ite Selection Magazine editors and members of the Editorial Advisory Board wrapped up a months-long evaluation of nominations for the first annual Excellence in Corporate Real Estate Awards in August. The nominations were put forth by real estate executives' colleagues, service providers and by the editors based on interaction with real estate professionals over the course of the past year. Past Industrial Asset Management Council (IAMC) Chairs collaborated with magazine staff in the development of the awards, which will be presented at IAMC's Fall Professional Forum in Oklahoma City on Monday, September 15th.
      Two executives made the grade for the 2008 awards – Jim Winter, global manager – corporate real estate at Pittsburgh-based Alcoa Inc., and John Terrell, vice president, commercial development at Dallas/Ft. Worth International Airport. Congratulations, Jim and John!
      To put the awards in context, nominators were asked to put forth for consideration colleagues or clients who in the past year demonstrated excellence in one or more of the following areas: sustainability, overall project return, innovation or process improvement, alignment of the real estate function with corporate strategy, national and international portfolio management and managerial leadership. Nominators also furnished contact details of people who would substantiate work referenced in the nominations, if the judges felt the need to verify anecdotal evidence.       Although membership in IAMC is not a requirement for eligibility, one of the two winners, Jim Winter, is an IAMC Board member and chair of the association's Future Sites committee, which recommends venues for future IAMC Professional Forums. But it was his work at Alcoa that won Jim the award.
      Nominated by his key service provider, Fischer & Co. President Ted Uzelac, Winter has overseen a global portfolio across dozens of business units that was decentralized and cumbersome when the Alcoa-Fischer partnership got under way several years ago. Alcoa was in acquisition mode at the start of the decade and migrated to disposition mode more recently, requiring leadership, agility and keen portfolio management skills. Fischer's contribution is its ManagePath® software and shared vision in making Alcoa's real estate function a strategic asset. The partnership has completed more than 470 projects representing more than $340 million in transaction value and $75 million in value-added savings over the course of the partnership.
      "Congratulations to Jim as well as the Fischer organization for this recognition," says Peter Hong, Alcoa's vice president and treasurer. "Jim and the Fischer team, led by Ted Uzelac, manage an effective real estate program whereby Alcoa assesses local expertise on a multinational platform. Alcoa thereby can manage its corporate real estate on a high-value-added and low-cost basis with minimal infrastructure."       DFW Airport is all about moving people and cargo from one destination to the next, which it does on a massive scale, contributing $16 billion annually to the north Texas economy. But to do that efficiently – and cost competitively for the air carriers – it must create revenue beyond landing fees, parking and retail rent. As vice president of the airport's commercial development department, John Terrell finds ways to do just that.
      Nominated by his colleague Jerry Baumbach, assistant vice president, Terrell deserves credit for a wide range of non-aviation, revenue-generating initiatives, including restructuring and expanding DFW's land development and leasing program. More significant was his leadership in devising a plan to tap the abundant natural gas reserves in the Barnett Shale beneath the airport. DFW is already seeing significant royalties from the energy being extracted by Chesapeake Energy.
      "John has brought a professionalism and expertise to commercial real estate that is unrivaled in the airport industry," says Jeff Fegan, CEO of DFW International Airport. "John's ability to build partnerships that meet the needs of potential clients and enhance the airport's commercial real estate portfolio is bringing DFW new international business that will benefit the North Texas economy for decades to come."