NAIOP Sustainable Development Award Honors Bissell for Boyle and Harris Office Buildings

October 3, 2011

Bissell to Receive Award at Development ’11: The Annual Meeting for Commercial Real Estate, October 4, 2011

Charlotte, N.C. – October 3, 2011 – (RealEstateRama) — NAIOP, the Commercial Real Estate Development Association, today announced that it has selected North Carolina-based Bissell as the recipient of its annual Sustainable Development Award.

Bissell is being honored for the Boyle and Harris office project, twin ten-story commercial structures located in Charlotte, N.C.

The award will be presented during a special ceremony on Wednesday, October 19, at NAIOP’s Development ’11: The Annual Meeting for Commercial Real Estate, in Scottsdale, Ariz.

“This project exemplifies the dedication of our members to create innovative and sustainable projects that contribute value not only to the developments themselves, but to the community and people they serve,” said NAIOP President and CEO Thomas J. Bisacquino. “The Sustainable Development Award is one of many ways that NAIOP reiterates its commitment to sustainable development. NAIOP and its member companies are strong proponents of energy efficiency and are committed to continuing to couple increased efficiencies with the overall prosperity of the industry.”

The Boyle and Harris buildings were awarded LEED® Gold Certification for the project’s unique green design and construction features which include:

Use of non-VOC materials
Use of low-flow water fixtures throughout the buildings
Higher levels of indoor air quality
Use of 100 percent recycled steel materials
Exposure to natural light
Reflective roofs to reduce heat absorption
Use of captured rainwater to reduce water usage
Use of native and adaptable landscaping
Use of solar heating panels

Founded in 1964, Bissell is widely recognized as the principal developer of Charlotte’s Ballantyne and SouthPark developments – two of the Southeast’s largest and most successful mixed-use communities. The company has had a primary focus during the past 15 years on the development of the 2,000-acre Ballantyne master-planned community. Ballantyne features numerous residential options in addition to schools, medical offices, childcare facilities, retail, restaurants, hotels, fitness facilities and more than 3.5 million square feet of commercial office space. Bissell’s Ballantyne Corporate Park features more than one million square feet of LEED Gold certified office buildings, representing one of the largest commitments to the development of sustainable, fully speculative office space in the Southeast.

Located in Ballantyne Corporate Park, the Boyle and Harris buildings are centrally located to the development’s many amenities, including an Audubon-certified golf course.

2011 Marks Seventh Annual Award for NAIOP
NAIOP established the Sustainable Development Award in 2005 to recognize the growing number of firms engaged in green development. NAIOP and its member companies are committed to developing model properties adhering to the highest standards in the industry and believe that socially conscious development is essential to the economic vitality of the industry.

Applicants were judged on a number of criteria, including company commitment to sustainability, project history, economic analysis, water efficiency, energy efficiency, accessibility, innovation and other sustainable attributes. Entries for the award were reviewed by industry leaders.

In 2011, the Sustainable Development Award is sponsored by Jones Lang LaSalle, KTR Capital Partners and Liberty Property Trust.

Previous recipients of the award include: (2010) Vulcan Real Estate for Alley24 in Seattle, Wash., and Pacific Plaza LLC for Pacific Plaza in Tacoma, Wash.; (2009) ProLogis for its sustainable distribution center for S. C. Johnson & Son, Inc., and Forest City Covington for its office building that houses Fidelity Investments at Mesa del Sol; (2008) Aardex LLC of Golden, Colo., for its speculative project, The Signature Centre, and Hamilton Partners its build-to-suit project, HSBC-North America Headquarters, in Mettawa, Ill.; (2007) the Georgetown Company, New York, N.Y., for their speculative project, the Lazarus Building, and Liberty Property Trust for the build-to-suit JohnsonDiversey project in Milwaukee, Wis.; (2006) Hines for their project at 1180 Peachtree in Atlanta, Ga.; and (2005) Corporate Office Properties Trust for its development at 318 Sentinel in Annapolis Junction, Md.

About NAIOP: NAIOP, the Commercial Real Estate Development Association, is the leading organization for developers, owners and related professionals in office, industrial, retail and mixed-use real estate. NAIOP comprises 15,500 members in North America. NAIOP advances responsible commercial real estate development and advocates for effective public policy. For more information, visit www.naiop.org.

Contact:
Kathryn Hamilton

(703) 904-7100