A commercial real estate broker who is a household name in metropolitan Phoenix received the top honor for his “significant and positive” impact to the industry at the annual awards ceremony of the Arizona Chapter of , the voice of commercial real estate. 

R. Craig Coppola, the highest-producing broker in the 40-plus history of the largest broker-owned firm in the country, Lee & Associates, received the top honor, the Award of Excellence at the annual 2020 Best of Arizona NAIOP Awards ceremony at WestWorld of Scottsdale.

Coppola received one of 34 awards handed out at the event to recognize the most successful commercial real estate projects, companies and individuals in the prior year. 

Other longtime Arizona institutions also were winners at the event including Willmeng, which was named the General Contractor of the Year; Cushman & Wakefield, the Brokerage Firm of the Year; and Butler Design Group, Architect of the Year.

Winners helped state weather pandemic 

It was an incredibly rough year for the industry but developers remained “bullish on Arizona’s future,” said Suzanne Kinney, president and CEO of the Arizona chapter. 

“Creative mixed-use projects like The Collab in Gilbert’s Heritage District, Helios Education Foundation’s new building in Central Phoenix, and the Grand2 in Tempe, a spec project that brought DoorDash to our market, are examples of award-winning projects that exhibit excitement for and commitment to Arizona’s future,” Kinney said.   

The industrial sector had an especially strong year, she said. 

“Our members worked at a break-neck pace to implement advanced logistics capabilities, increase warehousing capacity and build state-of-the art fulfillment centers to respond to the increased demand for e-commerce and the warehousing of essential goods. For example, two large Amazon facilities won awards: Amazon Final Mile Facility in the Chandler Airport Commerce Park and the Amazon GYR3 IXD.”

Winning projects fed local economies 

Dozens of projects across the state also helped cushion the blow to the state economy during COVID-19 shutdowns and disruptions, Kinney said. 

For example, the Economic Impact Project of the Year award, the Novus Innovation Corridor – Phase III, generated a $277.8 million impact in 2020, she said. Located near Arizona State University, the public-private project is a mixed-use corridor for housing, retail, and space for leading-edge technology companies who have access to the university’s research and talent pipeline.  

Award of Excellence recognizes significant impact to industry 

Coppola received the top award, the Award of Excellence, which is given to individuals who have made a “significant and positive impact” on the commercial real estate industry in Arizona over at least 15 years, along with direct volunteer contributions to the chapter.

For more than 37 years as a founding principal of Lee & Associates Arizona, Coppola has specialized in the representation of landlords and tenants in the leasing and sale of office properties in the Valley. He has completed more than 3,800 transactions totaling more than 15 MSF valued in excess of $4 billion. 

The Arizona MBA grad is a 24-time top producer at Lee & Associates, six-time NAIOP Office Broker of the Year, and a 25-time finalist for NAIOP Office Broker of the Year. He also is the author of five books including, How to Win in Commercial Real Estate Investing and The Art of Commercial Real Estate Leasing. 

In his volunteer service, Coppola has served on the NAIOP board of directors; Arizona Â鶹´«Ă˝Ół»­ of Commerce board; St. Vincent de Paul Advisory Council; Banner Health Foundation; Xavier College Preparatory Board of Trustees; and more. 

“I can’t think of anyone more deserving of this award than Craig,” said Danny Swancey of ViaWest Group, NAIOP Arizona board chairman. “His hallmark qualities of integrity, high-energy, discipline, and perseverance positively impact our organization and the entire commercial real estate community.  It’s a pleasure to honor someone who has consistently contributed on so many levels for over three decades.”

Best of NAIOP 2020 winners

Award of Excellence: R. Craig Coppola, Lee & Associates Arizona

Architect of the Year: Butler Design Group

Brokerage Firm of the Year: Cushman & Wakefield

Firm of the Year: Willmeng

General Contractor of the Year: Willmeng

Interior Architect of the Year: Phoenix Design One, Inc.

Owner/Developer of the Year: Lincoln Property Company

Tenant Improvement Contractor of the Year: Willmeng

NAIOP Arizona’s Official Branding Sponsor: TRADEMARK

Developing Leader of the Year: Michael Strittmatter, CBRE

Emerging Broker of the Year: James Cohn, CBRE

Healthcare Broker of the Year: Perry Gabuzzi, Margaret Lloyd, Bill Cook and Mike McWilliams, Plaza Companies

Industrial Broker of the Year: Tony Lydon, Marc Hertzberg, Riley Gilbert and John Lydon, JLL

Investment Broker of the Year: Will Strong, Cushman & Wakefield

Office Broker of the Year: Kevin Calihan and Bryan Taute, CBRE

Retail Broker of the Year: Dave Cheatham and Darren Pitts, Velocity Retail Group, LLC

Rookie Broker of the Year: Matt Baniszewski, Colliers International

Tenant Representative Broker of the Year: Pat Williams, JLL

Economic Impact Project of the Year: Novus Innovation Corridor – Phase III

Industrial Build-to-Suit Project of the Year: Amazon Final Mile Facility (DPX7)

Industrial Tenant Improvement Project of the Year: Amazon GYR3 IXD

Medical Office Project of the Year: Wexford PBC1

Mixed-Use Project of the Year: The Collab

Office Build-to-Suit Project of the Year: Helios Education Foundation Campus and Vince Roig Convening Center

Office TI Project of the Year (Less Than 60,000 SF): Carvana HQ3

Office TI (More Than 60,000 SF): DoorDash

Redevelopment Project of the Year: ADOT Flagstaff offices

Retail Project of the Year: Volvo Arrowhead Dealership and Site Development

Spec Industrial Project of the Year (Less Than 365,000 SF): Gilbert Crossroads

Spec Industrial Project of the Year (More Than 365,000 SF): Chandler Airport Commerce Park

Spec Office Project of the Year: Union Building 1

Sustainable Project of the Year: 777 Tower at Novus Innovation Corridor

Transaction of the Year: Grand2

Talk of the Town: 777 Tower at Novus Innovation Corridor and Grand2/DoorDash (tied)

To learn more about NAIOP, visit:

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Dozens of economic development and business groups were disheartened in the wake of the passage of Proposition 208, which imposes a high personal income tax on the state’s top earning individuals. 

They are bracing for the impact and strategizing on how to mitigate the damage. The tax increase will impact tens of thousands of small businesses in Arizona who file their taxes under the individual tax code, not the corporate tax code.

“We are obviously disappointed that this has passed, but not entirely surprised because we had been closely monitoring the polling data from the beginning and it seems pretty clear that the more voters learned about the downside of this proposition, the less likely they were to vote in favor of it,” said Suzanne Kinney, president of the Arizona chapter of the NAIOP that represents the commercial real estate industry.

Reading the small print

With more than 3.2 million votes cast, the proposition by 51.75 percent to 48.25 percent on Friday. 

Many voters simply were not aware of the true implications of the tax hike, Kinney said. They assumed it would only affect wealthy individuals, not small business owners. 

“We ran out of time to get that message across to a sufficient number of voters and that’s where we saw a very narrow win for this proposition. That being said, it will be the law of the land, and we’re looking for ways to move forward and mitigate the damage that it could cause.” 

Bracing for what’s ahead

Under the new tax hike, Arizona is now one of the highest income tax states for top earners. 

The marginal income tax rate will almost double for individuals who earn $250,000 or more, and couples earning $500,000 or more, from 4.5 to 8.0 percent, a 77.7 percent increase.   

An analysis of IRS data—supplemented by additional modeling and adjustments to identify only those Arizona taxpayers directly affected by the rate increase—reveals an estimated 90,000 Arizona tax filers will be affected, according to the. Of these, more than 50 percent would be small business owners.

Unintended consequences

Also, the drafters of the proposition failed to adjust for inflation, said Chad Heinrich, Arizona state director for the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB), a leading voice for small business.  

“Prop. 208 ignores a well-established tenet of taxpayer protection that drives a stake further into the hearts of Arizona small business owners,” Heinrich said. “Without an annual adjustment for inflation, each year, more small business owners will continue to find themselves subject to the 77.7 percent increased income tax rate. Even those businesses with steady, but not increasing, business income will eventually be snared in the Prop. 208 trap.”

Moving forward

Economic development professionals said the new tax will make it tougher to attract new investment to the state. 

They are already strategizing on how to move forward and mitigate some of the damage including:

New tax strategies to help small businesses

There may be some lifelines on the horizon that would allow for some creative tax strategies to help, said Tim Lawless, president of Commercial Real-estate Executives for Economic Development (CREED).

With the new Prop. 208 tax and the passage of many school bond and override elections bringing in more dollars for education, that could free up more tax dollars for other uses, he said. “Wayfair” legislation signed by Governor Doug Ducey last year also is generating new tax revenues for the state. The legislation requires remote sellers and marketplace facilitators to begin filing and paying transaction privilege tax. 

Lawless, whose organization has fought to bring down Arizona’s commercial property rates, said another reduction there could help the state remain competitive, he said. 

“Every major task force that has looked at our tax code over the past 25 years has identified high commercial property taxes as the top impediment — even more than income taxes — to job creation,” said Lawless, referring to previous groups like the Citizen Finance Review Commission. 

Ramp up marketing of Arizona’s business-friendly attributes 

Kinney, of NAIOP, said her organization is moving into overdrive to work “hand-in-hand” with economic develop groups statewide and economic development departments of cities and towns to communicate Arizona’s many remaining positive attributes including:

-More affordable housing than many other markets

-Affordable land prices

-An abundance of office space

-Excellent universities that produce high level employees

-Excellent community colleges that provide a steady workforce for mid-level positions 

-Good infrastructure with easy access to different markets

“We are also looking at an industrial boom in the West Valley with all the distribution centers coming on line. That still remains,” Kinney said. “We still have an excellent interstate system where companies can get their products from those distribution centers in less than a day to tens of millions of consumers.”

Take a new look at Arizona’s voter ballot initiative process   

Kinney and others are most concerned that companies and industry will pass over Arizona for neighboring states with lower or zero income taxes. 

She said the state needs to take a look at Arizona’s voter ballot initiative process that has been largely taken over by out-of-state interests, making campaigns harder and more expensive to battle. Voters often are left in the dark about the nuances of such initiatives.

Once an initiative is locked in to state law, reversing it is no simple task, often requiring a new voter initiative to be approved. An attempt by the Legislature to alter a voter-approved measure requires a three-fourths vote of the state Legislature in both houses and it must further the purpose of the original initiative.   

“The business community is extremely concerned that our citizen initiative process has been hijacked by out of state interests,” Kinney said. “We believe that that was not the intent of the founders of our state to have ballot propositions funded almost entirely by large groups outside of Arizona. This is yet another example of why we need to reform our initiative process so we can reclaim it for the residents of Arizona.”

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As voters head to the polls next Tuesday, commercial real estate and economic development professionals are calling on citizens to vote “no” on Proposition 208. The high-tax measure threatens Arizona’s economic growth and recovery, and could punish thousands of small construction businesses who would be subject to the new tax, they said. 

“I’ve been in Arizona for about a quarter of a century and this is the worst proposition to make the ballot during that time, and it may be one of the worst in the history of the state,” said Tim Lawless, president of Commercial Real-estate Executives for Economic Development (CREED).  

“It’s divisive. It’s very chilling to job creation and it’s basically killing the golden goose. We’ve got a good thing in Arizona and we need to keep the momentum and I feel this is going to sidetrack that totally,” said Lawless, whose organization represents the largest property owners in the state, accounting for a minimum of 70-million square feet under management and more than 5,000 business tenants, most of whom are small businesses. 

Why they oppose the ballot initiative 

Lawless is one of several real estate and economic development experts who spoke to Â鶹´«Ă˝Ół»­ about why they oppose Prop. 208. 

The ballot initiative is intended to tax top earners in the state to fund education. But it also will affect a large number of small businesses and sole proprietors in the construction industry who file their taxes under the individual tax code, not the corporate tax code, he said. 

In Arizona, the industry employs close to 150,000 workers, according to the Arizona Office of Economic Opportunity.

“People in commercial real estate, especially the developers, take a lot of risk when they decide to build a multi-million-dollar development, and they are typically small business people,” he said. “Many companies have 10 to 15 employees and everything else is pretty much subbed out and they create LLCs to push the work forward. 

“It’s really their skin in the game and this is going to have a chilling effect on them wanting to take greater risks.” 

Jobs, growth, tax revenues at risk  

The tax measure, also known as the “Invest in Ed” initiative, would almost double the marginal income tax rate for individuals who earn $250,000 or more, and couples earning $500,000 or more, from 4.5 to 8.0 percent.   

Local economists and groups like the nonprofit Arizona Tax Research Association and the Goldwater Institute have calculated that passage would create a dampening effect on jobs, new business growth and tax revenues. 

Commercial real estate group values education, not Prop. 208

Suzanne Kinney, president and CEO of the Arizona Chapter of NAIOP, the commercial real estate association, said her members care deeply about education and understand how important it is to pay teachers and support staff fair salaries in order to attract and retain the best talent. 

But placing the tax burden on the shoulders of small contractors, subcontractors, manufacturers and other small companies is unfair and creates a foreboding look into the future, Kinney said. 

“We believe a well-educated workforce is essential to the livelihood of Arizona. However, implementing a funding mechanism that singles out a small sliver of taxpayers will have a negative, long-lasting effect on small businesses,” she said. 

Competing with no-tax, low-tax states for major corporations 

If passed, the tax increase initiative would result in Arizona having the country’s ninth-highest income tax rate, said economic forecaster Elliott Pollack, CEO of Elliott D. Pollack & Company, who spoke during a town hall to chambers of commerce leaders Monday. 

Pollack said other high-tax states like California and New York are shedding people and jobs.

Arizona could easily lose its competitive edge to other states with lower income taxes, or no income taxes, like Texas, Kinney said. Brokers who work with national manufacturers are being told by some of their clients that they are putting planned investments on pause until the ballot initiative is decided.  

“If Proposition 208 passes, Arizona could get passed over for major corporate locations, including in the manufacturing sector,” she said. “Too many of our neighboring states have lower income tax rates, including several that have no income taxes at all.”

Stable funding source for education still needed

Kinney said she is concerned that the state has been unable to rally around a stable funding source that will provide schools with the resources they need without damaging the economy. 

“As a policy wonk, I am certain there are better ways to fund education. My dream would be to see all those who care about education come together around a better solution,” she said.

Â鶹´«Ă˝Ół»­s, real estate and economic development groups voting “no”

Â鶹´«Ă˝Ół»­s of commerce across Arizona, and real estate and economic development groups are opposing Prop. 208 including: 

Commercial Real-estate Executives for Economic Development 

Arizona Association of REALTORS

Arizona Builders Alliance

Homebuilders Association of Central Arizona

Arizona Multihousing Association

NAIOP Commercial Real Estate Development Association

Southern Arizona Home Builders Association

Southern Arizona Leadership Council

Associated General Contractors Arizona Chapter

Yavapai County Contractors Association

For more information and to view a complete list of who opposes the high tax measure, go to: . 

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