City News

Ben “Clevelander” Cleveland from Equis lays a punch on Max Chopovsky of Grubb & Ellis at the fifth annual Broker Boxing Federation (BBF) event, held May 10 at the Hotel InterContinental in Chicago. This year’s 10-bout fight card, which drew a capacity crowd of more than 1,200 supporters, included representatives from companies such as Equis, NAI Hiffman, Grubb & Ellis and Junipar. The mission of the BBF, founded in 2003 by Eric Nixon of the Maron Network and David Goldberg of Newmark, is to bring the Chicago real estate community together once a year to raise money for local charities. This year’s pugilistic event raised more than $275,000 for City of Hope.

Supporters teamed up for the Southwest Food Industry’s Spirit of Hope Golf Tournament, held at the Camelback Golf Club in Scottsdale, Ariz., on April 27. From left, Dan Valenzuela, president, Safeway Phoenix Division; Nikki Daly, director, Public Affairs and Government Relations, Safeway Phoenix Division; Frank Cannistra, vice president, Retail Operations, Safeway Phoenix Division; and Frank Conley, vice president, Finance, Safeway Phoenix Division. Presented by Miller Brewing Company, the annual event attracted more than 700 supporters, who helped raise more than $490,000 through the tournament, as well as a dinner and silent auction on April 28

Michael C. Jensen, M.D., co-director of the Cancer Immunotherapeutics & Tumor Immunology program and director of pediatric neuro-oncology (left), congratulates honoree Frank L. Rollo, principal of Treadwell & Rollo, at the Northern California Real Estate and Construction (REC) Business Alliance’s annual Spirit of Life® Award Dinner. Held on May 10 in San Francisco, the festive gala attracted more than 600 supporters, who also celebrated the REC’s annual fundraising total of $390,000 — an amount that exceeded the group’s 2007 goal by more than 10 percent. Rollo has served as senior geotechnical consultant for the development of Mission Bay, Embarcadero Center and many other high-rise buildings throughout the Bay Area and California.

Real estate industry member Matt Hoffer (right) lent his talent for the 13th annual Real Estate Action Committee for City of Hope’s (REACH) Social at House of Blues in Chicago on April 26. Hoffer competed for a spot as the lead singer of a supergroup on the 2006 CBS reality series “Rock Star: Supernova.” More than 1,200 supporters gathered at the REACH event, which raised more than $300,000 to benefit City of Hope’s pediatric cancer research, treatment and educational programs and featured musicians from the local construction and real estate industries, along with guest musician Rick Nielsen from ‘80s band Cheap Trick. Since its founding in 1996, REACH has raised more than $1 million for City of Hope programs. The committee has grown to include professionals from many ancillary industries including construction, brokerage, architecture, finance and building maintenance.