CarterBlog

Carter Analyzes Q3 Construction Activity

By Todd McCarty, director of marketing, Carter

ATLANTA (Oct. 26, 2011) – Office and industrial numbers for third quarter are in and we know our Carter blog readers would be interested in an update.

According to numbers from CoStar, the amount of speculative office space under construction in metro Atlanta increased in third-quarter 2011.

At the end of the quarter, 420,150 square feet of speculative office space was under construction in the market. When the second quarter ended, 352,650 square feet was under construction. However, the third-quarter 2011 figure does represent a decrease from the end of the same period in 2010, when 451,318 square feet of speculative office space was under construction.

No speculative office projects were delivered in third-quarter 2011. That’s down from the 40,162 square feet delivered in the second quarter. Two of the significant 2011 office deliveries include the 40,162-square-foot New Hampton Place, which was delivered in the second quarter and is now 56 percent occupied, and the 19,015-square-foot 6670 Merchants Way, which was delivered in the first quarter and is now completely occupied.

As for the Atlanta industrial market, the amount of property under construction decreased from second-quarter 2011 to the third quarter. At the end of the third quarter, 513,550 square feet of space was under construction. When the second quarter ended, 983,556 square feet was being built. At the close of third-quarter 2010, nearly 1.6 million square feet was underway.

More than 470,000 square feet of industrial space was delivered in the third quarter. That’s quite a bit more than in the second quarter, when no industrial space was delivered.

One of 2011’s notable industrial deliveries, according to CoStar, is the 1.2-million-square-foot 1595 Oakley Industrial Blvd., which was delivered in the first quarter and is now fully occupied. 

 

Mayor Reed: Atlanta Will Be Logistics Capital of Western Hemisphere

ATLANTA (Feb. 4, 2011) - Standing before scores of journalists, Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed made a bold prediction this week.

"Atlanta is going to be the logistics center for the Western Hemisphere," he said during a speech before the Atlanta Press Club at 191 Peachtree Tower downtown. The city will reach this lofty goal in part, the mayor said, if the Savannah Harbor is deepened in time for the 2014 opening of the Panama Canal expansion.

The widening project will enable more and larger ships to transit through the Panama Canal. This will lead to more traffic at the Georgia Ports Authority terminals. And much of the product and inventory being imported through Savannah will make its way to Atlanta and Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, the mayor said.

This in turn, will help fuel the hope-for recovery in Atlanta's industrial real estate market. 

The mayor steadfastly believes that deepening the Savannah Harbor will increase logistics business in his city. "When we deepen it 6 feet, we are going to eat Charleston's lunch," Reed said last month at the State Capitol.

As part of his plan to make Atlanta a leading global logistics city, Reed also is working to bring more air cargo carriers to the airport. The airport's air cargo business, already up 20 percent in the past year, has a $33 billion impact on the state. 

Moreover, Mayor Reed told the Press Club, "Logistics is in the DNA of the city and state." He was referring to Atlanta's key role in the country's railroad system. This excerpt from Wikipedia confirms the role the city played in the country's logistics timeline: "During the Civil War, Atlanta served as a vital nexus of the railroads and hence a hub for the distribution of military supplies."

Reed acknowledged he'll have detractors as he works to position Atlanta as the Western Hemisphere's logistics center. But, they will not deter him, the mayor said. He pointed to Billy Payne and other organizers who had plenty of people scoff at their vision to bring the 1996 Centennial Olympic Games to Atlanta.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wills Allen Receives SIOR Leadership Award

By: Wills Allen, broker at Carter

At the Georgia Chapter of the Society of Industrial and Office Realtors’ (SIOR) 2010 Fall Leadership Breakfast, I was selected as one of three real estate professionals to be awarded the SIOR Scholarship Award. The scholarships are given to professionals currently enrolled in masters programs and were established to encourage graduate students contemplating or pursuing a career in commercial real estate brokerage.  Additionally, the chapter has established awards for licensed commercial real estate professionals who are contemplating application or pursuit of the SIOR designation.

It was an honor being recognized in front of 500-plus of the industry’s most reputable professionals, each of whom average of 20 years of industry experience, at the Loews Hotel in Midtown.

The annual leadership breakfast provides an opportunity for SIOR members to meet with industry leaders from all areas of real estate, while listening to an interesting and insightful speaker who raises funds for charity. This year’s keynote speaker, Mayor Kasim Reed, chose to donate the proceeds from this year’s event to Bright Futures, Centers of Hope and The Study Hall.

The SIOR scholarship positively promotes and represents the real estate industry and SIOR while helping to foster relationships amongst colleagues. SIOR is a very well respected society and demands the highest standards of its members and applicants of scholarships.

I was originally interested in pursuing my M.B.A. because I wanted to further develop my financial analysis skills and to broaden my education on the complexities of today’s business world.  An M.B.A. will round-out my skill set to the benefit of my clients. It is important to know that I am doing all I can to enhance and progress my career.

Carter has been especially supportive and helpful while I have pursed higher education. Successful mentorships have enabled me to efficiently execute at a high-level. Moving forward, I hope to lead by example, inspiring confidence that as a full-time commercial real estate broker and student, one can successfully balance his or her career and recognize immediate benefits from the application of new knowledge. 

I plan to use the visibility from this generous award as a way to extend my leadership skills from the workplace into the community. I am able to continue to support the Georgia Chapter of SIOR through employment at Carter, a community-focused company, which gives me the flexibility to volunteer my time to real estate organizations as well as philanthropic charities.

Finally, I'd like to thank the SIOR organization for this honorable, SIOR Leadership Scholarship.  Thank you for your generosity in supporting me in my pursuit of my M.B.A. 

Wills Allen has worked as a Licensed Industrial Broker at Carter since 2006. Prior to Carter, he worked as a Licensed Sales Associate at Prudential Montana Real Estate in Bozeman, Montana. Wills has closed over 100 transactions valued at over $21.3M in a 48-month period and is currently pursuing his M.B.A through Georgia State and will graduate from the J. Mack Robinson College of Business in December 2011. Wills was awarded Rookie of the Year 2007 and Carter Top Ten Producer 2009. In addition to joining ACBR’s Million Dollar Club, he also has a CCIM.

Carter Awards Deal of the Month for September to Top Brokers

By: Elizabeth Jinks

Carter just awarded our Deal of the Month honors for September to two brokers and their marketing teams for two diverse, but equally successful office and industrial deals.

The September Deal of the Month for was awarded to Kirk Diamond, senior vice president, and Trish Croom, marketing assistant, for the office lease renewal and expansion of Georgia’s Own Credit Union. Carter's team worked quickly to help the financial institution determine that signing a new 10-year lease and staying at Campanile at 1155 Peachtree in Midtown Atlanta was its best option.

This deal was made even more interesting because ownership of the building changed hands in September as Dewberry Capital purchased the building from Wells Fargo. Campanile is shown in the photo at right.

The second September Deal of the Month was awarded to Senior Vice President Charles Holloway and his marketing assistant Cheryl Dervan for the sale of 6448 Best Friend Road in Norcross.

Charles represented seller Sterling Industries in the sale of the 226,000 square-foot industrial building to Atlanta's Selig Enterprises. The buyer bought the building as an investment deal, and already has a tenant set to move in early next year.

As Director of Research, Elizabeth manages the staff, daily operations and vendor relationships for the group and provides her clients with a link to all of Carter’s many research resources. As author of all of Carter’s proprietary research publications, market overview sections of offer memorandums, third party quarterly reporting, and market forecasting, Elizabeth has an in-depth knowledge of the commercial real estate market, resources, and analytic skills to add value to any project. 

Carter Awards Deal of the Month for July and August to Top Brokers

By Elizabeth Jinks, director of marketing and research at Carter

Carter is pleased to award its Deal of the Month honors for July and August to several deserving brokers and their teams for their pivotal roles in each deal.

The July Deal of the Month was awarded to Drew Fleming, vice president; Mark Joines, senior associate; Rob Adamson, vice president and Debbie Strom, marketing assistant. This team in Carter’s investment sales group was given the award for selling a 95 percent vacant REO shopping center, The Paragon at 4500 Satellite Blvd, Duluth, Ga.

The Paragon Shopping Center was an REO property for Flagstar Bank which was foreclosed on last October. The 170,000 square-foot mixed-use center sold for $6.5 million ($37 per square foot). The new owner, NDI, plans to capitalize on the demographic in the area and market to an Asian supermarket and other Asian retailers.

The August Deal of the Month was awarded to Senior Vice President Stuart Alston and his administrative assistant Trish Croom for the continued service as office tenant representatives for Atlanta Capital Management.

Atlanta Capital Management recently relocated from Two Midtown Plaza to 1075 Peachtree, the office component of 12th & Midtown. ACM has been Stuart’s client for 20 years. The new office location is 20,045 square feet and more than $6.5 million square feet in volume.

Stuart is celebrating 35 years with Carter this year. Trish has been with the company almost 19 years and has worked with Stuart for 13 years.

Another notable deal in August was 178,354 square feet at 104 Wiley Rd., LaGrange, Ga., which sold for $2.35 million. Bill Doran, vice president; Wills Allen, associate and Cheryl Dervan, administrative assistant, are credited for this industrial sale.

As Director of Research, Elizabeth Jinks manages the staff, daily operations and vendor relationships for the group and provides her clients with a link to all of Carter’s many research resources. As author of all of Carter’s proprietary research publications, market overview sections of offer memorandums, third party quarterly reporting, and market forecasting, Elizabeth has an in-depth knowledge of the commercial real estate market, resources, and analytic skills to add value to any project.

Atlanta Industrial Market Records Positive Absorption for First Time in 7 Quarters

The Atlanta industrial market may finally be showing some signs of life, posting the first quarter of positive absorption since third quarter 2008. The overall vacancy rate for the metro Atlanta industrial market was 13.8 percent at mid-year 2010, up from 13 percent one year ago.

Although year-to-date net absorption was negative 1.4 million square feet, absorption for the second quarter was positive for the first quarter since 2008 at 982,000 square feet.  This was due to the delivery of the 1.5 million-square-foot, fully-occupied, General Mills distribution facility completing construction in Social Circle, Ga. (rendering at right).

New construction continued to decrease across the metro area to just 2.1 million square feet in three buildings - 1.4 million square feet of which were in two buildings in the South Atlanta submarket developed by Majestic Realty that are 100% pre-leased to Kraft and Dendreon Corp.

As Director of Research, Elizabeth Jinks manages the staff, daily operations and vendor relationships for the group and provides her clients with a link to all of Carter’s many research resources. As author of all of Carter’s proprietary research publications, market overview sections of offer memorandums, third party quartlery reporting, and market forecasting, Elizabeth has an in-depth knowledge of the commercial real estate market, resources, and analytic skills to add value to any project.

Relationships Key in Big-Box Industrial Deals

By Skip Petters, director of industrial leasing & sales, Carter  

Over the past 30 months 24 industrial transactions, ranging from 200,704 SF to 969,150 square feet, have been completed across metro Atlanta. And relationships played key roles in each.

Once a large corporate user has decided to locate regional industrial hubs in Atlanta, it will begin its search by reviewing all available buildings. It will tour some personally and take flyers on others.

Corporate users will whittle down the list because of particular access they desire. The I-75 South corridor is attractive to clients moving goods to Florida and the Georgia Ports in Savannah. I-75 North works well for distribution to the Midwest. I-85 South is ideal for Kia-related business and the Gulf Coast, and the I-85 North corridor works well for distribution to the East Coast.

Prospects also take into account labor (cost and availability), state and county incentives and local real estate taxes.

Civic and government relationships are critical to capitalize on the incentives that can make the difference in attracting large regional corporate distribution and manufacturing hubs. To this end, Carter has developed relationships at the state and local levels to help better serve our client’s interests.  Carter’s Executive Team has personal relationships at the state level with Ga. Gov. Sonny Purdue and Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle, and the local level with Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed and with the Metro Atlanta Chamber and Georgia Power.

Relationships with developers also are vital because they dominate the big-box market. They include IDI, ProLogis, Panattoni, First Industrial, Majestic Realty, Raco, McDonald Development and MD Hodges. Large industrial buildings of 500,000 square feet and bigger started popping up years ago and were predominately build-to-suit construction. 

This concept changed seven or eight years ago when developers saw the trend of large national firms consolidating their distribution centers from multiple locations to regional hubs. At this time, industrial developers began building 500,000 square-foot-plus bulk distribution facilities on a speculative basis.

The users in the large transactions mentioned above were represented by industrial brokers. This demonstrates the importance of knowing each brokerage house and their respective agents personally.