John Drew Receives Swain Award at 28th Annual REFA Gala
October 17, 2016 - By Mike Hoban
BOSTON – Over 500 industry professionals filled the America Ballroom at the Westin Copley in the Back Bay Thursday night, to network and pay tribute to John Drew of the Drew Company at the Real Estate Finance Association (REFA) 28th Annual Gala. Drew was awarded the Robert S. Swain Jr. Distinguished Service Award, named in honor of the late Robert S. Swain, Jr. who, for over 25 years, who was an active member and leader of the Mortgage Finance Committee, which later developed into the present Real Estate Finance Association.
Following an extended networking reception, the event opened with a beautiful and heartfelt version of “Amazing Grace”, sung by Jehan Bodden, a junior at Cathedral High in the South End, the Catholic college prep school, where Drew was a former chairman of the board and is currently a trustee. Drew was presented the Swain Award by Marilyn Swartz-Lloyd, president and CEO of MASCO (Medical Academic Scientific Community Organization), who worked alongside him in various capacities for decades.
“I have worked for John Drew four times, and that is true of a number of people in this room – there is a lot of recidivism in working for John,” she quipped. “We work for him because he has terrific ideas, and they keep coming all the time. All of us who have worked for him in the profit, nonprofit, or government sectors – or sometimes all three – have appreciated his use of humor to tell us what we might not want to hear, his compassion when making decisions, and his confidence in our being able to do the impossible.”
Drew is widely recognized as one of the pioneers of the Seaport (see related story on Drew’s history here), developing the Seaport World Trade Center Boston in 1986 in conjunction with Fidelity Investments, and the Seaport Hotel in 1998 (also with Fidelity) as well as two Seaport towers, World Trade Center East and World Trade Center West at the turn of the century. In 2014, the firm completed the mixed-use (236 residential units, retail) Waterside Place (located across the street from the Seaport World Trade Center complex), and will break ground on Phase 1B of the project in March of 2017 with partner JP Morgan. In addition, the firm developed the three million sf Ronald Reagan Building in Washington D.C. as well as the Great Woods Center for Performing Arts (now called the Xfinity Center), the Bayside Exposition Center, and Constitution Plaza in Boston.
In a brief speech following his acceptance of the award, Drew continually emphasized the importance of working cooperatively with others. “I am humbled by (this honor), and when I look at my predecessors – Mayor Menino, Joe Fallon, Kevin Phelan, John Fowler and others, I really feel like I’m joining an eminent and very smart and successful group of people, and ask myself, ‘Should I really be on this train with these (people)?’ – because they’ve done so much with their careers,” he began. “I’ve been very fortunate in my career, and most of the success that I’ve had has come mostly from working with very good people who have worked in partnership with me… I’ve been helped along the way by many people – too many to thank right here tonight – but I must say that the ability to form a team and work with those people is what has made me successful, and is something that I value very deeply.”
Drew spoke fondly of his relationship with Don Law, who “taught him about Rock n Roll” when they were building Great Woods, and his relationships with Tom Glynn, CEO of Massport and Jim Doolin its chief development officer, as well as Jim Rooney, formerly of the Mass Convention Center (and current President and CEO of the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce), when the Seaport was in its early developmental stages. He also profusely thanked his development partners and the lending community, but saved his final remarks of the evening for his work with Cathedral High, which not only graduates and sends 100 percent of its students to college, but 85 percent of those students graduate college within five years.
“Those statistics speak volumes about the people that we work with at that school,” said Drew. “It also gives you hope that in our city – with the right opportunities – we have wonderful young people who, given those opportunities, can do great things.”
Travis D’Amato of JLL, who co-chaired the gala committee along with HFF’s Lauren O’Neil, was gratified at the success of the event, deflecting much of the credit to REFA executive director Adrienne Maley and her staff. “We’ve figured out that the best way to make this program really work is to make it mostly about networking and less about sitting down and listening to speakers,” D’Amato told The Real Reporter. “It’s a practice, and this event that went really smoothly, with a great honoree and a great turnout. We couldn’t have asked for anything better.”
