|
Tortoise vs. Hare
Phipps Tower in Buckhead.
Market buzz over the past 18 months suggests that Manulife Financial is willing to patiently play its hand at Phipps Tower in hopes of a market rebound and higher rental rates, or at least fewer and less costly concessions. While new, nearby office buildings landed tenants like Novelis, Sony Ericsson, Reznick Group and JWT with aggressive deal making, Manulife waited.
Manulife and its Crescent Resources leasing team may still be playing tortoise to the others' hare, but they have signed Daugherty Business Solutions to a 10-year deal for 11,560 square feet at Phipps Tower. Tarkenton Thompson and Park Williams of Richard Bowers & Co. represented Daugherty Business Solutions, while John Bell and Sara Terry of Crescent represented ownership.
Daugherty, which is relocating from Alpharetta's Brookside Office Park, joins Northwestern Mutual and Speakeasy Inc. as tenants at Phipps Tower, a 20-story, 486,917-square-foot tower next to Phipps Plaza.
"Buckhead was a natural choice," said Andrew Wells, VP at Daugherty Business Solutions. "The central location of Phipps Tower along with the ease of ingress and egress was critical to better service our clients who commonly visit us for on-site consulting."  |
Hail to the ACBR Chief
John Ferguson, 2011 president of ACBR and executive managing director for CB Richard Ellis.
It's a bit of an understatement to say that John Ferguson has a lot on his plate these days.
Ferguson serves as 2011 president of the Atlanta Commercial Board of Realtors and was recently named executive managing director for CB Richard Ellis in the Southeast, leading operations in Atlanta, Charlotte and Nashville, as well as affiliates in North and South Carolina and Tennessee. He also finds the time to coach his daughter's basketball team and always has been active in coaching his kids in soccer and hoops.
The ACBR might be the easy part, since he has Commercial Board veterans like Kristin Karlson Lamb, Amy Geddes and Angi Jerguson, among others, making everything run smoothly. The plan for this year is to continue to enhance the board's technological offerings and assistance and continue to add value through the ACBR's expert series and other informative endeavors.
"The great thing about the board is you have a tremendous staff and heritage," Ferguson said. "At the end of the day, it's just trying to stay out of their way and add value for the membership."
As far as creating work/life balance, personal technology and focus play a big role, Ferguson said.
"I'm a big believer in balance," Ferguson said. "Your kids have a way of putting life in perspective." |
|
Flight of the Phoenix
Phoenix Business Campus near Hartsfield Jackson International Airport.
With OA Development's recent acquisition of Royal Phoenix Business Center and Phoenix Business Campus near Hartsfield Jackson International Airport, Resource Real Estate Partners' Michael Howell and Nathan Pramik are preparing for more tenant arrivals.
Howell and Pramik lead marketing efforts for OA Development's new properties, which include 78,948 square feet at Royal Phoenix Business Center, acquired from a private investor for $3.4 million, and the 78,468-square-foot Phoenix Business Campus acquired from Berkadia Commercial Mortgage for $2.4 million. OA, which employs a mix of Israeli and local capital, used only equity in acquiring the airport area properties, which are 40 to 45 percent leased.
Capital improvements already have begun at the Phoenix Parkway office/flex developments, and renewed landscaping and other cosmetic improvements will commence this spring as the two formerly separate properties will now be marketed together. Howell and Pramik expect interest from aviation-related companies and other national and international prospective tenants who need quick airport access. Of course, economics come into play, too.
"We're fortunate to have an owner with no debt on the property and a lower basis than many surrounding owners, so we'll be able to offer more TI and a lower base rent," Howell said.
|
|
Avoiding Death and Taxes
From left to right: Charles Beaudrot, Nance Donaldson, chapter president; Ricky Novak; Matthew Frooman; and Sean Lager.
CCIM's local chapter started the day Thursday with a panel on tax concerns for commercial real estate,and moderator Ricky Novak of Strategic 1031 Exchange Advisors delivered on his promise to keep it interesting and not put anyone to sleep. The panel touched on some of the tax pitfalls that can hit you when acquiring distressed debt or dealing with foreclosure. Morris, Manning & Martin's Charles Beaudrot noted one sure-fire way to avoid taxes, but, "I don't recommend death as a tax strategy," he quipped.
Matthew Frooman of GH&I and Sean Lager of Frazier & Deeter joined Novak and Beaudrot on the panel. |
|
Brothers-and Sisters-in Arms
Kim Hudson and husband, Braves' pitcher Tim Hudson, join Arnall Golden Gregory's Abe Schear and Phil Skinner at the AGG open house.
To know Arnall Golden Gregory's Abe Schear is to know his love of baseball, so it was only natural that AGG's real estate group teamed up with Braves pitcher Tim Hudson and his wife, Kim, and for an open house and silent auction benefiting the Hudson Family Foundation Saturday night at AGG's Atlantic Station offices. |
Together at Last
Seated: Amy Fingerhut, Marcy Moneypenny, Nicole Lackey, Kate Hardin, Brooke Martin, Heather Reich and Jackie Fraker; Standing: Mollie Hammett, Marigny Farnet and Marisa Winsky.
The Atlanta chapters of CREW and CoreNet are two great groups that go great together, which made for a packed Cobb Energy Center last week at the organizations' 2011 economic forecast with former CNBC Chief Economist Marci Rossell. An ice storm may have postponed it, but it couldn't stop it. |
|
|
Have some good scoop to share with us?