Colliers’ Kids Bring Fresh Ideas to the Office
Three very imaginative, sales-minded and hard-working children joined the Colliers International | Pittsburgh team last week for our annual “Take Your Child To Work Day.”
The first part of the day was spent learning about what makes buildings different, including the amenities they offer. This was all in anticipation of their big project of the day: create and draw your own building, come up with a pitch, and then try to sell it to anyone in the office.
Garrett, a kindergartner and the youngest of the bunch, designed a hotel skyscraper with a full movie theater in it. His brother Ryan, who is in 2nd grade, created four very different buildings. The most notable was named the “Titanic” in which he described as a “ship like building that can be moved by a truck to be moved into the water.” When asked if it was like the Pittsburgh Ducky Tours, he said yes, but that it was much bigger and people could actually live in it. Lizzie, a 4th grader, designed a retail building with an ice rink and pretzel shop, where people could dip their own chocolate covered pretzels. She also created a very cool office building where people could not only come to work, but the main priority was to have fun!
“My kids had a great time learning about commercial buildings,” Mark Anderson, dad of Ryan and Garrett said. “Their favorite part was negotiating with buyers for their hypothetical properties.”
Lisa Mikolay, Lizzie’s mom, added, “I know the day is supposed to inform the kids about their parents jobs, however, it was a learning experience for me as I saw my quiet 9 year old girl turn into a high pressure sales person trying to get the most profit from her building.”
While no real money was exchanged for their million dollar buildings, their hard work didn’t go unnoticed. All three kids received a cash prize of $1 and pizza for lunch! Afterwards, Ryan and Garrett accompanied their dad on a very important business meeting, while Lizzie helped her mom with various office tasks for the rest of the afternoon.
The whole office was impressed by the creativity and work ethic of each child. It is apparent that they will do great things when they grow up!
“When I asked the kids what they thought their future careers would be, I was intrigued as Garrett talked about being an inventor of new floating chocolate (another Willie Wonka) and Ryan wants to be an inventor and is very interested in finding life on other planets and the possibility of living on other planets,” Lisa explained.
Colliers International | Pittsburgh Adds Four SIOR Awards to Repertoire
Paul Horan, Justin Kline & Ed Lawrence
Colliers International | Pittsburgh won four awards at the Western Pennsylvania Chapter of the Society of Industrial and Office Realtors (SIOR) Annual Awards Luncheon last week at the Rivers Club. The awards presented by David Ruppersberger, President of the Pittsburgh Regional Alliance, honor the region’s top brokers and deals of 2016.
Paul Horan, Founding Principal at Colliers International | Pittsburgh, and Edward Lawrence, Principal at Colliers International | Pittsburgh along with Jason Stewart at JLL won “Office Lease of the Year – Fringe” for representing 375 Northshore Drive in the 133,244 square foot People’s Natural Gas transaction.
Colliers International | Pittsburgh SIOR members Patrick Sentner, Founding Principal, and John Bilyak, Principal, won “SIOR Co-Broker of the Year – Pittsburgh Industrial” for their 148,000 square foot transaction at 405 Keystone Drive. Sentner and Bilyak represented the buyer in the $9.3 million deal.
“Colliers International | Pittsburgh was very proud to have so many of our transactions recognized at the recent SIOR Awards Luncheon,” Bilyak commented. “It is a tribute to the experience, depth and team approach within our office and a honor to receive these awards among the highest peer group within our industry.”
Justin Kline, Associate at Colliers International | Pittsburgh, was the only member of the firm to take home two awards. The first was for “Investment Sale of the Year – Industrial – Multi-tenant” on the sale of 460 Nixon Road. He represented the seller in the $20.3 million transaction. Kline also won “Emerging Broker – Seller Representative” for the sale of Center City Tower, a 300,000 square foot $21.5 million transaction.
The “Pinguins” Strike Again
The Colliers International | Pittsburgh “Pinguins” stepped foot on the lanes this weekend for the Junior Achievement of Western Pennsylvania (JAWPA) Young Professionals Board (YPB) Bowl-A-Thon. Our team, named after Pittsburgh’s beloved hockey team, raised $1,400 for programming materials at Kelly Elementary School in Wilkinsburg.
Despite the group’s strong athletic ability, the record breaking numbers were not shown in the scores, but in the number of participants and funds raised. The YPB Bowl-A-Thon’s 55 participants raised over $10,000, an increase in $4,500 from last year.
This is the second year that Maria Hanson, Client Services Advisor at Colliers International | Pittsburgh and JAWPA Young Professionals Board member, organized Colliers participation in the event.
“I may not be proud of my bowling abilities, but I am proud of the part that my colleagues and I played in supporting Junior Achievement and making this year’s Young Professionals Board Bowl-A-Thon the most successful one yet!”
According to their website, Junior Achievement is the world’s largest organization dedicated to providing young people with the knowledge and skills they need to reach economic success, plan for the future and make smart academic and economic choices. JAWPA programs are delivered by corporate and community volunteers and provides relevant, hands-on experiences to over 72,000 students from kindergarten through high school.
The next JAWPA Bowl-A-Thon is sponsored by Range Resources and will take place on Tuesday, March 7th at the Meadows Casino. If your company would like to participate, please call Elizabeth Saraceno, Events & Marketing Sales Manager at (412) 208-4747, ext. 124 or e-mail her at esaraceno@jawesternpa.org.
Pittsburgh Adds Another Accolade
Smart Asset ranked Pittsburgh number 4 on their “Best Cities for Foodies” list.
Gregg Broujos, Managing Director & Founding Principal of Colliers International | Pittsburgh, isn’t surprised. “We hear comments frequently from out of town investors that Pittsburgh’s independent restaurant scene is well known throughout the United States. And some of those investors have pointed to our new reputation as a foodie town as one of the factors as to why they are looking to invest in Pittsburgh. ”
SmartAsset.com says, “Pittsburgh is climbing the culinary charts. Zagat even named it the best food city of 2015. One great thing about Pittsburgh – other than 43 restaurants per 10,000 residents (third-most in the country) and 5.5 community-supported agriculture and farmers’ markets per 100,000 residents (sixth-most in the country) – is the prices. Relative to other large cities, especially those in our top 10, you can get a good deal in Pittsburgh. Going out to eat with a friend at a mid-tier restaurant in the Steel City should only cost you about $50, on average.”
Broujos adds, “Personally, I’m intentionally not skinny so I take full advantage of our diverse and hip restaurant scene.”
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