Ohio, LifeTown, Columbus Music Commission, Columbus State Foundation, Columbus State Community Partners, Ohio Dominican University and many others.
He holds the Certified Real Estate Brokerage Manager designation, teaches commercial real estate courses, is a 1992 Columbus Jaycees’ Top Ten Citizen of the Year honoree, and in 2020 was named as one of Columbus Business First’s Power 100, who are Columbus’ most influential leaders.
Skip" is the third-generation president of The Robert Weiler Company. He has been in real estate for 36 years, specializing in the brokerage and development of residential, commercial, industrial, and institutional properties.
Skip also served as the first, third-generation president of Columbus REALTORS® in 2004, was a member of its Board of Directors, and has chaired numerous committees. He was select Columbus REALTORS Broker of the Year in 2006 and was the youngest person at the time of this achievement to earn the Twenty-Five Million Dollar Sales Club Award.
Skip is a husband and father of four. He has coached every one of his kid’s basketball and soccer teams and never missed an award night or sporting event.
2021 COCIE Rookie of the Year – Lesley Hersha, Equity, Inc.
Lesley Hersha is this year’s COCIE Rookie of the Year honoree and according to her colleagues has made an instant and immeasurable positive impact to the local industry.
She has a unique ability to listen, process and adapt as needed based on her client’s needs and her work is always proficient and well thought out.
After about 18 month as a Brokerage Candidate at Equity, Lesley became an Associate of Brokerage in 2019, focusing primarily in the retail sector, but completing deals in other asset classes. She has collaborated with clients from junior box tenants on strategic expansion on a national level to local/regional businesses in all stages of growth.
Lesley collaborates with her company’s Development Department, leading the site selection, acquisition and pre-leasing on several development projects, including the ground-up medical office, suburban retail, ground-up mixed use and adaptive re-use in the up-and-coming Warehouse District.
In 2021, Lesley founded an internal group at Equity called Empower to foster growth and provide a support network for women in all sectors of commercial real estate. Programming include hosting lunch-and-learns with speakers from various real estate backgrounds, team-building activities, and philanthropic opportunities, including their successful “Dress for Success” clothing drive. Empower is in the growth phrase and Lesley anticipate moving this to a public forum with the collaboration of women from other companies.
Lesley attended Youngstown State University for three years studying Economics and Marketing prior to transferring to The Ohio State University. After school, she worked in architectural marketing which provided valuable experience in relationship building and the construction industry.
After obtaining her real estate license from Columbus State Community College in 2015, she worked with small residential investors before transitioning to commercial.”
Lesley’s colleagues and clients agree she is a joy to work with, and that her integrity, work ethnic and commitment to always keeping her clients top of mind make her the ideal choice for this year’s “Rookie of the Year’ award.
Largest Commercial Transactions – Sale or Lease
2021 Largest Transaction Industrial (sale) – Scott Hrabcak and Alex Musci, HER, REALTORS® Commercial Howard Hanna, were presented this award for brokering the sale of the property located at 2100 Cloverleaf Dr. in Columbus, OH. This property closed on Jan. 15, 2021.
2021 Largest Transaction Industrial (lease) – Matt Gregory, CCIM, SIOR, Andy Dutcher, SIOR, and Philip Bird, SIOR, NAI Ohio Equities, picked up this award for leasing 79,800 square foot of industrial space located at 9345 Princeton-Glendale Rd. in Hamilton, OH. This deal closed on Dec. 20, 2021.
2021 Largest Transaction Office (sale) – Matt Gregory, CCIM, SIOR, Andy Dutcher, SIOR, and Philip Bird, SIOR, NAI Ohio Equities, also earned this award for the sale of office space located at 150 Taylor Station Rd., Columbus, OH that closed on Dec. 1, 2021.
2021 Largest transaction Office (lease) – Wayne Harer, CCIM, SIOR, and Ken Isenbarger, SIOR, Newmark Knight Frank, received this award for negotiating a 65,015 square feet, 10-year lease expansion and extension of office space at 191 West Nationwide Blvd., Columbus, OH.
2021 Largest Transaction Retail (sale) – Matt Gregory, CCIM, SIOR, Andy Dutcher, SIOR, and Philip Bird, SIOR, NAI Ohio Equities were presented this award for the sale of retail space at 3583 E. Board St., which sold for $2,650,000 on Nov. 29, 2021.
2021 Largest Transaction Retail (lease) – Matt Gregory, CCIM, SIOR, Andy Dutcher, SIOR, and Philip Bird, SIOR, NAI Ohio Equities also picked up this award for brokering a deal to lease 24,592 square feet of retail space at 5599 N. Hamilton Rd. This deal closed on Nov. 19, 2021.
2021 Most Co-op Transactions – Matt Gregory, CCIM, SIOR, Andy Dutcher, SIOR, and Philip Bird, SIOR, NAI Ohio Equities was presented with this award for closing 48 co-op deals with 24 different companies last year.
2021 Top Five Producers – Seth Asman, SVN Wilson Commercial; Randy Best, SIOR, Best Corporate Real Estate; Wayne Harer, CCIM, SIOR, Newmark Knight Frank; George Skaff, III, Apartment Realty Advisors; and Doug Tenenbaum, HER, REALTORS® Commercial Howard Hanna
Top Producer – Generalist – Scott Hrabcak, HER, REALTORS® Commercial Howard Hanna, James Mangas, CCIIM, Best Corporate Real Estate
Top Producer – Office – Andy Dutcher, SIOR, NAI Ohio Equities, Matt Gregory, CCIM, SIOR, NAI Ohio Equities
Top Producer – Retail – Aaron Heath, Equity
Top Producer – Industrial – Derek Lichtfuss, Newmark Knight Frank
This event was organized by the Columbus REALTORS® Commercial Recognition Committee and was made possible by the generous support of our silver, bronze and commercial-affiliate level sponsors:
Silver Level partners – Equity, HER, REALTORS® Commercial Howard Hanna, NAI Ohio Equities, SVN Wilson Commercial Group, LLC, The Robert Weiler Company, and Taft, Stettinius & Hollister (Commercial Affiliate Member)
Bronze Level Partners – CCIIR, Best Corporate Real Estate, Foust Engineering, Title First Agency, Two Men & A Vacuum
Bar Sponsor – Park National Bank
Dessert Sponsor – LandSel, Title Agency, Inc.
A special note of thanks goes to Columbus Business First and to Brent Ardit and Rea & Associates for providing its services in determining the 2021 Top Producers.
