Each year the WSU Center for Real Estate and the Kansas Chapter of Certified Commercial Investment Members (CCIM) present their annual Lifetime Achievement Award. The award honors local professionals who have made outstanding contributions to the commercial real estate profession and is a great honor and a tribute to individuals who represent the finest examples of Wichita’s rich history of entrepreneurship in the real estate industry.
Max Cole is the 2023 recipient of the Kansas CCIM Chapter and WSU Center for Real Estate Lifetime Achievement Award. Max is a Wichita native celebrated for his unconventional approach to real estate. A trailblazer since the late 1960’s, Max’s strategic foresight led him to profit from land condemned for highway expansion, funding ventures like the Ridge Plaza Inn, and Wichita’s inaugural disco. Max recognized potential in South Wichita, and pioneered projects that revitalized the area. Notably, Max transformed the ailing Wichita Mall into offices, creating one of the original co-working spaces in Wichita. His diverse portfolio, from San Francisco timeshares to Las Vegas golf courses, showcases a remarkable national footprint.
The 2022 Lifetime Achievement Award has been given to Willard Garvey and the Garvey family in recognition of several lifetimes of impact on the commercial real estate and development industry in Wichita.
The patriarch of the Garvey family, Ray Hugh Garvey, was born in Phillips County, Kansas on January 3, 1893. Always knowing he wanted a college education, the teenaged Garvey grew wheat on rented property and later worked two paper routes to fund his schooling at Washburn University in Topeka. He graduated with a law degree in 1915 and opened a law office in Colby, Kansas. After partnering in a land business, Ray Hugh, his wife Olive, and their four children moved from Colby to Wichita in 1928. Garvey Farms owned 100,000 acres of farmland in Kansas and Colorado and in 1947 posted a world record annual harvest of one million bushels of wheat. The company implemented innovative and sustainable farming techniques: custom combining and summer fallow farming, keeping some land out of production during a regular growing season.
During the World War II and Korean War years, Wichita’s aviation and war materiel plants boomed with military production, drawing thousands of new workers to the city and creating a severe housing shortage. To meet the demand, Ray Hugh and his son Willard Garvey established Builders Inc. in 1940, through which they built and managed over 2,000 apartments and attached fourplexes, around 5,000 single-family “cottages,” and several shopping centers. After Ray Hugh’s death in 1959, Willard Garvey took over the organization and was responsible for creating numerous Wichita landmarks including the Garvey Center, Epic Center, The Independent School, several neighborhoods including Bonnie Brae, much of the Southwest Industrial Park, and additional apartment projects.
In the 1990’s, Willard’s son Jim Garvey took over Builders, Inc. During his time at the helm, Jim aggressively paid down debt, developed mini storage and single family subdivisions, and used low income tax credits to rehabilitate most of the apartment units that Builders, Inc. owned. Jim donated the land for the construction of the YMCA’s South Branch, as well as the building that housed The Salvation Army’s Biddy Basketball program.
Jim’s son Michael Garvey took over the company in 2007. Michael has developed Corner 365 Apartments in downtown Wichita, Central Bay Apartments in west Wichita, and continues to manage the real estate portfolio of the company.
Many other branches of the family own real estate in Wichita including Bonavia Properties and Cochener Garvey Capital Partners, among others. There are now over 120 descendants of RH Garvey, and each have carved their own unique paths forward from those initial farms in western Kansas.
In 2021, the Kansas CCIM Chapter surprised Dr. Stan Longhofer by selecting him as the latest recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award. “I was truly stunned and deeply honored,” said Longhofer. “While I have devoted the bulk of my professional life to educating and serving the professional real estate community throughout Kansas, I never expected that my work would be recognized and appreciated in this way. The past recipients of this award are legends in the Wichita commercial real estate community, and I am humbled to be included in their company.”
Dr. Longhofer is a full professor and holds the Stephen L. Clark Chair of Real Estate and Finance at in the Barton School of Business Wichita State University. He was hired in 1999 to rebuild a virtually dormant real estate program and to rebuild relationships with the area real estate community. In 2000, he founded the Center for Real Estate to help deepen the connections between the professional real estate community and WSU’s educational and research programs. Through the Center, Dr. Longhofer provides research services and educational programs to real estate professionals throughout the region. Since coming to WSU, he has given over three hundred presentations about the economy and real estate markets, and he has organized and taught dozens of educations programs for professional groups throughout the Central Plains.
His insights regarding real estate market conditions are widely quoted in local and national media outlets, including the Economist, Forbes, USA Today, and the Christian Science Monitor, and he has been featured as an op-ed columnist in the Washington Post and the Wall Street Journal’s online edition. Dr. Longhofer is a prolific academic researcher as well, and his work has been published in a variety of leading academic journals. In addition, he has written numerous popular articles on real estate and financial markets that have appeared in publications such as the Appraisal Journal, Investor’s Business Daily, the Cato Institute’s Regulation magazine, and Commercial Investment Real Estate.
Dr. Longhofer’s biggest impact on the commercial real estate industry, however, has been through the work of his former students. As a professor and mentor, Longhofer has helped mold the Wichita commercial real estate industry for nearly a quarter of a century by teaching and encouraging innumerable students, many of whom have become leaders in the profession.
Prior to coming to Wichita State, Dr. Longhofer was a financial economist with the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland researching problems in mortgage discrimination, financial contracting, and bankruptcy. While there, he also served as a founding member of the Federal Reserve System’s Fair Lending Advisory Group, consulting with bank examiners on fair-lending issues and developing statistical techniques to uncover mortgage discrimination.
Dr. Longhofer earned his M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in economics from the University of Illinois and holds a B.B.A. from Wichita State.
After graduating from Kansas State University in 1991, Paul Jackson went to work as a consulting engineer in Davenport, IA. After just one year, at age 24, Paul decided to pursue his passion for real estate development by attempting to take advantage of buying opportunities that had resulted from the savings and loan crisis. To that end, he quit his engineering job, moved to Wichita, and started Vantage Point Properties in 1992.
Within two months of starting the company, Vantage Point was the successful bidder at a sheriff’s sale for an office property located at Central and Rock Road, which it bought for $25.00 per square foot. Shortly afterward, Vantage Point was able to purchase a sister property on the same site, and Paul spent the next year learning about property management, and as the only employee, he performed every role of the company from maintenance to leasing to construction management.
This beginning instilled strong core beliefs around the importance of selecting the best locations, delivering quality, and building strong customer relationships. These have become cornerstones of Vantage Point’s development success. They have also served as the basis for the company’s decision to vertically integrate by developing, operating, and managing its properties in-house with the expectation of retaining long-term ownership.
In addition to office projects, Vantage Point’s development activities have expanded to include retail and multi-family projects in key Wichita locations primarily in east Wichita. To date, it has developed approximately 1.4 million square feet of office and retail space, and 436 apartment units in the Wichita area. The core beliefs it started with are still Vantage Point’s guiding principles today. Some notable projects include:
- Wilson Estates Office Park
Complex of five office buildings consisting of 216,000 square feet - Lakeside at the Waterfront
Complex of three office buildings consisting of 100,000 square feet - SunSTONE Apartment Homes
Two complexes totaling 436 units - McCormick Armstrong Property
Mixed-use re-development project in the East Douglas Design District consisting of 80,000 square feet - Reflections at City Center
Mixed-use project in Lenexa, KS incorporating 315,000 square feet of office space in three buildings and three casual-dining restaurant sites
Paul currently serves on the Advisory Board of Commerce Bank and has previously served on the Kansas Humane Society Board and the YMCA Metro Board. He has lived in Wichita for 27 years and has two children–Riley (daughter) and Nick (son). In his free time, he enjoys traveling, fly fishing, spectator sports, and golf.
Steve Martens is a third generation commercial real estate agent who recognized early on that commercial real estate opportunities provide the catalyst for entrepreneurial development, jobs and community growth. After graduating from the University of Kansas in 1975, Steve received his Kansas real estate salesperson’s license and joined R.D. Martens & Company, a firm founded by his father in 1948.
Steve’s early assignments at the company were in property management. But in true maverick spirit, he wasn’t content to focus solely on one dimension of the business. Steve was eager to add new business lines for the firm, including commercial real estate brokerage and appraisal. In 1977, the firm was renamed The Martens Companies, reflecting its diverse business sectors.
After being named President of The Martens Companies in 1983, Steve continued to enhance the company’s brokerage and property appraisal platforms. He earned his appraisal certification in the early ‘80s, and by the mid- ‘80s was a nationally recognized expert in the management and turnaround of distressed properties.
As technology and connectivity expanded real estate opportunities globally, The Martens Companies’ brokerage division formed an affiliation with Grubb & Ellis, giving Wichita its first formal partnership with a global commercial real estate company. Although the publicly-traded Grubb & Ellis would not survive the 2008 financial crisis, The Martens Companies remained well-capitalized, with Steve steady at the helm. The Martens Companies’ strength, diversity and savvy leadership during these rocky times for real estate enabled the brokerage division to thrive and, in 2012, to join NAI Global — the world’s largest managed real estate network. NAI Martens now offers its clients a robust Big Data platform, complete with real-time research, in-depth analysis, local market expertise and a national and global perspective from NAI Global’s 400 affiliate offices worldwide.
From the three-person firm he joined in 1975, Steve has built up The Martens Companies to include more than 125 brokers, appraisers and employees, with offices in Wichita and Topeka. Its six operating divisions include:
- NAI Martens. A top performer within NAI Global, serving clients interested in buying, selling or leasing office, manufacturing, retail, hospitality, and multi-family properties.
- Martens Appraisal. The state’s largest commercial appraisal firm, with one of the most comprehensive commercial real estate databases in Kansas.
- Receivership Services Corporation. Providing property management services for a variety of distressed properties, including shopping centers, office buildings, hotels and multi-family complexes.
- Hospitality Management LLC. Providing day-to-day and asset-management for internationally branded lodging properties. Hospitality Management operates five award-winning hotels in Kansas and Oklahoma.
- Hospitality Development of America LLC. Develops lodging properties for internationally branded hospitality chains. Best Western Hotels & Resorts named Steve Martens their 2016 Developer of the Year.
- Huffman Corridor Consulting LLC. Assisting clients in the planning, public policy, engineering and valuation elements of land use, access and transportation corridor management.
While Steve has focused on expansion and diversification of his firm, he’s also kept a keen eye on the economic, civic and cultural health of Wichita, Sedgwick County and Kansas. He served on the Governor’s Council of Economic Advisors from 2015 – 2018 and was the Founding Chair of the Greater Wichita Economic Development Coalition (known today as Greater Wichita Partnership). He has served as both Campaign Chair and Board Chair of United Way of the Plains, and as the Capital Campaign Chair for United Methodist Open Door, the success of which led to a relocation and expansion of the ministry’s food pantry.
With a natural curiosity for all things science- and history-related, Steve has proudly served as a Board Member of Exploration Place, and as Board Chair of the Cosmosphere. For his corporate support and civic leadership, Steve was honored as the 2013 Philanthropist of the Year by the Wichita Chapter of the Association of Fundraising Executives, and elected in 2014 to the Junior Achievement of Wichita Hall of Fame.
As a broker and entrepreneur, Steve has dedicated his career to promoting the commercial real estate industry and helping it flourish. He is a Past President of the Kansas Association of Realtors®, the Realtors® of South Central Kansas, and the Kansas Chapter of CCIM. Steve is a vocal advocate for advanced education and career training in real estate, and he sits on the WSU Real Estate Advisory Board to assist with curriculum development and internship opportunities for students entering the field. As a CPM, CCIM, and SIOR designee, Steve is committed to life-long learning opportunities and strongly encourages members of The Martens Companies to advance their own careers through CPM, CCIM, SIOR and/or MAI designations.
For his breadth of service on behalf of the industry in total, Steve was inducted into the Midwest Real Estate News Commercial Real Estate Hall of Fame in 2010.
George Laham is the recipient of the 2017 WSU Center for Real Estate and Kansas CCIM Chapter Lifetime Achievement Award.
After graduating from the University of Kansas in 1986, George Laham came back to Wichita and started his real estate career in the commercial division of JP Weigand and Sons. George was involved in retail brokerage and development until 1995 when he formed Laham Development Company to focus on real estate development.
As president of Laham Development, George has been involved in shaping Wichita’s energetic retail and master planned development growth over the last 25 years and continues a strong relationship with JP Weigand and Sons today.
Laham Development created one of the nation’s first lifestyle centers with Bradley Fair, bringing a succession of the nation’s foremost retail and restaurant concepts to our City, including Banana Republic, Chico’s, GAP, Sephora, Williams-Sonoma, Pottery Barn and, most recently, Athleta.
As a native Wichitan, George’s commitment to the community can be seen in his development of Wichita’s vibrant northeast corridor, which includes:
- Wilson Estates, a 320-acre master-planned community located at 21st and Rock Road.
- Plazzio, a 350,000-square foot entertainment center located at 13th and Greenwich, featuring the 20-screen Warren Theatre, various restaurants and hotels including TRU Hotel by Hilton that is currently under construction and the recently announced Chicken N Pickle restaurant and entertainment venue featuring indoor and outdoor pickleball courts and a rooftop bar.
- At 13th and Greenwich Laham Development was involved in the development that features the Walser Luxury Collection, which includes Mercedes, Lexus, and BMW, as well as two brands that are new to the Wichita market, Range Rover and Audi.
- Regency Lakes, a 400,000-square foot shopping center located at 21st and Greenwich that is anchored by Super Target and Cabela’s.
- With is latest development, Laham joined the downtown renaissance with the development of River Vista, a 202-unit apartment project located on the West Bank of the Arkansas River that is currently under construction.
George serves on the board of Fidelity Bank, the Wichita Grand Opera, and the Wichita Cancer Foundation and is a lifelong resident of Wichita where he resides with his wife, Jocelyne, and sons, Marco and Rafael.
Phil Ruffin is the recipient of the 2016 WSU Center for Real Estate and Kansas CCIM Chapter Lifetime Achievement Award.
Born in Texas and raised in Wichita, Kansas, Ruffin accepted his first job during his high school years as an unpaid employee working for his father at Spur Market, a Wichita grocery store. Ruffin eventually quit because he wanted to earn a wage.
He attended Washburn University in Topeka and continued his education at Wichita State. After graduating in 1958, Ruffin went to Houston and interviewed for positions with S&H Green Stamps and Buick. Neither hired him. He tried San Antonio, interviewing for a senior level position at a large grocery chain. When the manager offered a regular store position, Ruffin declined.
In need of money – he had only 28 cents to his name – he convinced a banker to lend him the full value of a $100 savings bond he owned, but that had not matured. He returned to Wichita and landed a job with W.T. Grant, a mass merchandise store, as an assistant manager for $90 per week.
While there, Ruffin implemented a lawn mower sale that garnered his manager’s attention. While the manager was taking a vacation, Ruffin offered a $10 trade-in value on push mowers toward the purchase of a $49 power mower. The idea blew away the other stores with the same promotion. When the manager returned, he was very pleased – so pleased, in fact, he took credit for devising the promotion and its success. Mr. Ruffin decided right then he did not want to work for anyone else again.
About this time, Ruffin saw a gentleman drive to the store in a large Cadillac, with a beautiful redhead at his side. Ruffin said to himself, “That is who I want to be.”
Thus began his entrepreneurial success.
In 1959, he bought his first convenience store, which quickly grew to 65 stores in four states. He was instrumental in initiating self-service gasoline from its infancy and maintains a significant presence in the Kansas oil industry, owning more than 65 oil wells.
Ruffin’s diverse business career has run the gamut from owning a dairy, a bank, and more than 4 million square feet of commercial real estate, which included shopping centers, office buildings and strip centers, to expansive holdings in the hotel and gaming industries. Some of his current properties include 12 hotels in Kansas, Maryland, California, Oklahoma, Texas and Alabama, as well as a 16-acre island named Crystal Cay in Nassau, Bahamas, and 12,000 acres in Belize.
In 1981, Ruffin purchased Harper Trucks, Inc., the world’s largest manufacturer of two-wheel hand trucks, which makes one out of every three hand trucks sold in the United States. After acquiring Angeles Manufacturing in California, Ruffin parlayed the new multi-faceted business to supply goods through Harper’s 2,500 distributors and directly to the mass market including WalMart, Sears and Home Depot.
In the gaming arena, Ruffin purchased the Carnival Crystal Palace Hotel in the Bahamas in 1993, converting it to the Wyndham Nassau Resort and Crystal Palace Casino, which he recently sold to BahaMar Development Company for $147 million. He purchased in 1997 the 80-acre Wichita Greyhound Park in Wichita, Kansas, and the Pittsburg, Kansas Camptown greyhound park, including the gaming rights, in 2000. He hopes to have slot machines in both tracks next year.
Ruffin’s ventures expanded to the Las Vegas Strip in 1998 with the purchase of the 41-acre Frontier Hotel and Gambling Hall, which was at the center of the longest labor union strike in history. After successfully negotiating with local labor leaders, Ruffin reopened the property as The New Frontier Hotel and Casino.
In 2007, Ruffin and Donald Trump formed a joint venture to build the 1,283-room Trump International Hotel & Tower Las Vegas, which is now open. Ruffin also holds an additional 3.7 acres of undeveloped land in Las Vegas. In August 2007, he sold The New Frontier to the Elad Group for $1.24 billion, a record setting price for real estate on the Strip.
With an itch to get back into the casino business, Ruffin purchased Treasure Island in Las Vegas on March 20, 2009 from MGM Mirage for $755 million, where he continues to serve as its owner and top executive.
Darrell Leason is the recipient of the 2015 WSU Center for Real Estate and Kansas CCIM Chapter Lifetime Achievement Award.
Mr. Leason’s real estate career began in 1958 when he began working as a commercial salesperson for Colby Sandlian, a friend from high school and fellow Lifetime Achievement Award Recipient. Mr. Leason worked for Sandlian Realty for twelve years, during which time he distinguished himself with his diligence and attention to detail, and learned how to use creative techniques to close difficult transactions.
In 1970, Mr. Leason struck out on his own, and soon formed Brokers Investment Corporation with Jack R. Hunt (another Lifetime Achievement Award Recipient) and James R. Burns, opening an office in the Olive Gravy Building in downtown Wichita. At one point, Brokers investment Corporation was the largest commercial real estate firm in Wichita.
Mr. Leason passed away in 2016 after 57 years as a commercial and investment real estate broker, exchanger, real estate problem solver and developer. He was an active member of the Kansas Chapter of CCIM, the National Council of Exchangers and the Society of Exchange Counselors.
Donald C. Slawson is the recipient of the 2014 WSU Center for Real Estate and Kansas CCIM Chapter Lifetime Achievement Award, the first posthumous honoree. In 1957, Mr. Slawson founded Slawson Companies – an independent oil and gas exploration company which drilled over 4,000 operated wells in 10 states and at one time was the most active driller in the State of Kansas. This company became the foundation for Mr. Slawson’s extensive involvement in the Wichita real estate community.
Slawson Companies’ community-enhancing real estate developments span Wichita, from NewMarket Square on the northwest to the Tallgrass master-planned community on the northeast. One of Mr. Slawson’s proudest achievements was the development of a former sod farm into what is now NewMarket Square Shopping Center. The launch of NewMarket Square in 2001 directly answered the burgeoning demand for quality and variety in shopping options in the city’s rapidly expanding west side. Today, NewMarket serves as the region’s largest outdoor marketplace, with 850,000 square feet of building area and over 100 businesses. Across town, the 840-acre Tallgrass community is noted for its upscale neighborhoods, championship golf and carefully integrated commercial development. Current ventures include Oak Creek, a master-planned community at the southwest corner of 21st St. and Greenwich and Cross Pointe, a retail development at the southeast corner of 21st St. and Greenwich Road.
Since the early 1980’s, Slawson subsidiaries have developed 28 residential developments in west and east Wichita – including Briarwood Lakes Estates, Brookhaven Estates, Mill Pond, Evergreen, Socora Village and Woodbridge. Current residential projects include Fontana, Wilshire, Glen Meadows and Forest Gate.
Today, Slawson Companies employs more than 950 people in offices located in Wichita, Denver, Oklahoma City, Houston, Binger, Oklahoma and North Dakota.
Don cared deeply about his community and worked hard to make Wichita a better place to live. He served as a member of the Kansas Health Foundation’s Investment Committee for twenty years and was the founding Chairman of the Wichita/Sedgwick County Partnership for Growth and the Founding Chairman of the Wichita Downtown Development Committee. Don served on numerous Boards of Directors including: the Wichita Airport Advisory Board, the Greater Wichita Area Sports Commission, Wichita Collegiate School, Intrust Bank, Cessna Aircraft Corporation, Kansas Gas & Electric Company and Security Benefit Life Insurance Company.
Don and his wife Judy supported many Wichita community projects, but their favorite project was the Slawson Family Tiger Trek at the Sedgwick County Zoo.
Mr. Slawson is the tenth recipient of this award, joining Colby Sandlian, the late Jack Hunt, George Ablah, Jack DeBoer, Michael & Nestor Weigand, Stephen L. Clark, Herbert L. Krumsick, David Burk and Rod M. Stewart.
Rod Stewart is the 2013 recipient of the Kansas CCIM Chapter and WSU Center for Real Estate Lifetime Achievement Award in recognition of his many contributions to the local commercial real estate industry, to the Kansas CCIM Chapter and to the community of Wichita.
Mr. Stewart has been a licensed commercial real estate broker involved in the sale, exchange, leasing and management of commercial real estate for 43 years. Born in Newton, KS, Rod’s parents settled in Wichita in 1956 and he has lived here ever since. A graduate of Wichita East High School and Wichita State University with a degree in Political Science, Rod got his first experience in the political arena when he was elected to be a senator in the Student Government Association. This experience began a long involvement in local politics and policy-making bodies. Even though Rod never ran for elective political office after college, he participated in the campaigns of several City Commission members, state representatives and senators, as well as a Kansas Attorney General’s campaign.
Mr. Stewart was appointed by Tony Casado to serve on the Center City Steering Commission, was chairman of the Urban Renewal Agency, the Economic Development Commission, the Wichita Convention and Visitors Bureau, Chairman of the Miss USA Pageant, Chairman of the Miss USA Coronation Ball, Chairman of the Downtown Hotel Task Force and Chairman of the Sports Commission Task Force. He is a member of the Kansas CCIM Chapter Board of Directors, The Society of Exchange Counselors, the Wichita Area Association of Realtors, is active in Wagonmasters (a Past Captain) and has served on several committees and task forces for WAAR, including the Legislative Affairs Committee.
Beginning his business career with the Wichita Chamber of Commerce as a membership division manager, he left the Chamber after 3 years to pursue a career in commercial real estate and joined Sandlian Realty, where he learned management, leasing and sales of commercial properties. Mr. Stewart subsequently formed Rod M. Stewart Realtor and worked as a solo practitioner for 8 years, before becoming a principal in a new brokerage firm that he and 3 other brokers established as Snyder, Sheets, Stewart and Goseland. After a successful 5 year stint with the firm, Mr. Stewart resumed his solo practice until he joined Keller Williams Signature Partners as the Managing Director of the Commercial Division, where he practices today.
Mr. Stewart has brokered the sale of many commercial properties, including several creative, complex transactions that earned him the SEC Most Creative Transaction in 1997, the Top Volume Sales Award by the Wichita Area Association of Realtors in 1990, the Walter Morris Broker of the Year Award from WAAR in 1999 and was named Rotarian of the Year by the East Wichita Rotary Club.
Mr. Stewart and his wife, Debbie, have been married for 39 years and have a son John, who is a physician specializing in internal medicine and pediatrics at the University of Kentucky Medical Center. Rod and Debbie live in Wichita, where they work together at Keller Williams Signature Partners.
Mr. Stewart is the ninth recipient of this award, joining Colby Sandlian, the late Jack Hunt, George Ablah, Jack DeBoer, Michael & Nestor Weigand, Stephen L. Clark, and Herbert L. Krumsick, and David Burk.
David Burk is the 2012 recipient of the Kansas CCIM chapter and WSU Center for Real Estate Lifetime Achievement Award in recognition of his vision and dedication to the renewal of downtown Wichita.
Mr. Burk is a licensed architect, planner and developer specializing in historic renovations and public private partnerships. Originally from Iowa, Dave came to Wichita in 1971 and began his career as an architect. After working with several firms over the years, he began his own firm, Watson, Breidenthal and Burk. In 1989 the firm was dissolved and Mr. Burk, through MarketPlace Properties, L.L.C. went into development full time.
MarketPlace Properties began negotiations with the City of Wichita in 1987 and in early 1988 was named the preferred developer in the Old Town Marketplace District. MarketPlace Properties started construction of the first project, the conversion of the old Modern Cleaners Building into Larkspur in 1991. Since that time, Mr. Burk has been involved, both as an architect and developer, in the redevelopment of 39 buildings as well as the expansion of Old Town to the north into Old Town Square. Old Town has won the 2006 Smart Growth Achievement Award from US EPA and the 2008 Great Places in America Neighborhoods form APA.
Mr. Burk was a partner in the WaterWalk project in downtown Wichita – a private/public partnership in the mixed-use redevelopment of 25 acres just south of the Hyatt Hotel. Currently, he is involved in Block 1, a private/public partnership that involves the complete renovation of a city block in the heart of our downtown. This involves a hotel, retail, offices, entertainment, an urban park and a parking garage faced with retail.
In 1999 MarketPlace Properties received the “Over the Years Award” from the Wichita Chamber of Commerce. Mr. Burk is also active in the Downtown Rotary Club, WDDC and Wagonmasters. In 1992 he was selected as “Downtown Business Person of the Year” by the Updowntowners. He has served on the State Sites Review Board, the Way Finding Committee, chaired the Historic Board, served on the Tourism Council and Wichita’s Leadership Council.
Mr. Burk and his wife DJ have been married 34 years and have two grown daughters. They live in the place they love, a converted warehouse condo in Old Town. They share a vision and commitment to enhancing Old Town and downtown Wichita through their continued development work, their support of cultural events and the arts.
Mr. Burk is the eighth recipient of this award, joining Colby Sandlian, the late Jack Hunt, George Ablah, Jack DeBoer, Michael & Nestor Weigand, Stephen L. Clark, and Herbert L. Krumsick.
Herb Krumsick is the 2011 recipient of the Kansas CCIM chapter and WSU Center for Real Estate Lifetime Achievement Award.
Mr. Krumsick is a legend in Wichita’s commercial real estate circles, having brokered, bought and/or sold more than $1 billion of real estate investments during his 45+ years in the industry.
Highly sought after as a speaker and instructor on commercial investment topics, Mr. Krumsick has given over 285 speeches and seminars for various groups, including the Society of Industrial & Office Realtors, the National Bar Association, the National Association of Corporate Real Estate Executives, and the CCIM Institute, among others. In 1990, he was recognized by the Society of Industrial & Office Realtors as the Instructor of the Year.
Mr. Krumsick holds several prestigious commercial real estate designations, including the CCIM (Certified Commercial Investment Member), SIOR (Society of Industrial & Office Realtors), CRE (American Society of Real Estate Counselors) and FRICS (Fellow – Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors) designations.
Among his professional honors and recognitions are the Howell Watson Award for Distinguished Service to the SIOR, the Walter Morris Broker of the Year, and the SIOR Largest Dollar Volume Transaction Award (multiple years).
A 1965 graduate of Wichita State University, Mr. Krumsick was co-captain of the football team. He has continued to serve WSU through the years, working with the WSU Foundation, the Alumni Association and the Athletic Association.
Mr. Krumsick is the seventh recipient of this award, joining Colby Sandlian, the late Jack Hunt, George Ablah, Jack DeBoer, Michael & Nestor Weigand, and Stephen L. Clark.
Steve Clark is the 2010 recipient of the Kansas CCIM chapter and WSU Center for Real Estate Lifetime Achievement Award.
In 1960, Mr. Clark became the youngest licensed real estate salesperson in Kansas at age 18. Since that time he has been active as an appraiser, licensed general contractor, property manager, and developer of offices, homes, hotels, retail, apartments, and industrial facilities, as well as multi-state fast food outlets. He has developed over 2,000 apartment units, over 3.5 million square feet of industrial properties, and managed over 3,000 homes and multi-family units.
For several years he conducted seminars on the economics of real estate investments, having spoken before more than 10,000 people at national conventions, colleges, civic groups and various trade organizations in over 20 states and Canada. He was for over five years featured monthly as a syndicated real estate columnist for American City Business Journals, which published business papers in 36 cities.
He is a past President of the Wichita Area Association of REALTORS®, and the Kansas CCIM Chapter. In 1976, he received the Wichita REALTOR® of the Year award, and in 1983 was recognized by the Kansas Association of REALTORS® with their Distinguished Service Award. In 1985, he was chosen by the Kansas Association of REALTORS® as the Kansas REALTOR® of the Year. He has also served as a National Director for the National Association of REALTORS®, and was for over 10 years on the Board of Directors of the Kansas Association of REALTORS®.
In addition, Mr. Clark has served on a wide variety of corporate and community boards, giving generously of both his time and talents.
Mr. Clark is the sixth recipient of this award, joining Colby Sandlian, the late Jack Hunt, George Ablah, Jack DeBoer and Michael & Nestor Weigand.
Nestor and Michael Weigand, brothers at the helm of Wichita’s oldest residential and commercial real estate company, have been named the 2009 recipients of the Kansas CCIM chapter and WSU Center for Real Estate Lifetime Achievement Award.
Nestor Weigand has been has been an active real estate professional for more than 45 years. He is a past president of the National Association of Realtors, and continues to serve on its board of directors. He is also a past president of the the Kansas and Wichita associations. In 1990 and 1991, he served as chairman of NAR’s Resolution Trust Committee Task Force during the height of the savings and loan bailout. He also was the 2001-2002 world president of FIABCI (the International Real Estate Federation, headquartered in Paris, France).
Mike Weigand real estate career began in 1956, and he has played a key role in reshaping the face of Wichita over the past half century. Highlights of his career include overseeing development of the Highland House, leasing for the numerous waves of suburban shopping malls in Wichita (including the Wichita Mall, Twin Lakes and Normandie Center, and Towne East Mall), and handling the development, land assemblage, planning and leasing for Towne West Shopping Center. His is also a past president of the Wichita Area Association of Realtors.
Nestor, as chairman, is the third generation of the Weigand family to run J.P. Weigand & Sons Inc., which was started in 1902 in downtown Wichita by his grandfather, John Patrick Weigand. Mike serves as the company’s senior vice president.
The Weigands are the fifth recipients of this award, joining Colby Sandlian, the late Jack Hunt, George Ablah and Jack DeBoer.
Jack DeBoer began his career selling real estate during the summers while in high school in Kalamazoo, MI. After graduating from high school, he attended Michigan State University where he graduated with a business degree in 1952. Following two years as a Military Police Officer in the Korean War, he returned to Michigan to team up with his father to build homes. In 1966, he began building apartments across the country and by 1973 his company had built over 16,000 apartments in 30 cities. At the time, National Real Estate Investor recognized DeBoer as the “second-largest multi-family developer in the United States.” He also planned and assembled the 4,000 acre Comotara neighborhood development in northeast Wichita.
In 1975, DeBoer designed and built the first Residence Inn all-suite hotel located in downtown Wichita. He was a pioneer in the all-suite hotel concept and he built or franchised 100 hotels before selling the Residence Inn Company to Marriott Corporation in 1987. During that time, he also developed the Grand Champions Club in Aspen, a world class tennis facility and health club, to which Maroon Creek Golf Course and residential lots have since been added.
In 1988, DeBoer co-founded Summerfield Hotel Corporation, a second-generation, upscale, all-suite hotel chain. He served as Co-Chairman of Summerfield’s Board of Directors. In addition, he served as Chairman of the Board and President of Express Designs, Inc. and Chairman of the Board of Hix Corporation in Pittsburg, Kansas, which he and a business partner purchased. Hix is the premier manufacturer of printing equipment utilized worldwide by the imprinted sportswear industry. He also became a partner in Manning & Smith, a national insurance agency insuring over 1,400 hotels.
In 1995 DeBoer founded Candlewood Hotel Company, an extended stay hotel concept. He served as Chairman and CEO of Candlewood until its purchase by Intercontinental Hotels Group in December 2003. In June 2002, Jack founded Value Place, an unique hybrid concept that blended the extended stay hotel and short-term apartment concepts. Value Place went on to become the fastest growing hotel chain in the nation with 100 locations opened in less than five years.
In addition to his numerous successful business ventures, DeBoer is active in many business and civic organizations. He has served as past-President of the Wichita Area Chamber of Commerce and served as a trustee of Innkeepers Real Estate Investment Trust. In addition, he served as Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Youth for Understanding, the world’s leading student exchange organization. He also served as a Board Member of the Wesley Medical Endowment Foundation and the Greater Wichita Community Foundation. In 1990, he spearheaded the movement to revitalize downtown Wichita and continues to be a leader in downtown growth and revitalization through his WaterWalk development.
Mr. DeBoer has been presented with many distinguished awards for his lifetime of achievements. In 1992, he was given the very highest recognition by The Wichita Chamber of Commerce, “The Uncommon Citizen” award. In 1997 was inducted into the Wichita Business Hall of Fame. In 1999, Jack was included in The National Registry of Who’s Who™. In January 2001 he received UCLA’s Hotel Industry Lifetime Achievement Award. In October, 2001 he was presented with the Distinguished Alumni Award from Michigan State University. In May 2005, he was honored with a Doctorate of Humane Letters from Sterling College, Kansas.
In addition to his professional achievements, DeBoer also leads a dynamic and rich personal life. As an active pilot and collector of World War II aircraft, DeBoer frequently flies his aircraft as Captain, and he currently holds the 3 kilometer world speed record for jet aircraft under 18,000 pounds. In 1988, DeBoer and his wife, Marilyn, completed a four month around the-world trip in his Gulfstream II. The itinerary followed the history of man for the past 7,000 years, and they studied the needs of the world. From this experience, they are now deeply involved in World Vision projects in Burma.
The WSU Center for Real Estate and the Kansas Chapter of CCIM are proud to honor the great achievements of Jack DeBoer by choosing him as the recipient of their 2008 Lifetime Achievement Award.
The proceeding profile includes pieces of text taken directly from Kansas Chapter CCIM & WaterWalk Bios
Mr. DeBoer is the fourth recipient of this award, joining Colby Sandlian, the late Jack Hunt and George Ablah.
By Bill Wilson, The Wichita Eagle
George Ablah, the man credited with helping drive east Wichita’s development, was honored Friday with the Kansas Certified Commercial Investment Member chapter’s third Lifetime Achievement Award.
Ablah, 78, was presented with artwork during the chapter’s annual December banquet at Crestview Country Club. He joins Colby Sandlian and Jack Hunt as recipients of the professional group’s highest honor.
Introduced by his brother, Don, as a man who’s “good at figuring out how the system works and then working the system,” much of Ablah’s speech centered on his business friendships with Fred Koch and his son, Charles.
He credited Fred Koch’s support for the first $2 million loan that jump-started his real estate career, and called Charles Koch “the second-best business partner I’ve ever had . . . next to the woman I married 50 years ago.”
Fred Koch’s referral to his Minnesota bankers was critical, Ablah said, because a “young Lebanese guy” couldn’t gain acceptance in the Wichita business market.
“Most of the deals I did early in my career were outside Wichita (for that reason),” he said. “I had a different image in other cities and that’s why I did there what I couldn’t do here.”
Ablah talked about his deals with Charles Koch: The purchase of Chrysler Realty from Lee Iacocca and their northeast Wichita land deal that eventually facilitated the expansion of K-96.
In his book, “The Science of Success,” Koch – chairman and chief executive of Koch Industries – praises Ablah’s vision and their shared values.
When their company, ABKO, dissolved, Ablah took 2,000 acres in Comotara and a New York City office complex as part of the profits, he said.
The Comotara land quickly came into play when efforts to build a stretch of K-96 in east Wichita stalled. So Ablah and Koch, who controlled 2,000 acres that now includes his Koch Industries offices, donated about two-thirds of the land to the state, which otherwise couldn’t afford to start the project.
“I think that’s really made a significant change in Wichita, and I’m very pleased with that,” Ablah said.
Tony Utter, outgoing president of the CCIM chapter, credited the K-96 donation with “furthering a lot of real estate careers in Wichita.”
“In addition to fast travel across town, that really spurred a lot of economic development,” he said.
“I know I would have done a lot fewer deals without it.”
Mr. Ablah is the third recipient of this award, joining Colby Sandlian and the late Jack Hunt.
By Lainie Mazzullo, the Wichita Business Journal
Jack Hunt’s life story reads like a fiction novel. He was raised an orphan, mauled and nearly killed by a bear as an adult, received a Purple Heart during World War II, became a private pilot and was once again nearly killed after he rolled his truck atop a mountain while hunting wild game.
But none of those things are why dozens of Wichita leaders are gathering Friday to honor Hunt.
Hunt, 85, has spent the past 59 years creating commercial and residential real estate developments in Wichita and supporting the local business community any way he can.
The Kansas Chapter of Certified Commercial Investment Members is giving Hunt its Lifetime Achievement Award.
Hunt “has been a long-term member of the real estate community, and he’s helped shape the face of our community throughout the years,” says David Leyh, CCIM director. “We’re trying to give honor to those folks that are worthy of the award, that have impacted commercial real estate.”
Teacher and a Leader
Hunt is the second recipient of CCIM’s Lifetime Achievement Award. It was given last year to developer Colby Sandlian.
The award is a joint effort between CCIM and the Wichita State University Center for Real Estate.
Hunt was one of the original members of CCIM in Kansas and helped found the state chapter. He has worked in many areas of real estate throughout Wichita.
Hunt developed the Sweetbriar Shopping Center, Seneca Square Shopping Center, five mobile home parks and owns several apartment complexes, including Lincoln Meadows, Lodge West and Huntington Park.
In recent years he has developed land surrounding Wal-Mart stores, which led to him becoming the largest outparcel purchaser from Wal-Mart in the country.
“You name it, Jack does it,” says Realtor Rod Stewart, who has known Hunt since 1969.
Stewart says Hunt has been a lifelong advocate for Wichita, contributing freely to political campaigns he think will represent business interests.
“He has always had an open checkbook,” he says.
He’s also recognized for teaching young brokers, Stewart says, and the national Society of Exchange Counselors education award is named after him.
Hunt says he’s most proud of his ability to look ahead and plan for what he thinks Wichita needs, such as more shopping centers on the south side and the retail potential on Wal-Mart property.
Although CCIM is giving him the award for his influence, Hunt says the information he learned about real estate from CCIM — along with the Society of Exchange Counselors — are what made him successful.
“The knowledge they gave me sped up what I was doing dramatically,” Hunt says. “I feel very beholden to them.”
Mr. Hunt was the second recipient of this award, joining Colby Sandlian.
By Lainie Mazzullo, the Wichita Business Journal
Longtime Wichita developer, Colby Sandlian was honored last month with a lifetime achievement award for his work in the local and national real estate industry.
Sandlian, owner of Sandlian Realty, received the award on November 30th from the Kansas Certified Commercial Investment Member chapter, and the Wichita State University Center for Real Estate.
This is the first time CCIM and WSU are handing out a lifetime achievement award. “There are people who have made tremendous achievements in real estate, and it’s not being recognized by anyone,” says Wichita Realtor Rod Stewart, marketing chairman for CCIM. “Sandlian probably has the finest reputation that you can have in commercial real estate. A lot of us look at him with a little bit of awe.”
At 74, Sandlian is one of the city’s most accomplished real estate professionals, having developed everything from strip centers and service stations in the 1950’s to developing self-storage facilities in 22 U.S. cities.
Sandlian says the award means a lot to him because it comes from people who he’s worked with and competed against throughout his career. “To get an honor like that from your peers is always very good and makes you feel good,” he says.
The Kansas CCIM board chose Sandlian. Stewart says Sandlian was one of several people considered for the award. He says next year’s winner is already chosen, and he has a good idea who will be the winner in 2007, as well. He declined to name who the winners will be.
Pioneering Attitude
Sandlian is widely regarded as one of the originators of the self-storage industry. He built some of the country’s first self-storage facilities in Wichita and moved on to other cities in and out of Kansas. He sold his Wichita properties in 1983 and now focuses the majority of this time on managing the facilities in other cities.
His company, which no longer includes brokerage services, employs about 200 people throughout the United States, including staff at each storage site and several management groups.
Sandlian also is known for his work on development along west Kellogg. He developed land for West Haven Cemetery and K-Mart, among others.
He had perhaps the biggest impact, though, through a class he developed and taught called Broker Estate Building. The class helped brokers learn how to keep and invest their money, says Darrell Leason, owner of Darrell H. Leason, Realtors, who has known Sandlian since they were both 15 years old. “A lot of brokers work their entire career making a lot of money for clients and end up not having done the same thing for themselves,” Leason says.
Sandlian, former president of the Wichita Area Association of Realtors and the Society of Exchange Counselors, says despite his age, he’s not ready to throw in the towel.
“I’ll probably never retire,” he says, “I tried once and it didn’t work out. Too many hours in the day.”
Mr. Sandlian is the first recipient of this award.
