CoreNet Global held its first awards dinner in Charlotte, honoring corporate real estate leaders across the Carolinas. Over 300 guests gathered at the NASCAR Hall of Fame to celebrate six inaugural awards, including Executive of the Year for Marty Scanelli and a joint honor for Gensler Architects and the Charlotte Chamber of Commerce. The trophies were handcrafted from longleaf pine, North Carolina's state tree.
It was quite the night. There was lots of flash, a lot of fun, and fabulous food. Who's who in Charlotte's commercial real estate world walked the red carpet into the NASCAR Hall of Fame. These are Charlotte's best in commercial real estate, and Cornett wanted to honor them. This event is a first for the organization.
And the purpose of tonight is to recognize leaders and teams and companies in the Carolinas region that have done great things in the corporate real estate industry.
A little after 7, 300 guests were seated for a spectacular dinner. The evening was top shelf. Filet was on the menu and finesse was in the detail. Angela Cain, Cornett's CEO, was impressed.
It's a huge crowd here tonight. You can hear the energy and buzz, I think, behind me. So people are so grateful for an opportunity to be recognized and to recognize others in the profession.
2 years of planning went into this event. The first award went to Gensler Architects and the Charlotte Chamber of Commerce for the Chamber's beautiful new office space. Cornett showcased it on the big screen before the announcement. Speaking of awards, they were handmade out of longleaf pine. Yes, the same cherished official tree of North Carolina. And Marty Scanelli took one of them home. He was named Executive of the Year.
I just am proud of our team, what we as a team have done, and then I'm only one person being recognized for that.
There were 6 awards in all, and judging in this first year was very difficult.
Once again, being the first awards dinner, we had a lot of good submissions. Obviously a lot of people interested in being recognized for their work, so the judges had a hard time going through and really distinguishing which ones from the best, and hopefully we continue to have that type of participation going forward.
To make this evening so elegant took a lot of corporate sponsors that stepped up to the plate, including the presenting sponsor, Nelson.
Cornet as an organization really represents best practice and best people, and we as an organization want to support and give back to our communities and the important organizations that we think further our industry.
The ceremony was a flurry of awards, picture-taking, and applause. And in the end, Cornett congratulates these 6 inaugural winners who all set a very high bar for years to come. Whoo!
