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DBusiness Commercial Real Estate Awards 2024
The DBusiness Commercial Real Estate Awards, now in its second year, honors 21 people, companies, and projects that are transforming metro Detroit. From dozens of reader nominations, we chose three finalists for each category, with a focus on developers, brokers, architects, and real estate professionals. From there, we selected a final winner for work approved, commenced, or completed over the past 12 months. Join us for the DBusiness Breakfast Series, where we will announce the winners, on Nov. 1, from 8:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m., at the Westin Book Cadillac Hotel in Detroit. For tickets, email Regan Wright at rwright@hour-media.com. PROFILES BY RONALD AHRENS, R.J. KING,
INDIVIDUALS AND COMPANIES PIONEER AWARD Finalists
COURTESY DEGC
Tracy Brown, Friedman Real Estate Alison Orlans, eTitle Kevin Johnson, DEGC
Kevin Johnson President and CEO DEGC, Detroit
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n more than six years as president and CEO of the Detroit Economic Growth Corp., Kevin Johnson has put flash and swagger into the promotion of Detroit while developing a refined pitch that applies to locally owned small businesses as much as the global real estate giants. He boils it down to an analogy about putting out a welcome mat — one that’s made up of certain, necessary levels. In this case, those levels comprise investment in infrastructure, parks and beautification, and the workforce. “When we get the welcome mat right, and we add in all the layers, all the assets and amenities that the city of Detroit has to offer — we’re one of four cities in America where all four sports teams are in the boundaries of the city — we’re even more unique,” he told the Michigan Chronicle’s digital anchor Andre Ash last year. Johnson arrived in Detroit in 2018, after a term as senior vice president of Invest Atlanta. He announced bold goals for the creation of jobs and new businesses. His eyes were set on building strategic partnerships in emerging markets such as Central and South America, and Southeast Asia. Then came the COVID-19 pandemic. During that time, the DEGC oversaw allocation within Wayne County of $8.5 million to small businesses from the Michigan Strategic Fund, and $11 million in grant funds to 1,700 Detroit small businesses. With the return of stability, Johnson is back to focusing on his targets. His original plan called for three international trips per year, raising awareness about Detroit’s dynamism. As he said during a Detroit Economic Club meeting not long after his arrival, “When I’m out on the road, I don’t talk about Detroit coming back. I talk about our competitive advantages. All the other stuff is just noise.” — Ronald Ahrens
40 DBUSINESS || November - December 2024
AND MICHAEL STRONG
COMMERCIAL REAL ESTATE EXECUTIVE OF THE YEAR Finalists Andy Gutman, Farbman Group Sam Munaco, Advocate Commercial Real Estate Advisors Paul Choukourian, Colliers Andy Gutman President Farbman Group, Farmington Hills
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t was a busy year for Andy Gutman, who, as president of Farbman Group/NAI Farbman in Farmington Hills, helped lead an expansion of the full-service real estate firm into Pennsylvania, Kentucky, and Florida. Gutman also oversaw the formation of Campusville, a new nationwide, full-service student housing service organization, and Apex Mechanical Solutions, a heating, cooling, and mechanical systems service organization currently serving the Midwest portfolio of the company. On top of those achievements, Gutman was the broker representative for Oakland County in the phased acquisition of Ottawa I/II Towers, the neighboring Phoenix Center parking deck and amphitheater, and miscellaneous land in downtown Pontiac. Now serving as the owner’s representative, Farbman
Group is assisting Oakland County as it refurbishes office space for the move of up to 600 county employees over the next two years. In other news, Gutman and his team grew the firm’s receivership business by several million square feet throughout and beyond the Midwest, helping clients reposition challenged assets. Over the past year, in a period of downsizing in the commercial real estate sector, Farbman Group grew its workforce by 15 percent. In a bid to consolidate the company’s various offices and operations in metro Detroit, Farbman Group recently acquired and renovated a 65,000-square-foot office complex in Farmington Hills for its new headquarters. The building was designed by famed architect Minori Yamasaki, who had his studio in Troy. — R.J. King