A Steady Stream

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September 21, 2010

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

Jill Bomar (left) and Hudson Smythe (right) of Stream Realty Partners.

The Northeast office submarket has its share of negative net absorption, but Stream Realty Partners has done all it can to offset the trend since it began operating in the area in March.

Stream's Hudson Smythe and Jill Bomar have closed transactions totaling more than 73,000 square feet in the Northeast since March 1 and have another 20,000 square feet near completion. Cushman & Wakefield released third-quarter stats on Monday indicating 151,609 of negative net absorption year-to-date in the Northeast.

Stream's closings include The Myers Group's new deal for 33,087 square feet at Northmont Business Center in Duluth, Reed Elsevier's renewal for 15,689 square feet at Park Creek in Duluth, Fresh Start Church's new lease for 11,240 square feet at Northmont, ISO's new deal for 6,479 square feet at Park Creek, 5th Season Design's expansion for 4,856 square feet at Plaza 85 Business Park in Norcross and All Business Corp.'s new lease for 2,050 square feet at Plaza 85. Stream represented owners BPG Properties, Thompson National Properties and Tansley Acquisitions.

Dallas-based Stream opened its Atlanta office in the first quarter of 2009 and has built a nearly 3 million-square-foot leasing portfolio since. There's no real secret to the firm's success, Managing Partner Ben Hautt said, but it helps that Stream embraces a fun, collegial working environment on its "trading floor."

"There is no silver bullet, just hard work," Hautt said. "We've been working from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. since we touched down and are now reaping the rewards."

Office Deals:

A Good Week to Have "Credit"

A look at Midtown's Campanile.

One way or another, this week's office tenants have credit, or at least CredAbility.

We'll start with Midtown's Campanile, where Georgia's Own Credit Union not only provided financing for Dewberry Capital to acquire the building, but also renewed and expanded for a total of 102,000 square feet at the 428,755-square-foot office tower. Dewberry's Ridr Knowlton represented the new owner, while Carter's Kirk Diamond represented Georgia's Own, a Campanile tenant since the early '90s.

"We had been looking at the market for several months, trying to understand our options, when Dewberry put (Campanile) under contract," Diamond said. "They felt good about Dewberry and that he's a local guy with a great deal of interest in the building and city."

Downtown, credit counselor CredAbility divulged plans to relocate its headquarters to Richard Bowers & Co.'s 270 Peachtree. The non-profit will take 40,000 square feet, 30 percent more than its existing HQ space at 100 Edgewood Ave. Bob Misdom of CresaPartners represented the tenant, formerly known as Consumer Credit Counseling Service. Bowers' Greg Kindred and Jenna Schulten represented ownership.

Barker Pushes Red Rock Over the Top

John Barker of Red Rock Developments.

Few people scour the U.S. for deals like Red Rock Developments' John Barker Jr. At any given moment, Barker could be in Atlanta, Memphis, Dallas, St. Louis, Phoenix or, strangely enough, his hometown, Charlotte.

So far, it's working for the three-year-old, Columbia, S.C.-based firm that's become a go-to developer for Corporate America. Red Rock has three build-to-suits totaling more than 900,000 square feet in the pipeline and is chasing another 4.5 million square feet of corporate build-to-suits across the U.S. Current projects include a 675,000-square-foot manufacturing and distribution center in Shelby, N.C., for Clearwater Paper Corp. and a 150,000-square-foot facility for Michelin in Louisville, Ken. Red Rock partners with ARCO Design/Build on both.

Of course, Red Rock has its eye on Atlanta. When the company launched, practically every suitable build-to-suit site in Atlanta was spoken for, Barker said, but the recession has opened the door a bit. Red Rock currently is competing for approximately 270,000 square feet of build-to-suits in metro Atlanta.

"Having an opportunity to land in Atlanta is like winning the Super Bowl," Barker said. "It just validates our capabilities."

Barker learned his "over-the-top" customer service philosophy and sense of urgency from his dad. John Sr. was an industrial broker and developer, too, and would tell prospects and customers, "I'll count the bricks in the building if you want me to." That perspective serves the son and Red Rocks today.

"To pursue a build-to-suit takes an overwhelming amount of energy," Barker said. "Fundamentally - and it's no different than any other sales relationship - it's building that personal relationship with the decision maker."

The Lighter Side of ULI

Kent Mason of First Industrial, Kristin Olson of Trimont Real Estate Advisors, Andria Kriss of IDI and Kristy Koger of Reznick.

ULI Atlanta proved its collective sense of humor with last Thursday's 2010 Awards Dinner at 200 Peachtree, Downtown's former Macy's. The event opened with an hilarious, tongue-in-cheek celebration of Atlanta real estate's 109th best year ever, and emcee Tripp Crosby kept the crowd rolling with fictitious Tweets from the likes of John Dewberry, Brian Leary and, of course, Real Estate Rooster.

When it got down to business-time, ULI Atlanta recognized Mayor Shirley Franklin with the Dan Sweat Community Leadership Award and Don Childress of Childress Klein Properties with the Frank Carter Lifetime Achievement Award. The ceremony also recognized Southface Energy Institute with the Sustainable Development Award and Hotel Indigo, White Provision and Greystone at Piedmont Park with Development of Excellence Awards. Gables Midtown, Two Alliance Center and Luckie Marietta District were finalists for Development of Excellence Awards as well.

Join the Rooster tonight at SweetWater Brewing Company for the 5th Annual Dana G. Smith Fundraiser and celebration. Enjoy frosty beers and great music, and help a tremendous cause while you're at it (for more information on the fund, click here). The fun starts at 6:30 - bring a friend and we'll see you there.

We want to cover your next event! Send our marketing staff a note with all the deets and we will do our best to be there.

In case you missed us, click here for past issues.

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