ATLANTA — The National Association of Real Estate Editors named Sherri Koones as the first-place Gold Award winner in the Sixth Annual Robert Bruss Real Estate Book Awards for her book, “Prefabulous + Almost Off the Grid,” published by Abrams Books.
The awards recognize excellence in books published in 2012 on the broad field of real estate.
One NAREE judge called “Prefabulous” a beautifully illustrated coffee table book “that makes me dream of building my own prefab mansion off the grid.” Another complimented Koones and her publishers for doing “a terrific job of crafting valuable information into an attractive package. Timely, helpful and beautiful.”
For the first time in the history of the Robert Bruss Real Estate Book Awards competition, three books tied for the Silver Award.
Gregg Lorberbaum was awarded a Silver for “Leasing NYC: The Insider’s Guide to Leasing office Space in Manhattan” with photographs by Adrian Wilson. “The book is clear and appealing … Chapter takeaways are very helpful. Photographs are beautiful,” said one NAREE judge.
Richard Peiser and David Hamilton won a Silver for “Professional Real Estate Development: The ULI Guide to the Business,” published by The Urban Land Institute.
“Lots of great detail here, enlightening information about the development process,” one judge said. “I enjoyed the case studies, especially the experience gained and the problems solved.”
“Housing America’s Workforce: Case Studies and Lessons From the Experts,” also received a Silver Award. Written by Richard Rosan, Christina Rosan, Lynn Ross, Sandra Robles, Adrienne Schmitz and Theodore Thoerig, the book was published by the ULI Foundation.
“Tackles an issue facing many jurisdictions and offers valuable case studies. Insights from industry leaders were particularly enlightening,” one judge said.
The awards were presented June 7 at NAREE’s 47th Annual Real Estate Journalism Conference in Atlanta. All of the award winners received cash prizes. Allen Norwood, Judith Stark and Earni Young served as judges.
NAREE’s Bruss Book Awards program is named for the late Robert Bruss, syndicated real estate columnist, prolific writer and a longtime NAREE leader. Bruss, who died in 2007, frequently wrote reviews of realty books. The Bruss Book Awards are sponsored by NAREE presidents Leigh Robinson, founder of Express Publishing, and Brad Inman, founder of Inman News, with a special gift from Art Michaels, executor of the Bruss estate.