CarterBlog

Carter and Starwood Vacation Ownership Celebrate Seven Years and Counting

By Sarah Peddar, business development manager, Carter

ORLANDO, Fla. (Oct. 27, 2011) -Carter associates Amy Hunt and Nan Loudon of the Interior Project Team recently hosted a group of 15 at Ocean Prime in Orlando, Fla., to celebrate the seven-year relationship between Carter and the Starwood Vacation Ownership facilities group. The get-together also recognized the recent completion of the Sheraton Vistana Resort project. 

Guests enjoyed cocktails on the terrace, followed by a delicious meal of steak and seafood. Conversation centered around a timeline displayed on the wall of the Carter/SVO relationship history. Highlights included completed projects and memorable moments, one of the most entertaining being the story of a wild chicken attacking one of the team members while on location in St. John!

One of Hunt’s primary focuses over the past few years was the Sheraton Vistana Resort project. SVR’s renovations spanned from September 2007 through September 2011 and encompassed 1,682 renovated units benefiting 85,782 owners. Since the completion, SVR has become one of the top five ranked vacation ownership properties in the SVO portfolio. They have seen a 23 percent decrease in energy consumption and most recently received an award for leadership in energy efficiency, making it the most energy efficient property in the Starwood Hotel group.

The longstanding relationship between these two organizations began in 2004, when Carter was hired to manage SVO’s corporate campus build-out and relocation. This evolved into work with their vacation ownership properties and now the relationship continues with several new projects forecasted for 2012 and 2013. As evidence of how in-sync Carter and SVO are, both teams covertly planned to present each other with a commemorative memento honoring the SVR completion – both were small Lucite blocks with the project dates and team logos! 

Hunt acknowledges how much she likes working with this group, “It is a fun departure from interior commercial renovations, and I enjoy being part of the team that enhances so many vacation experiences through the improvements at resorts like SVR,” she said.

 

Carter Inks 38,854-square-foot Deal in Tampa

By Malloy Peterson, vice president of marketing, Carter

TAMPA, Fla. (August 5, 2011)- Carter Vice Chairman John Carter just completed a tenant rep deal in his hometown of Tampa.

He represented GrayRobinson, a full-service corporate law firm with 10 offices across Florida, in an 11-year lease at the SunTrust Financial Centre Building in downtown Tampa for 38,864 square-feet. John Carter represented Gray Robinson its 38,864-square-foot lease, and Sharon Bragg of Jones Lang LaSalle represented the owner.

GrayRobinson's Tampa office is currently located at Tampa City Center and will be moving to its new home at 401 E. Jackson St., in October 2012. The law firm will occupy two floors of the 36-story, 527,000-square-foot building. At 525 feet, SunTrust Financial Centre is the fourth-tallest tower in Tampa.

In 2010, the SunTrust building was designated the "Outstanding Building of the Year" by the Building Owners and Managers Association's (BOMA) Tampa Bay chapter.

 

Carter Invests in Class A Apartment Community in Jacksonville, Fla.

By Malloy Peterson, vice president of marketing, Carter

ATLANTA (Dec. 28, 2010) - Carter has joined with Wood Partners and Lubert-Adler to invest in Magnolia Village Apartments, a class A rental community in Jacksonville, Fla.

The apartment community, located at 1620 Bartram Road in Jacksonville's desirable Southside neighborhood, comprises 168 units in six buildings. The Wood Partners-led investment group acquired the complex "on a short-sale basis at a significant discount to replacement cost," Wood Partners said today in a press release announcing the acquisition.

Carter decided to invest in Magnolia Village Apartments because of the opportunity to acquire a high-quality asset at a price well below what it would cost to replace it. Moreover, investing in Magnolia Village offered Carter the change to fortify its presence in the Jacksonville market.

"Magnolia Village presented an opportunity to acquire a class A multifamily asset at a price below replacement cost, in a market Carter believes in, with strong operating and capital partners," said John Akin, a senior vice president in Investments & Advisory who oversees Carter's multifamily investments. "It is the perfect complement to our recent acquisition of Valencia in Ponte Vedra."

In September, Carter Real Estate Fund II acquired Valencia, a distressed condominium complex just outside Jacksonville. Carter is marketing the remaining available condos at Valencia and has land for the development of future units there.

Magnolia Village is a gated apartment community offering one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments as large as 1,513 square feet. The landscaped grounds include a clubhouse, resort-style swimming pool and poolside Wi-Fi access.

"Magnolia Village fits the direct center of our strategy to buy well-constructed, well-located assets in stabilized submarkets that exhibit stabilized cash flow with room for growth," said Jay Jacobson, director of national acquisitions for Wood Partners. "We found the near-in Southside area attractive due to its infill nature, which was further enhanced by the adjacent redevelopment of a Publix grocery store that anchors a new neighborhood shopping center - a convenient amenity for our residents."