(CRE_Xtra) - CRE is hot right now, and it's starting to get the additional media coverage the industry deserves. The increased coverage itself also could use some review. So, we're launching CRE Xtra on Skyline Views. Here's the inaugural post of CRE_Xtra - Read All About It!
1) What if a top industry group in commercial real estate helds its big annual conference in your town and practically no one covered it? That's what happened last week when the city of Atlanta hosted REIT World, the show of the year for the National Association of Real Estate Investment Trust (NAREIT). We're still holding out hope that some coverage will pop up.
The event featured so many CRE CEOs that it would have been like a field day for a commercial real estate reporter. And new Atlanta business royalty PulteGroup CEO Richard Dugas made an appearance on the panel. I know the trade press made the trip because I had dinner at The Optimist with former boss Ben Johsnon, who serves as managing director and editor-in-chiefof Real Assets Adviser from Institutional Real Estate, Inc. Lucky for us, NAREIT itself provides very good coverage of its event here under "HEADLINES".
2) Atlanta developer Jim Borders some times gets some flak from snarky would-be architects who charge that the design of his SkyHouse apartment towers appears too cookie-cutter. But on Saturday, I was struck by the presence SkyHouse Midtown had, standing tall next to (optical illusion) One Atlantic Center, often declared Atlanta's best-looking office tower. The aprtment tower held up pretty well when juxaposed with the Johnson/Burgee Architects classic pinstripe suit design.
3) It's cool to see Atlanta REIT Cousins Properties team up again with Hines to develop an office tower - this one in Dallas. The pair teamed to produce 191 Peachtree in downtown Atlanta, where Cousins now has its offices after years in Cobb County.
3) Driving by the 3630 Peachtree office tower this morning (yes, the one with the Ritz-Carlton Residences), I am reminded about the lack of coverage of its sale to Hetiman at a record price earlier this year. I can find zero full-length stories about Heitman buying the building in the mainstream media. Maybe it's because Bisnow Atlanta broke the story. According to Bisnow, 3630 Peachtree did fetch a Buckhead record of $380 per square foot. Of course, had I been able to sneak into REIT World, I could have asked Tim Pire, a panelist and Heitman owner, all about it.
Now that's we've come full circle, we conclude CRE_Xtra.
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