Carter Poised to Emerge from Recession in Stronger Position

By Bob Peterson, chairman & CEO, Carter

ATLANTA (July 20, 2010) - I had a great conversation yesterday about commercial real estate and Carter with Matt Valley, editor of National Real Estate Investor.

It was the right day to meet with Matt at Blue Ridge Grill. He's on the left in the photo. His magazine just ranked Carter as the No. 4 office developer in the country. Right off the bat, Matt asked me about our latest development projects, and I spent some time telling him about one of our largest projects, The Banks. 

The Banks is an $800 million mixed-use project Carter is developing with The Dawson Co. and USAA Real Estate on the banks of the Ohio River in downtown Cincinnati. Phase I is under way, and next spring, we will deliver 300 luxury apartments and 80,000 square feet of retail/restaurant space. 

Because The Banks offers the chance to live in new apartments on the river, right next to the Reds' and Bengals' stadiums, we expect demand for the multifamily component to be very strong. Since announcing the residential management and leasing firm in May, we have received more than 400 requests from people seriously interested in living at The Banks.

Matt also wanted to know how Carter, in the past a large office developer, filled its development pipeline when office demand is weak. I told him we have been seeking out strategic alliances with experts in specialized development areas such as mission critical facilities and healthcare (medical office buildings and hospitals). 

Our alliance with data center experts T5 partners has produced large assignments, as has our relationship with Align Healthcare. I also mentioned that hiring K-12 expert Danny Jardine has helped Carter win a major program management assignment in Enid, Okla.

We also talked about how Carter's Program Development Services group has won new assignments from Atlanta to Texas and beyond. The takeaway is clear: Carter's diversity of service lines and key strategic alliances have positioned the firm to come out of the recession in a stronger position than when the country entered the economic downturn.