Dear Paul,
I am writing to express my appreciation for the outstanding tenant/buyer commercial real estate consulting services provided by you and Summit Commercial over these several years.
You and your Summit colleagues, Guy d’Amecourt, John Duffy and Gordon Nielsen spent a good deal of time and patience assisting us with our search to purchase a mixed use property with flexible zoning for our Pepperdine University Washington, DC campus. You collectively negotiated on our behalf what we know to be a much “better than market” deal and did so in an aggressive controlled manner.
The result has been our successful purchase of 2011 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW; an 8 story mixed use, multi-tenant office and residential property with great visibility and signage. Summit has also been invaluable in helping Pepperdine to lease up vacant space within 2011 to a select group of office tenants at terms that allow for our required expansions within the building. Pepperdine now realizes a healthy net operating income as a result.
I will continue to highly recommend all of you and summit to my higher education and business colleagues and look forward to our working together for many years to come.
Dennis Torres,
Executive Director Real Estate Operations
Pepperdine University
To Whom It May Concern,
When the Trust for Public Land’s lease for our Washington, DC office was ending, we knew we would need the help of an expert broker to find new space. As a non-profit land conservation organization, we are well versed in certain aspects of the real estate market, but DC commercial real estate was totally foreign to us. We sought the advice of some high level real estate professionals in the development field and were guided to Paul DeFilippes and John Hannon at Summit Commercial Real Estate.
Paul and John worked tirelessly to bring us options that would meet the specific criteria we required, primarily focused on location and price. They prepared detailed market studies, showed us numerous options, engaged with our current landlord about the possibility of renewing our existing lease, and in the end found us new and expanded space at an affordable price with a very healthy tenant improvement allowance and significant economic concessions. Their involvement continued throughout the lease negotiations and after as well as helping us find architects and other consultants that enabled us to build out a new efficient space and move 20 employees on time and on budget with no halt to our operations.
I highly recommend Paul and John and Summit Commercial Real Estate. I have had the pleasure of telling numerous other brokers that we are already well represented and have no intention of changing.
Kent E. Whitehead,
Director, Chesapeake and Carolinas Office
The Trust for Public Land
To Whom It May Concern:
When Women in Cable Telecommunications (WICT) decided to move its headquarters operation from Chantilly, Virginia to Washington, DC, we sought Paul DeFilippes and John P. Duffy of Summit Commercial. Having known Summit and their superior reputation, we put their skills to the test. As a non-profit, we had to be excruciatingly careful about finding the right space, in the right building, with the right amenities, and at the right price.
Paul and John gave WICT an extraordinary amount of time, energy and expertise. We entered into this process with a level of dread, but they walked us through it – in lock step with our long list of needs – showing us superlative patience and professionalism. They are shrewd negotiators on behalf of their clients. Yet their firm is extremely well reputed by being able to well represent the clients’ interests without polarizing the landlords’ representatives. Not an easy task.
I highly recommend Summit Commercial for tenant/buyer representation and for real estate market consultation services. There is no other firm I would give our business to other than Summit.
Maria E. Brennan, CAE,
President & CEO
Women in Cable Telecommunications
Dear John,
Now that we are more than six months comfortably settled into our wonderful new space, I am writing to thank you for the invaluable role you played in making this possible.
We interviewed a lot of commercial real estate brokers before selecting you and Summit Commercial Real Estate to represent us. True to your word, you were our partner in our relocation project from beginning to end. You educated us about the market, raised issues that we would not have been aware of, and were our advocate during the deal-making process. You fought hard to ensure that we received the best deal available in a changing marketplace. You were also an excellent source of expert referrals, from movers to architects to telecommunication resources. I would recommend you and Summit Commercial Real Estate to anyone who was contemplating an office move in Washington, DC.
Please do not hesitate to use us as a reference in the future!
James G. Leipold,
Executive Director
The Association for Legal Career Professionals (NALP)
To Whom It May Concern,
I have had the pleasure of working with Paul Defilippes and John P. Duffy of Summit Commercial for over 18 years. Those 18 years have truly been a journey which Paul and John have provided MedStar Health with superior tenant advocate representation services.
The business of healthcare has been an ever changing and evolving landscape. John and Paul have been able to roll with us at all times, even when the journey became a roller coaster ride! The support that John and Paul have provided through their vast experience, expertise and connections in the real estate markets that MedStar Health has ventured into has been vital to the successful management of our medical office, outreach, administrative and service support portfolios. Summit has always negotiated the best and most advantageous lease terms for MedStar Health and our many affiliates.
Summit has supported MedStar’s growth from the time it was a two-hospital system to what it is now a $4.2 billion organization with 10 hospitals and 35 diversified health-care related companies with over 1.7 million square feet of leased space. MedStar has always been able to count on Summit to be responsive and flexible to our needs, projects and schedules. I highly recommend Summit Commercial for tenant/buyer representation and for real estate market consultation services.
Francine Scaffidi,
Assistant Vice President, Real Estate Services
MedStar Health
Dear Rick,
I am writing to personally thank you for your service to Scott Long Construction, Inc. as our broker in our search for a new space. We are thrilled that our lease is signed, our plans are submitted, and we are counting the days until we occupy our new space!
We have been exceptionally impressed with a few features of your work:
First, your personal touch in listening to us – you took the time to understand what was important to our business and our employees. With that information you provided us with a game plan that included many tours and visits and lots of options.
Second, your ability to adjust to our changing needs without complaint was accommodating. A few times down the road I caused you to shift our strategy and you said “no problem” and shifted. That spirit of accommodation is appreciated.
Third, your effort in negotiations of the LOI and the lease was unexpectedly detailed and beneficial. I was surprised that you fought as hard as you did for us. In addition, your service in lease review certainly made my attorney’s efforts minimal.
Please share this letter of recommendation with your future customers. I am happy to talk to anyone considering hiring you as a broker. My personal phone number is 703-887-2086.
Sincerely,
SCOTT-LONG CONSTRUCTION, INC.
John
John B. Scott
President & CEO