LEASING CLUB RULES

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We are now accepting applications for the 2023 Commercial Real Estate Brokerage Association of Greater Washington, DC (CREBA) Leasing, Sales & Finance Club awards (including Leasing, Sales & Finance Transactions of the Year) as well as Developer Awards. Don’t pass up this opportunity to be honored by your peers. This is the only awards program in the region that recognizes the individual broker. CREBA will name the top brokerage houses based on the awards applications! Do you have brokers in your office who aren’t members? Encourage them to join and submit for the awards on or before Midnight, Wednesday, February 7, 2024! Remember, you don’t need to qualify for the Multi-Million Dollar Award levels in order to have your totals count towards your company totals. We encourage all members to apply in order to help their company’s chances of winning a Firm of the Year award. The award applications are submitted online. Please click here for the necessary forms. Awards Winners will be announced on Monday, April 8th at our Annual Awards Dinner at The Ritz Carlton. The Awards Dinner has long been known as CREBA’s premier annual event. This is your opportunity to put your name in the company of illustrious past winners.

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Complete the Leasing Spreadsheet in advance: (spreadsheet found here). After completing the spreadsheet, click here to complete your application and upload the spreadsheet.

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CREBA Multi-Million Dollar Leasing Club Rules

DO I QUALIFY FOR AN AWARD?
In order to qualify for a Multi-Million Dollar Leasing Club Award, the following conditions must be met:

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1. The applicant must have been a full-time licensed real estate broker or salesperson in calendar year 2023 and a member of the Commercial Real Estate Brokerage Association of Greater Washington, DC (CREBA) in good standing. An applicant who changes brokerage firms during the calendar year may select for which firm he/she would like to receive credit and a sales award. If you were not a CREBA member in 2023, you may qualify for membership by paying 2024 dues and other applicable fees on or before February 7, 2024. To join for 2024, click here. To purchase 2023 membership for $50, please email info@creba.org.

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2. Commercial leasing transactions in which the applicant was compensated for brokerage services are eligible to be credited toward award qualification. An applicant may include transactions which were completed in buildings outside of the CREBA region. However, a minimum of seventy-five percent (75%) of the total square footage or Aggregate Lease Value listed by the applicant on this application must be for space leased within the CREBA Region. The “CREBA Region” is defined to be Washington, DC, the counties of Montgomery, Prince George’s, Howard, Anne Arundel and Frederick in Maryland, and the counties of Arlington, Fairfax, Loudoun and Prince William and cities of Alexandria and Falls Church in Virginia.

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3. For any applicant where seventy-five percent (75%) or more of the total square footage or Aggregate Lease Value listed on their application results from government transactions, the applicant’s entire application will be counted under the special category for Government Leasing (applies to GSA/Federal leasing only).

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4. In order to submit a lease transaction for an award, the lease had to have been fully executed during the period of January 1, 2021 to December 31, 2023. The tenant did not have to occupy the space in 2023.

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5. The applicant must have completed leases totaling a minimum of 100,000 rentable square feet or eight million dollars ($8,000,000) Aggregate Lease Value (“ALV”). Total dollar value of leasing volume is based on total rent including any fixed escalations and rental bumps for the entire term of the lease. Rental abatement, cash concessions other than buildout allowances, and remaining lease liability concessions must be deducted from the aggregate lease value. In the event of any questions relative to this amount, the committee will have complete discretion to verify amounts with the landlord and/or employing broker of the applicant.

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6. The applicant must apply on the online forms on or before Midnight on Wednesday, February 7, 2024. NO EXCEPTIONS!!! Once the application is submitted there shall be no alterations or additions!!!

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How do I calculate my Aggregate Lease Value (ALV)?

1. In the event a co-brokerage lease is made, the tenant’s agent and landlord’s agent can each receive credit for 100% of the rental value of the transaction.

2. In the event multiple agents within a brokerage house share a commission for representing the same party in a lease transaction, each agent may claim that percentage of the total lease value that equates to the percentage of the commission allocated to that agent (i.e., each broker’s percentage should match their commission voucher). The combined percentage taken by all agents within a brokerage house on a given transaction shall not exceed 100% of the total lease value unless different agents within said brokerage house had been exclusively retained by both the tenant and the landlord (i.e., there was an in-house agent exclusively representing the tenant and a different in-house agent exclusively representing the landlord) and a commission was paid to both the landlord agent and the tenant agent, in which case the combined percentage shall not exceed 200%. EXAMPLE:
   If Agent A, who is representing Landlord B, finalized a lease in Landlord B’s building with Tenant C, and Tenant C has no agent representing it, then Agent A may claim 100% of the aggregate lease value. Modifying this example, if Agent A is representing Landlord B and also has been exclusively retained to represent Tenant C (after legally required disclosures and consents), Agent A may still only claim 100% of the aggregate lease value (because there is not a different agent, in-house or with another firm, representing Tenant C). Further modifying this example, if there is another agent (in-house or with another firm) representing Tenant C, Agent A may claim 100% and the other agent (in-house or with another firm) may claim 100%.

3. In the event that agents in different firms jointly represent the same party to a lease transaction, then each agent may claim that percentage of the total lease value or square footage that equates to the percentage of the commission allocated to that agent.

4. MOST COMMONLY ABUSED RULE: An agent cannot take credit for a referring or participating agent’s share of the commission, even if that referring or participating agent is not a member of CREBA or is not submitting an award application. (For Example, if you receive a referral transaction for which the referring office receives a fee, then the referring office’s portion of the fee needs to be deducted from your ALV for that transaction.)

5. For most cases, the combined percentages of all parties (i.e., landlord’s agent and tenant’s agent) should not exceed 200% of any transaction. In the event that a third (or even fourth) firm is substantially involved in the transaction and was paid a fee for its involvement, that/those other firm(s) might also, at the discretion of the Awards Committee, be permitted to take some credit for the transaction as well. An example of this is when 1) a new tenant enters into a lease for a space that is initially a sublease that converts to a prime lease at some point in time and 2) the sublandlord has a continuing financial obligation over the term of the prime lease of the new tenant. In this case, the brokers for the prime landlord, sublandlord and subtenant may be eligible for 100% each. This situation is unusual and needs to be explained in an attachment to the applicant’s submission.

6. In the event of a full-service lease, the value for that lease shall be determined by using the base rental plus any fixed escalations and/or fixed rental bumps over the term. Non-fixed escalations such as CPI escalations or increases in operating expenses and taxes shall not be included. However, in the event of a triple-net office or retail lease, the applicant shall increase the base rent per square foot by the appropriate per square foot amount used to determine the commissionable value of the transaction. These increases for operating expenses and real estate taxes shall apply to each year of the lease transaction. In triple-net industrial (not flex or R&D) leases, the total lease value will be doubled.

7. In calculating Aggregate Lease Value for the purpose of membership in the Club, renewal and extension options may be included only in the year in which those options have been exercised in a legally-binding manner and the economic terms applicable thereto were fully documented. However, if a lease has a renewal or extension option, the option will count towards membership in the Club in the year in which the option is exercised and documented only if the agent(s) involved receive(s) financial compensation for the option.

8. If a lease contains a cancellation clause (for example, after three years), and the broker is financially compensated for the full term of the lease, then credit towards membership in the Club shall be given for the full term. If the applicant is not paid for a portion of the lease value as a result of the cancellation clause, then applicant may submit for qualification the portion of the lease value for which the applicant received financial compensation. If the tenant waives the cancellation option or allows it to lapse, the lease value for the balance of the term shall be credited towards membership in the Club during the year in which the cancellation option is waived or lapses.

9. In the case of an expansion by a tenant, whether effected pursuant to an expansion option contained in the tenant’s original lease or pursuant to a new negotiation, credit shall be received for the lease value for which the applicant receives financial compensation. In the event that the applicant does not receive financial compensation for an expansion, the applicant may not submit any revenue associated with the expansion toward award qualification. Credit for an expansion may be taken only when the expansion has been exercised in a legally- binding manner and the economic terms applicable thereto were fully documented. In the case of “must-take” space, (i) where a firm rental is agreed upon in the original lease, credit will be received in the same year that credit is received for the original lease, but (ii) where a firm rental is not agreed upon in the original lease, credit will be received during the year that the tenant takes occupancy of the “must-take” space.

10. A committee of not less than three CREBA members shall be appointed by the CREBA President to review all applications and its decision shall be final with respect to any questions of eligibility or interpretations of these rules as they might apply to a given transaction.

11. Ground leases and parking leases do not count toward award qualification.

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Additional Leasing Club Awards

1. Developer-Agent: A Developer-Agent transaction is defined as a transaction completed by an applicant who is a direct employee of or independent contractor with a developer or landlord and the applicant is representing the developer or landlord in that transaction. Developer-Agent transactions qualify toward membership in the Multi-Million Dollar Commercial Leasing Club based on ALV. While Developer-Agent transactions (as defined above) do not qualify for the regular top 10 regional awards, for transactions completed by the Developer-Agent in which (s)he is not representing the developer or landlord (e.g., when (s)he is representing a tenant, another landlord under a competitively-obtained agency agreement, or subleasing space on behalf of a tenant) the applicant can qualify for the regular top 10 regional awards. NEW: If a Developer- Agent hires a 3rd party broker on behalf of the landlord, the Developer-Agent may still claim 100% of the square footage amount.

2. New Life Member: Awarded to members of CREBA Multi-Million Dollar Commercial Leasing Club for five years, not necessarily consecutively. Names will be published in the dinner program.

3. Life Member Qualifying Again: Names will be published in the dinner program.

4. Transaction of the Year (Over 75,000 RSF and Under 75,000 RSF): Members may also apply for Office Lease Transaction of the Year. Over 75,000 RSF will be awarded by jurisdiction (MD, DC, and VA). The Under 75,000 RSF Transaction of the Year will be awarded across all three jurisdictions.

All details of competing entries will be kept in strictest confidence. No details will be publicized, but appropriate publicity concerning the presentation of the Award will be distributed with the approval of the winner(s) and principals.

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The application must give FULL credit to all cooperating brokers. Entries of Salesperson members must be endorsed by broker and/or manager of their firm.

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Members are ineligible if:

1. They have any interest as a principal or as an attorney for a principal in the transaction. (The word “principal” shall include, but not be limited to, owner, purchaser, equity participant, stockholder or beneficiary); or

2. Their principal business is that of real estate operator or developer, even if the member has a broker’s license.

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Particulars:

1. All applications shall be no longer than 200 words in length, and shall be submitted if at all possible in bullet-format. Members are urged to prepare supporting information. Prepare this in advance and submit it with your online application under “FILE UPLOAD: Supporting Material.” Maps, diagrams and photographs that supplement the dialogue should be submitted, if appropriate, but please do not submit an entire file or copies of correspondence unless it has a specific bearing on the transaction.

2. Eligible transactions must be located in the CREBA region.

3. The transaction shall have been completed, with lease execution by both parties (or the last party to execute) occurring, in calendar year 2023.

Identities: Principals need not be identified, but brokers must determine for themselves whether the withholding of any information may have a bearing on the judges’ decision. Submissions are held in strict confidence and become the sole property of the Commercial Real Estate Brokerage Association of Greater Washington, DC. If the principals are identified, a letter which authorizes the Commercial Real Estate Brokerage Association of Greater Washington, DC to promote the transaction and the winner of the award must accompany the application.

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How do I submit for an Award?

Click here for more information about submitting for an award.
The applicant must apply using the online forms on or before Midnight on Wednesday, FEBRUARY 7, 2024. 

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NO EXCEPTIONS!!! Once the application is submitted there shall be no alterations or additions!!!

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QUESTIONS? For more information regarding the RULES or questions about online application forms, please contact: info@creba.org or by phone at 301-503-5425.