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May 27, 2010

The Inside Scoop on the People & Places that Shape Atlanta Real Estate

CBRE's Wit Truitt is all smiles while the ink dries.

MDH Partners may buy empty buildings, but that doesn't mean they stay that way.

Two months after buying 1039 Northpoint Parkway in Acworth and renovating the former Stock Building Supply distribution center, the investment firm has leased the 210,000-square-foot property to JVC, which is relocating logistics operations out of the I-20 West submarket. CB Richard Ellis' Wit Truitt represented JVC in the transaction, while MDH Partners' Phillip Hight represented ownership.

The Acworth building was the first acquisition for MDH Partner's $60 million fund with partner Wells Fargo.

Leaving Las Vegas

From left to right: Joe Montgomery, Jon Barry and Tony D'Ambrosio of Colliers' Atlanta.

Like most people outbound from Sin City, Colliers Retail President Jon Barry wasn't inclined to linger in Las Vegas after this week's International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC) convention, but he did take a few minutes before hopping on a plane home to talk to us Wednesday morning.

Barry did better than most at the tables by avoiding them entirely, and the nine-member Colliers Atlanta team had a productive ICSC as well, especially on investment sales, he said. Colliers retail investment sales pros Joe Montgomery and Tony D'Ambrosio placed three retail centers under contract or LOI while at the Sunday through Tuesday conference, including a grocery-anchored, single-tenant and strip-center property.

"Deals are happening," said Barry, who also leads Colliers International's Asset Resolution efforts in the U.S. "There's starting to be more of a connection between the numbers buyers are willing to pay and sellers are willing to accept."

This year's ICSC wasn't as festive as years past - especially in peak years when the annual event reportedly drew 50,000. Still, the worst is over and retail leasing is working its way back to equilibrium, Barry said.

"Leasing activity's definitely picking up,'' he said. "That's a good indicator that quality spaces are beginning to get snapped up and the rush of tenant-lease-modification requests has run its course."

Cresa's Closers

The famous King and Queen of the Perimeter.

CresaPartners' tenant rep pros have closed office transactions in Peachtree Corners and the Central Perimeter totaling approximately 44,000 square feet.

Billy Hobbs, managing principal, and Jason Jones, principal, represented OCI Chemical in the relocation of its headquarters to 13,770 square feet in Five Concourse Parkway. Teresa Johnson of Cousins Properties represented ownership, TIAA-CREF.

In Peachtree Corners, CresaPartners' Managing Principal Kevin Creel and VP Joe Grace represented Alta Telecom in its lease of the 30,375-square-foot 5854 Peachtree Corners East building. Bryan Heller of TPA Realty Services represented ownership, VIF II of Peachtree Technology.

ICSC's Atlanta Party

From left to right: Roy Martin of The Sofran Group, Michele Del Monaco of MD Real Estate, Asa Candler of Candler Development, Holli Edie of HRE Real Estate Services, Inc., Shannon Martin of Retail Leasing Advisors and Ed O'Connor of Connolly Realty.

Because Fado's rooftop deck is essentially Las Vegas without the slot machines, show girls and freaks, local retail pros who skipped the ICSC Vegas convention this week gathered Tuesday evening at the Buckhead watering hole. Some lamented missing the annual extravaganza, while others were glad to forego the sore feet, sore livers and gambling debts that can come with the territory.

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