Property Awards 2011 for Commercial Excellence

The second edition of the prestigious Property Awards 2011, recognising excellence in Commercial Real Estate was a grand success with participation from leading developers and other real estate professionals. The evening at Westin Hotel, Mumbai on December 13, 2011 saw developers and architects of state- of -the -art projects emerge winners.  
 UBM Asia’s  Executive Vice President, Michael Duck gave the welcome address which was followed by a thought provoking panel discussion on the topic, “Commercial Real Estate: The Harbinger of Economic Growth.”  The discussion emphasized the role and importance of commercial real estate in boosting the economy and how both impacted each other.  The panel was of the opinion that the current slowdown in the economy could be improved only if the government went ahead and introduced the second line of reforms and completed infrastructure projects. While developers had a long term vision and were ready to take the plunge in making investments in various locations these could be meaningful only with the necessary interventions and initiatives by the government.
The evening also saw the release of a coffee table book on the evolving business districts of Mumbai titled “Evolutionary Workplaces: New Vistas, New Horizons.”  The book provides a preview of Mumbai’s business districts, their USP and future potential which will serve as a guide for both the domestic and foreign investor looking to invest in India and in understanding Office Spaces in these business districts. 
The highlight of the evening were the Nomination category awards which saw Oberoi Commerz at Goregaon, Mumbai win the Luxury Project of the year award; Platina building at BKC from the Wadhwa Group, Mumbai  winning the Commercial Project of the year award; Citibank won the Occupier of the Year award for its eco friendly initiatives at its Nirlon Knowledge Park facility,
Eco-project of the year award was won by Sobha Developers for the Bayer Eco Commercial Building  while the Office Architect of the year award was bagged by Morphogensis from NCR region. 
 
The awards constituted three sections, the nomination category, the survey category and the management awards. The winners in the nomination category were through nominations invited for commercial projects from leading developers, architects and occupiers of office spaces. These were then evaluated on the criteria of innovation, impact on the end user and design aesthetics. The winners were evaluated and selected by a screening panel and collegium of eminent real estate personalities.  
The survey category winners were chosen through a survey of  industry stakeholders. Here the three top office Space developer awards went to Ascendas India, Peninsula Land and TCG Real Estate while the three top mall developer awards went to Phoenix Mills, Ambuja Realty and K Raheja Corp.  The Trusted Commercial Property Advisor of the year award was received by CB Richard Ellis, South Asia  while the trusted Retail Property Advisor of the year award went to Jones Lang LaSalle.
The two management choice awards for Property Personality of the Year for notable contributions to commercial spaces in India went to Mr Raj Menda, MD, RMZ Group and the Young Property Entrepreneur of the year award to Mr Neel Raheja, Group President, K Raheja Corp for augmenting commercial spaces in India through his contributions and achievements.
The awards were under the aegis of UBM India,  part of the $2.5 billion UBM plc, listed on the London Stock Exchange, which worldwide organizes 300 events, publishes 200 magazines and periodicals and hosts 200 websites.