McCraney Property Company was named Developer of Year Thursday night after taking top prizes in both the industrial and office categories during NAIOP Central Florida’s Best of the Best awards gala.
The annual ceremony held at the Alfond Inn honored the past year’s top brokers, land deals, developers, and development projects. Jim Gray, a former Orlando City Commissioner and managing director for CBRE Orlando, who retired in late 2025, was recognized with a Lifetime Achievement award. His decades-long career in commercial real estate included leadership roles at GrayPointe Capital, Parkway Properties, and Wells Fargo Bank.
“It’s been a 38-year run here in Central Florida, and I’ve been lucky enough to work with and around some very, very good people that have helped me and nurtured me, and so I’m just so honored to receive this award,” he said.
McCraney’s new headquarters office on Orange Avenue in Winter Park earned the Office Development of the Year for 2025. MPC developed the three-story, approximately 30,000-square-foot Class A office building on the property, with a portion reserved for MPC’s future corporate headquarters. The project was designed to attract both new businesses to Winter Park and existing companies seeking to expand their office footprint within the city. The project, which is fully-leased, represents a strategic urban infill development in a supply-constrained submarket.
Steven McCraney said he shares the award with HuntonBrady and Welbro Building Corp, his architecture firm and general contractor. “It doesn’t just happen by ourselves,” McCraney said. “We have this amazing team that I suit up with every day, and I love every minute of it.”
MPC was also recognized for Commerce 429, its second industrial park in Ocoee, which delivered 487,234 square feet of logistics space across eight warehouse buildings. The project was conceived to meet escalating demand for modern, flexible industrial space serving both regional distribution and local service users. It provides a rare mix of front-load and rear-load facilities and offers strong visibility from S.R. 429.
McCraney won in 2019 and in 2021 for its work on the Infinity Park project with partner Tavistock Development Company.
Industrial Deal of the Year went to Cushman & Wakefield for the $84.25 million sale of Orlando Apopka Commerce Center I & II. Mike Davis, Rick Colon, Rick Brugge, and Dominic Montazemi represented EQT Real Estate in its sale of the fully occupied building in December to AdventHealth.
Located within Apopka Commerce Center, the 546,820-square-foot cross-dock distribution center was built in 2023 and features 40-foot clear heights, 150 dock doors, four drive-in doors, and 190-foot truck courts. Importantly, AdventHealth has already been operating a Consolidated Service Center in more than half of the building for nearly two years, making this acquisition a natural next step from tenant to owner. Jeff Sweeney, John Skinner, Kevin Hammond acted as the buyer’s representative.
CBRE was also a multi-award winner, earning top prizes in both the Land and Multifamily categories.
Michael McEwan led the marketing campaign for the sale of the 16.49-acre site at the SE corner of Daryl Carter and I-4. The property, owned by Fisher Brothers, was previously approved for a Las Vegas-style attraction called Area15. One of the last undeveloped parcels in the tourism corridor with frontage on I-4, the property was sold to The Cornerstone Group in February 2025 for $24.25 million, which resulted in a $1.47 million per-acre land price. Cornerstone sold the property a year later to Walmart for $35 million.
Zac Brumbaugh and Aaron Brumbaugh of CBRE closed construction financing in December 2025 for Skorman Development’s 324-unit Vista Hills Apartments in Minneola. The $75 million loan allowed Skorman to proceed with construction on the community, which is next door to its previous award-winning Minneola Hills community.
Retail Deal of the Year went to Atrium Development Group for the $9.5 million off-market sale on Dec. 31 of the Parkwood Building at 120 E Morse Blvd. in downtown Winter Park. The historic 10,650-square-foot building is home to a trio of popular eateries: Bosphorous Turkish Cuisine, Croissant Gourmet and Rome’s Flavours.
Atrium Commercial’s Jill Roberts and JP Beuliau were initially retained to stabilize the building, which they accomplished by addressing a backlog of issues, including legacy leases, deferred maintenance, code violations and safety concerns. Bosphorous ultimately stepped in to purchase the building, generating a $3.3 million gain for the seller.
After winning the 2023 award for Office Development of the Year, Tavistock earned the Office Deal of the Year award this year for securing Siemens Energy as the anchor tenant.
Siemens Energy’s relocation to Lake Nona Town Center represents the largest new office lease signed in Orlando since 2015 and, according to CoStar, is one of the three largest office lease transactions in the city’s history. The deal reinforces Central Florida’s position as a destination for global corporate investment and innovation-driven employers.
The lease covers almost the entire 8-story building, which was built on spec in 2023 and is recognized for its high-performance design, energy efficiency, and modern workplace experience.
Individual honors went to:
- Top Overall Broker: Andrei Savitski, CBRE
- Industrial Tenant Rep Broker: Monica Wonus, CBRE
- Industrial Sales Broker and Landlord Broker: David Murphy, CBRE
- Industrial Developing Leader Broker: Cameron Montgomery JLL
- Office Tenant Rep Broker: Andrei Savitski, CBRE
- Office Sales Broker: Robbie McEwan, JLL Capital Markets
- Office Landlord Broker: Jay Dixon, CBRE
- Office Developing Broker: Spencer Koch, Marcus & Millichap
- Retail Leasing Broker: James Mitchell, CBRE
- Retail Sales Broker: Salim Valiani, Marcus & Millichap
- Retail Tenant Rep Broker and Landlord Broker: Cabot Jaffee, CBRE
- Retail Developing Leader: Tarek Chbeir, Marcus & Millichap
- Multifamily Broker: Shelton Granade, IPA/Marcus & Millichap
- Financing Broker: Garrett Fierstein-Marcus & Millichap Capital Corporation
- Land Sales Broker: Robert McEwan, CBRE
- Developing Leader Land Broker: Ryan Griffith, Lee & Associates
- Volunteer of the Year: Nate Eissler, JLL
Have a tip about Central Florida development? Contact me at lkinsler@GrowthSpotter.com or (407) 420-6261. Follow GrowthSpotter on Facebook and LinkedIn.
