S T A F F

Several Divaris Associates Honored

VIRGINIA BEACH, VIRGINIA – Several associates of Divaris Real Estate, Inc. (DRE) were honored with awards, appointments and promotions including Gerald Divaris, David Redmond, Vivian Turok, Krista Costa, Erica Meekins, Susan Collins, Anne Millar-Wright and Amy Cherry.

	At the head of the company, Gerald Divaris, chairman and CEO of DRE, was appointed to the board of TowneBank Financial Group in Hampton Roads, Va. TowneBank is not only one of Virginia's top performing community banks, but also is a full-service mortgage, residential real estate, insurance and investment and asset management company with 17 offices in Hampton Roads.
Divaris

Other community organizations have tapped the human resources of DRE as well. David Redmond, retail sales and leasing associate, was appointed by the Virginia Beach City Council to serve a four-year term on the Planning Commission as the representative of the Bayside District in Virginia Beach, Va.The Planning Commission is responsible for the review of land use and zoning matters for the city.
	Redmond
Redmond currently serves on the city’s Review and Allocation Committee for Community Organization Grants and is a member of the Hampton Roads Association for Commercial Real Estate, where he co-chairs the Legislative Committee.

Another member of Divaris’ Virginia Beach retail team, Erica Meekins, was appointed to serve on the Southern Virginia Committee of the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC). The Southern Virginia ICSC Committee plans and coordinates the Virginia Deal-Making and Idea Exchange that will be held in Richmond on September 26 and 27, 2007. Meekins specializes in retail and restaurant leasing in The Town Center of Virginia Beach, as well as assisting Gerald Divaris in the development of mixed-use, lifestyle centers throughout the Mid-Atlantic.

Meekins

The Office Division of Divaris Real Estate also contributes to many professional organizations. Krista Costa, corporate services and leasing associate, was presented the 2006 Member of Excellence Award by Commercial Real Estate Women (CREW) Hampton Roads. The award commends outstanding efforts and dedicated service for the advancement of women in commercial real estate. Costa is involved with CREW’s membership committee.

Costa

	Another DRE office agent was honored recently. March 2007 marked Vivian Turok’s 30th year as an employee of Divaris Real Estate. The milestone was celebrated by the company during its annual awards banquet. Her career started in 1977 in DRE’s office in Cape Town, South Africa. As one of the city’s first female commercial real estate agents, she quickly proved herself by leasing in excess of 2 million square feet of office space.
Turok
Today, Turok is senior vice president of DRE’s office leasing division, where she is responsible for the leasing and sales of office properties locally and nationally. Throughout her career, the commercial real estate industry has recognized her service, commitment and integrity with numerous honors and awards.

Internally, Divaris has recognized the excellence of several of its associates with promotions. Susan Collins was promoted to national director of property management of Divaris Property Management Corp. (DPMC). She is in charge of all property management activities at Divaris, which includes a portfolio of 55 office and retail properties totaling over 6 million square feet in four states. In addition, she oversees a staff of 22 property managers, assistant managers, administrators and maintenance personnel.
	Collins
With over 20 years of experience in commercial property management, Collins has been with Divaris since 1992, most recently serving as senior vice president. A Certified Property Manager (CPM) through the Institute of Real Estate Management (IREM), she served on the Board of the local IREM Chapter as vice president of finance in 2005 and 2006. She is a member of CREW Hampton Roads and actively participates on its Community Services Board.

	DPMC also promoted Amy L. Cherry to general manager of The Town Center of Virginia Beach. Cherry is responsible for the property management of the mixed-use, public/private project currently being developed on 17 city blocks in the city’s rapidly evolving central business district. Her previous position at DPMC was as senior vice president of the Virginia Beach office.
Cherry
A CCIM and RPA designee, she supervised a team of property managers and assisted with the business development and provided asset management services for a portfolio consisting of 700,000 square feet of office and retail properties throughout Virginia.

Also in Virginia Beach, Anne Millar-Wright was promoted to assistant vice president of development services for DRE. She assists in the development, marketing and leasing of properties for development clients throughout the country. Previously, Millar-Wright was a retail sales and leasing associate for DRE, specializing in tenant and landlord representation.
	Millar-Wright
Millar-Wright is a past member of Commercial Real Estate Council (CREC) of Hampton Roads and past committee member of the Commercial Real Estate and Economic Development (CREED) Annual Market Review and Forecast for Old Dominion University.