The Commercial Real Estate Council of Metro Little Rock held its annual Commercial Real Estate Awards on Thursday, Feb. 22.
The event honored both significant achievements and the largest real estate transactions in the metro area for 2022.
Honored as Legends were Rick Ashley and Gus Vratsinas.
Rick Ashley and Gus Vratsinas
Ashley has been involved in commercial real estate for his entire life and there’s a significant number of commercial developments that carry the Ashley name.
Two he’s especially proud of are Ashley Square, off Rodney Parham, and home to the TJ Maxx, among other commercial properties. North Little Rock’s Lakewood Village is another and his company was instrumental in doubling its size.
In addition to real estate, Ashley has also been involved in banking and helped restart Twin City Bank, now Centennial Bank as is a member of the board there.
He’s also been heavily involved with the North Little Rock Chamber of Commerce.
Vratsinas, a Little Rock native, is a professional engineer as well as the co-founder of what’s now VCC, the international construction company headquartered in downtown Little Rock.
He has shaped the Little Rock skyline and was the general contractor for the TCBY Tower, now the Simmons Tower, the tallest building in the state and his North of the River impact has also been significant as he was the project manager for North Little Rock’s McCain Mall and also built The Other Center, the strip mall across from the mall, and home to Target, among other retail businesses.
The son of Greek immigrants, Vratsinas’s proudest professional accomplishment and also his most personal was building his church, the Annunciation Greek Orthodox Church when it moved to west Little Rock on Napa Valley Drive in the 1980s. He also worked on the church’s expansion in the 2000s with the addition of the church’s 7,000 square foot Cultural Center.
He’s also been instrumental in the success of the church’s annual Greek Food Festival and helped move it from its RiverFest home to the new church when it was completed in 1986.
He is also a member of the University of Arkansas College of Engineering Hall of Fame, the Arkansas Construction Hall of Fame and the Arkansas Business Hall of Fame.
Impact Awards
The group also recognized the impact of last year’s EF-3 tornado and North Little Rock Mayor Terry Hartwick and Little Rock Police Chief Heath Helton were on hand to accept Impact Awards for their respective cities.
Little Rock PD was also recognized for its Real Time Crime Center, which was completed last year.
Commercial Real Estate Project of the Year 2023
Sometimes it takes a village and sometimes it takes more than 50 companies to help get a project completed and such was the case with the Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts, which re-opened last year after a complete renovation and significant additions to the city’s 133,000 square-foot museum.
The museum has been nationally recognized for its design and construction.
Commercial Real Estate Person of the Year 2023
Bryan Day, Executive Director for the Port Authority of Little Rock, was named the Real Estate Person of the Year. A former assistant city manager and director of the city’s Parks & Rec department, Day has been with the Port Authority since 2014 and has led its transition to a “super site” with the move of an aviation navigation beacon that will allow for thousands of more acres to be developed there.
Largest Industrial Lease: 6801 Scott Hamilton – Drew Holbert, Isaac Smith, Clark Irwin & Andrew Wiechern, Colliers Arkansas
Largest Medical Lease: Premier Medical Plaza – Chris Moses & Greyson Skokos, Moses Tucker Partners
Largest Office Lease: 500 Main Street – Boyle Building – Chris Moses, Chris Monroe, Greyson Skokos & George Friedmann, Moses Tucker Partners
Largest Retail Lease: 12309 Chenal Parkway – Metro Appliances & More – Jill Bryant, West Group Real Estate
Largest Industrial Sale: 12221 Arch St. Pike – Lauren Atkins, Haybar Real Estate and Nathan Monan, Colliers Arkansas
Largest Land Sale: Top Golf Way – Club View Multifamily – Lee Strother & Kevin Huchingson, Colliers Arkansas
Largest Multi-Family Housing Sale: 10801 Paul Eells Drive - Fountain Bleau Maumelle – Ted Bailey, III & Richard Cheek, The Multifamily Group
Largest Office Sale: 12615 Chenal Parkway – Stone Bank – Drew Holbert & Clark Irwin, Colliers Arkansas
Largest Retail Sale: 1400 Military Road, Benton – Grocery Management Partners – Todd Rice, Colliers Arkansas
Sponsors for the event included: BluSky Restoration, Colliers Arkansas, Ferstl Valuation Services, Metro Disaster Specialists, Middleton Heat & Air, C.B.M. Construction, Cushman & Wakefield|Sage Partners, Regions Center 400 Capitol, Apartment Hunters, Canyon View Properties, Comfort Systems of Arkansas, Flake & Company, Hathaway Group, PI Roofing, Pulaski County Title, Quattlebaum, Grooms & Tull PLLC, Western Specialty Contractors, Evo Business Solutions, Haybar Real Estate, Jefferson County Alliance for Economic Development, Beach Abstract & Guaranty Company, GFF Architects and The Multifamily Group.
Commercial real estate awards handed out
Commercial real estate awards handed out
Commercial real estate awards handed out
The Commercial Real Estate Council of Metro Little Rock held its annual Commercial Real Estate Awards on Thursday, Feb. 22.
The event honored both significant achievements and the largest real estate transactions in the metro area for 2022.
Honored as Legends were Rick Ashley and Gus Vratsinas.
Ashley has been involved in commercial real estate for his entire life and there’s a significant number of commercial developments that carry the Ashley name.
Two he’s especially proud of are Ashley Square, off Rodney Parham, and home to the TJ Maxx, among other commercial properties. North Little Rock’s Lakewood Village is another and his company was instrumental in doubling its size.
In addition to real estate, Ashley has also been involved in banking and helped restart Twin City Bank, now Centennial Bank as is a member of the board there.
He’s also been heavily involved with the North Little Rock Chamber of Commerce.
Vratsinas, a Little Rock native, is a professional engineer as well as the co-founder of what’s now VCC, the international construction company headquartered in downtown Little Rock.
He has shaped the Little Rock skyline and was the general contractor for the TCBY Tower, now the Simmons Tower, the tallest building in the state and his North of the River impact has also been significant as he was the project manager for North Little Rock’s McCain Mall and also built The Other Center, the strip mall across from the mall, and home to Target, among other retail businesses.
The son of Greek immigrants, Vratsinas’s proudest professional accomplishment and also his most personal was building his church, the Annunciation Greek Orthodox Church when it moved to west Little Rock on Napa Valley Drive in the 1980s. He also worked on the church’s expansion in the 2000s with the addition of the church’s 7,000 square foot Cultural Center.
He’s also been instrumental in the success of the church’s annual Greek Food Festival and helped move it from its RiverFest home to the new church when it was completed in 1986.
He is also a member of the University of Arkansas College of Engineering Hall of Fame, the Arkansas Construction Hall of Fame and the Arkansas Business Hall of Fame.
Impact Awards
The group also recognized the impact of last year’s EF-3 tornado and North Little Rock Mayor Terry Hartwick and Little Rock Police Chief Heath Helton were on hand to accept Impact Awards for their respective cities.
Little Rock PD was also recognized for its Real Time Crime Center, which was completed last year.
Commercial Real Estate Project of the Year 2023
Sometimes it takes a village and sometimes it takes more than 50 companies to help get a project completed and such was the case with the Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts, which re-opened last year after a complete renovation and significant additions to the city’s 133,000 square-foot museum.
The museum has been nationally recognized for its design and construction.
Commercial Real Estate Person of the Year 2023
Bryan Day, Executive Director for the Port Authority of Little Rock, was named the Real Estate Person of the Year. A former assistant city manager and director of the city’s Parks & Rec department, Day has been with the Port Authority since 2014 and has led its transition to a “super site” with the move of an aviation navigation beacon that will allow for thousands of more acres to be developed there.
Largest Industrial Lease: 6801 Scott Hamilton – Drew Holbert, Isaac Smith, Clark Irwin & Andrew Wiechern, Colliers Arkansas
Largest Medical Lease: Premier Medical Plaza – Chris Moses & Greyson Skokos, Moses Tucker Partners
Largest Office Lease: 500 Main Street – Boyle Building – Chris Moses, Chris Monroe, Greyson Skokos & George Friedmann, Moses Tucker Partners
Largest Retail Lease: 12309 Chenal Parkway – Metro Appliances & More – Jill Bryant, West Group Real Estate
Largest Industrial Sale: 12221 Arch St. Pike – Lauren Atkins, Haybar Real Estate and Nathan Monan, Colliers Arkansas
Largest Land Sale: Top Golf Way – Club View Multifamily – Lee Strother & Kevin Huchingson, Colliers Arkansas
Largest Multi-Family Housing Sale: 10801 Paul Eells Drive - Fountain Bleau Maumelle – Ted Bailey, III & Richard Cheek, The Multifamily Group
Largest Office Sale: 12615 Chenal Parkway – Stone Bank – Drew Holbert & Clark Irwin, Colliers Arkansas
Largest Retail Sale: 1400 Military Road, Benton – Grocery Management Partners – Todd Rice, Colliers Arkansas
Sponsors for the event included: BluSky Restoration, Colliers Arkansas, Ferstl Valuation Services, Metro Disaster Specialists, Middleton Heat & Air, C.B.M. Construction, Cushman & Wakefield|Sage Partners, Regions Center 400 Capitol, Apartment Hunters, Canyon View Properties, Comfort Systems of Arkansas, Flake & Company, Hathaway Group, PI Roofing, Pulaski County Title, Quattlebaum, Grooms & Tull PLLC, Western Specialty Contractors, Evo Business Solutions, Haybar Real Estate, Jefferson County Alliance for Economic Development, Beach Abstract & Guaranty Company, GFF Architects and The Multifamily Group.
CREC board members include:
Matthew Beachboard, Moses Tucker Partners
Reagan Compton, GFF Architects
Michael Crosby, Quattlebaum, Grooms & Tull PLLC
Derek Fisher, Bank OZK
James Harkins, Blue Whale Development
David Hathaway, Hathaway Group
Rose Kline, Cushman & Wakefield | Sage Partners
Teresa Kreis, Colliers
Brad Sims, Pulaski County Title
Payton Smith, Metro Disaster Specialists
Cathy Tuggle, Apartment Hunters