FIABCI excellence award given to 1251 Ave. of Americas.

The U.S. flagship property of Mitsui Fudosan , 1251 Avenue of the Americas, has received the FIABCI 1999 Prix d'Excellence award for the world's best real estate projects. The Rockefeller Center tower won in the Office/Industrial Properties category. It was one of only six properties worldwide, each representing different categories, to receive this prestigious award this year.

FIABCI, which is the French acronym for the International Real Estate Federation, has 54 chapters in member countries around the globe.

The Prix d'Excellence Award Program is open to properties worldwide that have demonstrated outstanding skills in capital investment, leasing and marketing, and tenant and community relations. The awards, which have been called the "Oscars" of international real estate, are drawn from as wide and representative a base as possible. According to FIABCI, "the Award recognizes the project that best embodies excellence in all the real estate disciplines involved in its creation."

"Our project was the eight-year transformation of 1251 from what was essentially Exxon's corporate headquarters to an even more elegant, technologically advanced 21st Century workplace for multiple world-class tenants," said Christopher N. Perez, vice president of Mitsui Fudosan. "The modernization of the property to reposition it for the future and for re-leasing was the centerpiece of our submission to FIABCI. We are honored to receive this important award."

Sponsored by Otis Elevator, the FIABCI Prix d'Excellence is no beauty contest. In making their decision, the panel of judges, consisting of world experts from different real estate disciplines, consider the skill shown in handling the different phases of a project, from its inception, through its construction and marketing, to the quality of its day-to-day management. They also consider its impact on the community and the environment.

In their citation for 1251 Avenue of the Americas, the judges said it was a prime example of how dedication to excellence in all aspects of a project maximized benefits for everybody concerned, from the building's owners to the tenants and their employees, as well as to the community.

The winners of this year's FIABCI Prix d' Excellence will be announced at the opening ceremony of FIABCI's World Congress in Seville, Spain May 22 through May 28. Other firsts this year went to the Market Hall, Budapest, Hungary (public sector); Hulalal Historic Ka'Upulehu, Hawaii (leisure); the Sotisko hotel sanatorium, Strbske Pleso, Slovakia (specialist); The Bayshore, Singapore (residential); and Suntec City, Singapore (commercial/retail).

"1251 Avenue of the Americas is a wonderful representative of the quality of advanced 21st Century real estate here in the U.S.," said FIABCI-USA President Crawley Joyner, III, CCIM. "All of FIABCI-USA will be rooting for our U.S. finalist during the announcement of the overall Prix winner."

"We are extremely proud to have been chosen by FIABCI's international judging panel as one of the world's best real estate projects," said Gregory J. Sutherland, senior vice president of Mitsui Fudosan, who was the prime mover behind the renovation and re-tenanting effort. "Having won the BOMA International Award last year, and now this award, we will have to work even harder to ensure that 1251 lives up to its distinguished reputation,"

FIABCI's Prix d'Excellence is the sixth major award received by 1251 Avenue of the Americas in the last three years. Included among the awards were Awards for Excellence from BOMA New York for Management & Operations in '96/'97, and for renovation of an office building in '97/'98. In June of 1998, it received the coveted "TOBY" (The Office Building of the Year) Award from BOMA International for the best renovation of an office building.

1251 Avenue of the Americas is owned by 1251 Americas Associates II, L.P., a limited partnership of Mitsui Fudosan and managed by Rockefeller Center Management Corporation. Some of its major tenants include: Avon, Commerzbank, General Electric, Philips Electronics, Rothschild, Paine Webber, Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi, Chubb, Deutsche Bank and Merrill Lynch.