H.G. Fenton and Urbana Honored with 6 BIA Icon Awards

Urbana named Community of the Year and John LaRaia named Industry Professional of the Year by the Building Industry Association of San Diego

SAN DIEGO (Sept. 28, 2015)— H.G. Fenton Company was honored to be recognized by its peers  during the sixth annual BIA Icon Awards on Sept. 19 at the Hyatt Regency La Jolla. Its Urbana apartment community in East Village was recognized with five awards including Community of the Year and the company was proud that Senior Director of Development and Investment John LaRaia was named Industry Professional of the Year.

“The Fenton team was delighted to see John be recognized by his peers for his passion and commitment to the industry, for helping his colleagues to flourish and for his focus on the customer lifestyle experience,” said H.G. Fenton President and CEO Mike Neal. “Urbana is an apartment community that embraces the best of the urban lifestyle as well as the unique sense of place and fun that our customers in the East Village want to experience. It’s exciting to see that lifestyle and customer focus resonate with our industry peers and for the Urbana team’s collaborations to be recognized in this manner.”

The 96-unit Urbana rental flats community, located at 450 Tenth Avenue, began leasing in February and reached 100 percent occupancy in May. In addition to being named Community of the Year in the attached category, Urbana won in the multi-family categories for its stylish architectural design with partners Architects Orange and for its creative urban landscape design with GMP Landscape Architecture. It also won best advertising campaign and website overall in partnership with Lease Labs of San Diego.

Among the many activities earning LaRaia the Industry Professional of the Year honor are his current three years of service on the BIA board, co-founding its y|GEN committee in 2008 and its (build)SD PAC in 2010, and chairing the BIA Urban Council which focuses on development in urban areas.

In the past, LaRaia has also served as the Council Forum Chair, contributed his talents to several other committees and continues to volunteer tirelessly for BIA’s causes.

“The award does mean a lot to me because the industry means a lot to me,” said LaRaia in accepting the award. “I do have a passion for creating built environments that provide the opportunities for people to live near where they work and play, and I know that feeling is shared by everyone in this room.”

About H.G. Fenton 

H.G. Fenton Company, a family-owned San Diego real estate company, has proudly entered its second century of service providing quality working and living experiences through responsible development and management practices. H.G. Fenton Company creates lifestyle opportunities where employees flourish, residents live well, and businesses succeed for over 1,100 businesses, and across 14 apartment communities totaling over 3,300 homes in San Diego County.  For more information, visit www.hgfenton.com.