New Albany has received an economic-development award through the central Ohio chapter of NAIOP, the Commercial Real Estate Development Association.

The award is given “for commitment to promoting development and the impact the city has made in our communities,” according to NAIOP officials.

The organization, formerly the National Association of Industrial and Office Properties, was rebranded in 2009.

“We look at where development activity is taking place,” said Franz Geiger, president-elect of the NAIOP central Ohio chapter. “There is a significant amount of development activity taking place in New Albany, and none of that is by chance. Development doesn’t happen without the city creating an environment that spawns it.”

Geiger said New Albany has done that by creating opportunities for development, with infrastructure and incentives that attract businesses.

Geiger said the award is open to any governmental agency in central Ohio, and other suburbs have received it in the past. He said 2011 is a little different because “development activity is limited this year because of the economy.”

City manager Joseph Stefanov announced that the city had received the award during the Nov. 1 city council meeting. Several council members attended the Nov. 11 ceremony at the Hilton at Easton to receive the award.

Council member Chip Fellows praised the city’s community-development department during the Nov. 1 meeting, saying it is the best in central Ohio and in the state.

“It’s really easy to work in this environment because everybody is focused on the same goal, and we’re all working off the same plan,” said Jennifer Chrysler, New Albany’s community-development director.

Information from NAIOP shows the city invested “$24 million in infrastructure to spur development and create “shovel-ready” sites and $3 million invested in a robust fiber-optic network that connects to the third frontier and makes 200 different Internet carriers available for businesses to choose from.”

Those projects have helped the city create 3,500 jobs since 2009, 2,500 of which are new to Ohio.

According to NAIOP’s website, NAIOP is “the leading organization for developers, owners and related professionals in office, industrial and mixed-use real estate.”