"D" is for Deals, from Doraville to Downtown

Nathan Anderson (left) and Darren Butler (right) of NAI Brannen Goddard at their office last week.

Rooker landed one cool customer in Marketplace Foods last week, as the frozen food distributor leased 70,000 square feet at 2650 Button Gwinnett Drive in Doraville, with NAI Brannen Goddard's Nathan Anderson and Darren Butler representing the tenant.

The transaction involved Rooker building out 25,000 square feet of freezer/cooler space at the 20-year-old building, a complex process that's neither easy nor cheap. NAI Brannen Goddard's Anderson gives Butler credit for being "the brains and the muscle" behind the deal but, regarding food and consumer goods' status as a key industrial-market driver, points out, "Even in a bad market, people still have to eat."

Jessica Thurman Doyle of Grubb & Ellis at the office yesterday morning.

Atlanta Commercial Board's Night of Stars

Front row, left to right:  Chris Port of CBRE, Dan Buyers of McWhirter Realty, Sam Holmes of CBRE, Tony Kepano of CBRE, Ray Uttenhove of SRS Real Estate Partners and Malcolm McComb of CBRE.  Back row, left to right:  Tom Crowe of Hodges Management and Leasing Co. and John Shlesinger of CBRE.

Thursday brought out Atlanta's real estate stars, as the Commercial Board of Realtors recognized Top Producers as well as its Rookie of the Year, Phoenix and Silver Phoenix and Alvin B. Cates Award winners.

John DeCouto of Bryant Commercial and Norm Richie of Batson-Cook Realty were awarded the Alvin B. Cates Award, while Justen Cimino of Grubb & Ellis won the Young Council of Realtors' Rookie of the Year honors. Top producers included Malcolm McComb of CB Richard Ellis for investment sales; CBRE's Chris Port and counterparts John Shlesinger and Sam Holmes for office landlord and office tenant rep, respectively; CBRE's Tony Kepano and Hodges Management and Leasing Co.'s Tom Crowe for industrial tenant rep and landlord, respectively; Dan Buyers of McWhirter Realty for land transactions; and Ray Uttenhove and Liz Whiteside of SRS Real Estate Partners for retail.

At the end of the evening, though, one question remained on everyone's lips: Who is Bobby McDougall, and how can we get a piece of the action?

Committed to the Madness

Jeff Dils of Cousins Properties (front) and Aaron Stoddard of Lambert Associates (back) challenge one another to the madness.

From Downtown to Perimeter, Rooster fully committed to March Madness last week, tipping off with Cousins Properties at 999 Peachtree on Thursday and rebounding Friday to join our friends Seyfarth Shaw, Terracon and Republic Commercial Title at Stats as well as the accounting and advisory pros at Reznick Group at their Summit Boulevard offices.

The lure of door prizes like a foursome at East Lake and Final Four tickets attracted 65 office brokers to 999 Peachtree on Thursday. Amidst tax time - the real March madness - the Reznick gang was just glad to have a few minutes to catch their collective breath and enjoy some hoops and frosty beverages.

Left to right:  Brian Kearley, Kristy Koger (props on the new position as Business Development Manager, Kristy!), Ben Martin, Wendy Langlais-Tillery and Ross Aglialoro of Reznick Group.

Downtown, Seyfarth Shaw, Republic Commercial Title and Terracon hosted more than 100 at Stats over the course of the afternoon, including luminaries like Steve Baile of Daniel Corp., Steve Martin of SDM Partners and Vanessa Brown of Bonitz Flooring Group.

It wasn't all fun and games, though, as we sat down with Seyfarth Shaw real estate partner and University of Kentucky fan Paul Mattingly to talk business for a few minutes. Like the rest of us, Seyfarth Shaw is working through this wonderful economy, and the firm is focusing on distressed assets. Clarity is essential, Mattingly said, as owners need to get in front of lenders, earn their trust and be frank about assets' performance.

Now that's the spirit!  Melinda Parrish of Republic Commercial Title and Scott Steiding of Morrison Hershfield get into the games.

"It's all about the availability of credit and gap between buyer and seller, but there's more reason to be optimistic in March 2010 than in October 2009," Mattingly said.

From left to right:  Diana Simaan of Baker Barrios Architects, Kade Miller of Assurant, Christine Sherriffs of Kimball Office, Betsy Nurse of idea|span, Peggy Henderson of Technical Innovation, Tony Nelson of Corporate Environments, Walker Yarborough of Herman Miller, Carmen Granato of Assurant, Kathy Briggs of Avyve and Kevin Flood of Integrated Relocation Services.

The Rooster perched high atop Buckhead at Duke Realty and Pope & Land's new 3630 Peachtree office building last week, joining CoreNet's Atlanta chapter for a lively happy hour and great views.