Skyline Views

Florida Developer Wants to Finish What Actress Kim Basinger Started

By Tony Wilbert, Wilbert News Strategies LLC

ATLANTA (Dec. 28, 2009) - A Florida developer apparently wants to pick up where Georgia beauty Kim Basinger left off.

Halvorsen Development of Boca Raton, Fla., has filed plans for a 1.4 million-square-foot development near Chateau Elan at Ga. 211 and I-85 in Braselton, Ga., according to the Georgia Developments of Regional Impact (DRI) Web site. The proposed project, dubbed "Braselton 1" for now, would comprise 832,960 square feet of retail, a 16-screen movie theater, two hotels, 322,000 square feet of "future" office space, two restaurants and 10 outparcels.

Braselton gained national notoriety in 1989, when actress Kim Basinger joined forces with the Ameritech Pension fund to acquired the town for $20 million. Together, they had big plans for turning the small town into a major tourist attraction, but they never materialized. Since then, Braselton has emerged as a player in the regional distribution center market.

Halvorsen, whose own Web site features photos of Publix-anchored strip centers and Publix shopping carts, has requested that the land be rezoned and annexed, according to the DRI filing. The overall project would be completed by 2014.

Equifax Names Karen Dick Real Estate Chief

By Tony Wilbert, Wilbert News Strategies

ATLANTA (Dec. 21, 2009) - A very familiar face in Atlanta commercial real estate is poised to take over the Real Estate Department at Equifax Inc.

 Karen Burkhart Dick, currently executive vice president of Asset Management and Advisory Services at Ackerman & Co., will join Equifax Jan. 4 as its leader of global real estate. Dick is a 20-plus-year veteran of Atlanta real estate who served as 2008 president of the Atlanta Commercial Board of Realtors. She also has served as president of Commercial Real Estate Women (CREW) of Atlanta and Real Estate Group of Georgia (REGA).

Dick will be pretty influential in corporate real estate, and it's nice to see Equifax, a Fortune 1000 company, hire a woman for the job. She follows in the footsteps, though not immediate, of Ed Barber, who served as head of real estate at Equifax for years. Barber now is with Lubert-Adler Real Estate Funds.

Here's a Q-and-A Skyline Views conducted via e-mail with Dick.

1) What will be your responsibilities at Equifax, and when do you start?

I will start on January 4th.  The position is Leader of Global Real Estate, and they were looking for someone to take a more strategic approach regarding their real estate portfolio.

2) What are your thoughts about joining a well-respected, international company such as Equifax? 

I'm exited about joining such a well-respected Fortune 500 company because it's a home-grown Atlanta
company with international reach.

3) Was it a tough decision to leave Ackerman & Co.? 

I have really enjoyed working for Ackerman. It's always difficult to leave such a great group of people behind.

4) As a past CREW Atlanta president, is it significant that Equifax has hired a female to head its real estate department?

I don't know that they were specifically targeting a female for this real estate position;
but, I do know that Equifax is a company that likes diversity.

Mystery Macon Project Tied to Boeing?

By Tony Wilbert, Wilbert News Strategies LLC

 ATLANTA (Dec. 14, 2009) - Macon, a city about 90 miles south of Atlanta, might be close to landing a major manufacturing/distribution center. And it could be tied to Boeing.

The city emerged last year as a player in the race to win some of the major food companies (Kraft Foods, General Mills, etc.) and others seeking very large manufacturing and distribution centers. Macon is attractive because it has interstate exposure on I-75 and easily can serve Atlanta and Florida. Plus, land is a lot less expensive in Middle Georgia than in the metro Atlanta area.

Late last week, Pat Topping of the Macon Economic Development Commission, filed plans for a 1 million-square-foot manufacturing and distribution facility to be built in two phases. Public records list the site at 1821 Avondale Mill Road, site of Macon's Boeing plant. So this might represent some nice organic growth for Bibb County.

Because the project is shrouded in secrecy, Macon Economic Development refers to it as "Project Q" and offers no precise information about what would be built or distributed at the new facility. Officials do say that Phase I would be completed in 2011 and the overall project would be done by 2013.

This project's worth watching.

1075 Peachtree Lights Up in Hopes of Leasing Up

ATLANTA (Dec. 10, 2009) - A very cool, ever-changing, multicolored lightwall has been installed at 1075 Peachtree, the speculative office component of the mammoth 12th & Midtown mixed-use development here. Now the owners needs to nail down a few more leases to celebrate.

You see, 1075 Peachtree got off to a great start in 2009. But things have slowed somewhat since.

 In January, co-developers Daniel Corp. and Selig Enterprises announced they had secured the first two tenants at the building with 725,000 square feet of office space. Law firm Seyfarth Shaw LLP and Boston Consulting Group signed leases totaling just over 120,000 square feet in the tower. (In my former position as leader of Edelman's Real Estate & Sustainability group, I helped announce these deals for Daniel.)

In March, Atlanta Business Chronicle bestowed upon 12th & Midtown its "Best Overall" award in the paper's Best in Atlanta Real Estate contest. The billion-dollar-plus development had momentum.

But the practically unprecedented economic downturn has drained some of the project's momentum. Unless Selig and Daniel can close a deal in the next few weeks, 2009 will be recalled as a year of little leasing activity at 1075 Peachtree. (Seyfarth Shaw signed its lease the last week of December 2008.)

That said, 1075 Peachtree will be successful. It offers the largest contiguous block of first-generation office space in Midtown and will be home to the first Loews Hotel in Atlanta . And every major tenant seeking space now has to be considering the building as an option.

Seyfarth Shaw moves in starting in February, and that will create some buzz. The hotel likely opens this spring, and that also will help. Here's to a kick-ass leasing year in 2010 for 1075 Midtown. 

It's Official, Yardi Saves Trade Pub CPN

UPDATED: Thanks to a reader for sending official word.

ATLANTA (Dec. 9, 2009) - Commercial Property Executive, the commercial real estate trade publication formerly known as Commercial Property News, appears on the verge of resurrection.

 Nielsen Business Media, part of Nielsen Co., shut down Commercial Property Executive, MultiHousing News and their affiliated Web sites and newsletters on Oct. 12. The combination of a lousy economy, real estate recession and declining appetite for print media did in the glossy tabloid.

But a savior has emerged and acquired the title from Nielsen, according to several people in the publication industry. Yardi Systems, an asset and property management software company, is said to be the new owner of Commercial Property Executive. 

Skyline Views sent e-mails last week seeking confirmation to a top communications staffer at Nielsen and one at Yardi. Neither responded.

It'll be interesting to see how this works out because Yardi advertises in Commercial Property Executive and in its competitors, National Real Estate Investors and France Publications' books. It's likely Yardi no longer will spend money with NREI or other competitors.

We'll update this story as more information becomes available.