2015 was a banner year for CARW and its members in so many ways. Strong board leadership and committee involvement were the driving force for the success. Blazing activity in the market set the stage for enthusiasm and ideas. Record attendance at events and surpassing the 600-member mark for the second year in a row are highlights of 2015. Social media efforts garnered more than 161,000 impressions on Twitter and 52,200 impressions on Facebook. If you haven’t joined the conversation yet, you should! Our Xceligent data reports became even more robust in 2015 with new Board members engaging in the process. And in 2015, CARW received an award from the National Association of REALTORS for legislative advocacy. The agenda was bold, and with leadership from WRA, we were able to achieve a number of agenda items:
* Park East and Arena Development Efforts
* Preservation of Historic Tax Credit
* Prohibition of ‘Time of Sale’ Requirements
* TIF Modernization Bills
* Property Tax Freeze through 2017
* Liquor License Changes
* Reduction of Frivolous Lawsuits Against REALTORS / Chapter 452
* Roundtable Event – more than 250 attended to hear from 28 roundtable discussion leaders
* Retail Event – this joint event with ICSC featured Bucks President Peter Feigin and 300 CRE and retail professionals from Wisconsin for a half-day of roundtables, project showcases, and networking
* Schmooze – our first ever joint event with WCREW (Wisconsin Commercial Real Estate Women) featured a harbor tour and networking – despite the rain, everyone had a great time
* Annual CARW Golf Outing – this year’s event contests were some of the most outstanding and included a golf ball gun, strong man contest, massages, cigars and more. Uber supported the event offering discounted rides
* Rainmaker Event – featuring Former Milwaukee Mayor John Norquist discussing the changes to Milwaukee since he led the City. He also discussed his observations of Milwaukee and other successful cities around the country from his time at the Congress for New Urbanism
* Deal of the Year Event – we met the 2015 recipients of the prestigious CARW Deal of the Year awards for Retail, Industrial, and Office. Other awards went to Dick Lincoln, Tim Casey and Stephen Provancher
* BizTimes Development Conference – CARW proudly partnered with BizTimes on the 2015 Development Conference showcasing national investors investing in Wisconsin properties. The event gave profound insights on where Wisconsin is in the real estate cycle and what the experts are seeing nationally
* Market Update – this joint event with NAIOP-WI showcased annual data and trends. Experts from Industrial, Retail, Office and Multi-family sectors gave their predictions for 2016. Presenters included: Jeff Hoffman, CCIM, SIOR; Trent Poole; Dan Jessup, CCIM; Ned Purtell; Kevin Schmoldt and Patrick Gallagher, CCIM and was moderated by Lyle Landowski, CCIM
* Holiday Party – the first Monday of December – every year – kicks off the commercial real estate holiday season. More than 300 came out to spread cheer
* Billboard Campaign – CARW’s campaign to support the arena development received local and statewide media attention for its ability to motivate and engage the public in dialogue around the arena
* Arena Development Discussion – a panel of experts discussed, before a group of more than 200, the possibilities for development around a new arena on the Park East
* Meeting with WEDC CEO Mark Hogan – a joint discussion with the WEDC’s new leader drew comments and questions from CARW members and the opportunities for collaboration in the future
* REACH – CARW is a proud supporter of REACH (Real Estate Alliance for Charity) and the efforts to give money to organizations that support children in need. This year, REACH awarded more than $40,000 to Wisconsin charitable organizations
* Lunch and Learns – this monthly series brought Rick Barrett, Stu Wangard and Tom Zale from Northwestern Mutual- some of the sessions were so popular, we needed to move the program to a larger location!
* CARW Next Gen – this group, for CRE pros with fewer than five years of experience, held their first event focused on building camaraderie with one another and other CRE experts
* LDC – the Large Donor Council is made of members who contribute to political fundraising and issues that help move our industry forward. This year, more than 30 members participated at the $1,000 level and were able to support candidates through CARW as well as individually, helping grow our collective voice at City Hall, in Madison and in Washington D.C.Thank you, on behalf of CARW Staff and Board Members.
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