OED Announces the 2020 FRED Awards Finalists for Deal of the Year, Most Creative Deal and Emerging Dealmaker of the Year

The 2020 Frederick Real Estate Dealmaker – or FRED Awards – are right around the corner.  Now in its 4th year, OED hosts the FRED Awards to recognize and celebrate the commercial real estate industry deals and transactions in 2019 that have made significant impacts on Frederick County’s economy.

Nominations were collected for six categories including Deal of the Year, Most Creative Deal, Modern Masterpiece, Dealmaker of the Year, Emerging Dealmaker of the Year and Lifetime Achievement Award. In order to be eligible the commercial real estate deals must have been launched, underway or completed in 2019.  All the nominees must have made a significant impact on Frederick County’s economy.

Award winners will be announced on August 27, 2020 during the first virtual FRED Awards.  In anticipation of the awards ceremony, OED announces finalists in three of the categories – Deal of the Year, Most Creative Deal, and Emerging Dealmaker of the Year:

The Deal of the Year is bigger than just a real estate transaction. This is a deal that has far reaching impacts on the Frederick County community or economy. Factors to be considered include significant job creation, capital investment, size/square footage of project, diversification of Frederick's economy and/or community impact/revitalization.

  • The Kroger Co.s High-Tech Customer Fulfillment Center – The project revitalized a vacant distribution facility to construct an industry-leading High-Tech Customer Fulfillment Center (CFC). This project is 700,000 sq. ft. on 57.55 acres and will add 500 jobs.
  • Frederick Health Village – The project utilizes the former State Farm campus, and will host Frederick Health Hospice, Frederick Health Call Center, and components of the Information Technology Services.  This project is 387,000 sq. ft. building on 94 acres and will add 250 jobs.
  • River Run – This project is a land sale to St. John Properties and Rutters.  Goodwill leased 72,000 sq. ft. for a retail outlet and expanded office space.  This project is 18.31 acres.

The Most Creative Deal Award is given to a project that had to think out of the box to get a tenant in their space.  The team must have demonstrated creativity, perseverance, ingenuity and flexibility from the broker and landlord. The finalists are:

  • Silo Hill Car Wash repurposed for Dunkin Donuts
  • Goodwill & Veterans Project
  • Warehouse Cinemas

The Emerging Dealmaker of the Year award recognizes real estate professionals under 40 who shine as rising stars in the industry. Nominees for this award can be considered for a variety of reasons, including total number of transactions, total square footage leased, and/or total value of transactions in Frederick County, as well as significant professional achievements, how the individual is giving back to the Frederick community, or other factors that make the individual a standout in 2019. The finalists are:

  • Chris Kline Jr. – Frederick Commercial Real Estate
  • Ashleigh Kiggans – MacRo. Commercial Real Estate
  • Justin Saltzman – Veritá Commercial Real Estate (VCRE)