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Aging Building Gets New Life as City of Atlanta's Only Gun Range

ATLANTA (Oct. 26, 2014) - The only public gun range in the city of Atlanta, slated to open very soon, is a unique adaptive reuse of a vacant, aging industrial building in west Midtown. And don't be surprised if the project wins an award at ULI Atlanta's 21st Annual Awards for Excellence in September 2015.

Stoddard's Range and Guns second location, under construction at 485 Bishop St. in Atlanta's Home Park neighborhood. The project appears to be wrapping up, and the owners have painted "Stoddard's Range and Guns" on the street-facing exterior wall. 

Stoddard's has built a reputation as a top gun-range operator with its original location on Bankhead Highway in Douglasville. In fact, Creative Loafing readers just voted it metro Atlanta's best shooting range - for the third consecutive year.

A prominent member of Atlanta’s commercial real estate industry backs owners Ken Baye and Michael Halbreich. They're a pair of resilient businessmen, having bounced back nicely after a fire destroyed their Douglasville location in 2009.

The Bishop Street location likely will be the only gun range we see in the city of Atlanta for a long time. City codes would have to be changed to open the door for additional ranges. We imagine Atlanta Police Department higher-ups will be glad to have an intown range at which their officers can take shooting practice.

The new location will stress safety and offer members the opportunity (and encourage them to) store their firearms under lock-and-key at the facility. Stoddard's also will position itself as an entertainment venue where members can come for a good, safe time.

Stoddard's west Midtown location is part of the resurrection of Bishop Street. Industrial real estate firm Rooker went back to its roots and moved it headquarters to a cool, glass-heavy building on the street, and The Worthing Cos. has started work on the 244- unit community Heights at West Midtown at 507 Bishop.

 

 

Atlanta Commercial Real Estate, You've Come a Long Way, Baby

ATLANTA (Oct. 23, 2014) - Atlanta's commercial real estate industry finally gave its female members the recognition they deserve, and it took an online news organization to shake things up and shine the spotlight on them.

Last week, Washington, D.C.-based Bisnow feted the Top 40 Power Women in Atlanta commercial real estate. Bisnow did a very good job of getting the list right, too. Like any power ranking or list, a few people left off have legitimate gripes that they should have made the cut. Bisnow editors had some tough calls.

But the important thing is that Bisnow did the list at all - and the online publisher did so in several major markets. Bisnow Top Banana and founder Mark Bisnow, who flew in from Redskins country to help the women and their colleagues celebrate, said the response to the Power Women lists has been incredible across the country. Clearly, Bisnow saw a need and filled it.

In the past, the only group to really promote CRE women was CREW Atlanta, which has done admirable work. That said, it took Bisnow to create the first Power Women list and an accompanying event that attracted several of Atlanta's Power Men of Commercial Real Estate. Those attendees included Mark Toro, Bob Peterson, Scott Taylor, David Lanier, Steve Dils and several more.

Best thing is, several clients of The Wilbert Group made the list. They are Liz Gillespie of North American Properties (holding the plaque in photo above), Lori Kilberg of top CRE law firm Hartman Simons, Monetha Cobb of Franklin Street and Linda Bolan of JLL. It was also good to see several other women we have worked with in the past, including Malloy Peterson of Carter, Amanda Rhein of MARTA, Cherly Strickland, formerly of Invest Atlanta and Connie Engel of Childress Klein.

Let's hope Bisnow makes this an annual list and event.

 

Atlanta PR Pro Makes Long's List of Top Online Commercial Real Estate People

ATLANTA (Oct. 14, 2014) - Duke Long's lists of commercial real estate influencers and thought leaders already are legendary. So, it thrills me to have made his 2014 list of Top 10 Most Influence Online Commercial Real Estate People.

Long's list has become the industry standard for measurement of those who effectively use social media and blogs to discuss, promote and debate commercial real estate and its critical place in the U.S. economy and beyond. This year's list is topped by Barbi Reuter, a social #CRE powerhouse who recently was promoted to the C-Suite of PICOR/Cushman & Wakefield in Tuscon, Arizona. This is the only (non-CREW-related) list in the male-dominated world of CRE topped by a female.

Others on the 2014 list include Coy Davidson (pictured on the right in above photo with Duke), perhaps the best-known CRE-blogger/social force; Michael Bull, who hosts America's Commercial Real Estate (Radio) Show; and ICSC social media guru Sarah Malcolm. And Michael Beckerman, who founded a real estate-focused PR firm, made the list as he works to change the way CRE news is deliver with The News Funnel.

A couple of people have asked how a PR guy (me) made the list of Most Influentiual Online Commercial Real Estate People. Pure and simple, it's my dedication to keeping up with CRE news, to breaking and making CRE news some at times and to promote the industry via social outlets.

Of course, as a PR guy with several major CRE clients, I'll work extra hard to help them make next year's list and displace me. I'm honored to follow in the footsteps of Mark Toro, who has made Duke's list several times himself.

Better yet, I'll let Duke explain it in his own words:

"Atlanta based and hardcore about it. He feels the news stories coming before they happen. Newspaper (remember those) reporter who turned into a PR pro. Twitter is his personal mouthpiece to the world. Reputation for being smart and quick witted. HUGE Tom Petty fan and quietly volunteering a bunch of his personal time to help push #CRE #RE and #PR forward."

So, I offer a big "TY" to Duke for the flattering words and inclusion on the influential list. I look forward to seeing you on the social CRE circuit and reading your blog.

 

 

 

 

Hail to the Redskins' Real Estate!

RICHMOND, Va. (April 25, 2014) - I love it when commercial real estate intersects with something else I for which I have a great passion.

A convergence occurred this week when the newish Washington Redskins training camp in Richmond Va., won the top award at the Greater Richmond Association for Commercial Real Estate's annual real estate awards. (Special thank you goes out to Michael Lagazo of Rosano Partners in San Diego, aka @Michael_MBA, who alerted me to this news. Like me, Michael loves CRE and the NFL. (Check out his work for ICSC here.)

The Bon Secours Washington Redskins Training Center, as it's officially called, won the Project of the Year Award. The summer home of the Redskins was honored, according to an article in Virginia Business, "for proving for "its innovative approach to redeveloping what had been 17 acres of state-owned land on West Leigh Street. The project's nomination narrative said it went beyond building a 40,000-square-foot field house to complete a  'a landmark project' that has driven $120 million in private revitalization and the creation of more than 200 jobs."

Bon Secours Washington Redskins Training Center has proven a popular site for Redskins fans, who made pilgrammages to Carlisle, Pa., to see the Skins' camp when I was a kid. Richmond competed for and won the race to be new home to the camp in June 2012.

In an another intersection of CRE and the NFL, the photo that accompanies this post was posted to my Facebook page by Maya Chandiramani, a friend, fellow Redskins fan and someone I've worked with in the past. Our PR firm, The Wilbert Group, is the top commercial real estate PR firm, and we worked with Maya when she was at Carter and Cassidy Turley.

All this adds up to a big refrain of, "Hail to the Redskins' Real Estate."

Best Commercial Real Estate Tchotchke Ever Discovered on Grand Cayman's Seven Mile Beach

SEVEN MILE BEACH, Cayman Islands (March 17) - Even while vacationing in the Caribbean for spring break, we saw reminders of real estate marketing by U.S. firms. We split our week between The Ritz-Carlton Residences and Cayman Reef Resort, and effective real estate communications and public relations enveloped us.

The pool at The Ritz-Carlton proved to be a great gathering spot for Americans seeking a respite from the interminable winter in the States. We met people from Boston, New York, Maryland, and of course, Texas. In fact, it was very cool to meet a Dallas businessman who ran a family business that invests in commercial real estate across the Sunbelt, including Savannah, Ga.

But the biggest surprise came when we moved to Cayman Reef Resort, just over a mile down Seven Mile Beach. The condo had lots of beach toys, including a paddle ball set from the 2004 Marcus & Millichap National Achievement Awards trip to Maui. Our son and eldest daughter had a lot of fun with the set that just might be the best commercial real estate tchotchke ever.

 

NAREE Real Estate Journalism Contest Deadline Only 23 Days Away

ATLANTA (Feb. 6, 2013) - Real estate reporters who attend the 2013 NAREE Journalism Conference here June 5-8 will have the chance to be recognized by their peers - but only if they act quickly. The deadline for the National Association of Real Estate Editors' 63rd Annual NAREE Journalism Competition is March 1.

Winners will be celebrated at an evening awards celebration/cocktail hour June 7 in downtown Atlanta. Some winners also will receive cash money, which is a good thing.

Here's the official press release from NAREE...

NAREE Issues Call for Entries for Real Estate Journalism Competition

BOCA RATON, Fla. -- The deadline is fast approaching for the National Association of Real Estate Editors' 63rd Annual NAREE Journalism Competition for real estate and home and design writers and editors.The entry deadline is March 1, 2013, for work published or aired in 2012.

 

The NAREE competition is aimed at staff writers, columnists, editors and freelancers covering mortgage finance, foreclosures, commercial and residential real estate, green building, urban redevelopment, home design, remodeling and myriad other topics in the broad field of real estate. The competition is open to entries published in daily newspapers, weekly business newspapers, trade, investment and shelter magazines, commercial real estate publications, wire services, television, radio and web sites.

 

A total of 75 Gold, Silver and Bronze Journalism Competition Awards will be given for a wide variety of categories in various types of media. The Platinum Award of $1,000 will go to the best overall individual entry. Winner of the Best Freelance Collection will receive $500. The Ruth Ryon Best Young Journalist (age 30 or under) winner and 25 Gold category winners will receive $250 each.

 

All professional journalists, both NAREE members and non-members, may enter. Entry forms are onwww.NAREE.org under the "Journalism Contest." Entrants may choose to enter online.

 

Awards will be presented at NAREE's Annual Journalism Conference in Atlanta, Ga., June 5 - 8, 2013 at the Atlanta Hilton. NAREE President Kris Hudson, Wall Street Journal, and Vice President Daniel Taub, Bloomberg News, will officiate at the Awards Ceremony Friday, June 7. NAREE's Atlanta conference, featuring newsworthy panels and speakers along with outstanding professional development sessions, will draw journalists from around the country.

The NAREE journalism competition, now in its sixth decade, will be judged by faculty of the E. W. Scripps School of Journalism at Ohio University on clarity of writing, objectivity, originality, depth of reporting, and/or graphic design/production (if applicable).
　

NAREE has a separate Bruss authors competition recognizing the best real estate books of the year.

 

Founded in 1929, NAREE is a nonprofit professional association of writers, columnists, editors and authors covering residential, commercial and financial real estate and urban and home design.

 

Contact:

Mary Doyle-Kimball, NAREE Executive Director
561-391-3599
[email protected]
www.NAREE.org

Atlanta's Mayor Knows Importance of #CRE to City

ATLANTA (Dec. 19, 2011) - If there's a major-city mayor who's worked better with the city's commercial real estate market than Atlanta's Kasim Reed, I'd like to meet him or her.

Mayor Reed has emerged as a critical figure in the city's attempt to resurrect its CRE market, and that's important. Commercial real estate built Atlanta, figuratively and literally. Some say commercial real estate is to Atlanta what cars are (were) to Detroit.

The long list of developers who made Atlanta an international city is long and includes John Portman, Tom Cousins, Frank Carter and Don Childress.

Last week, the Atlanta Commercial Board of Realtors honored Reed's efforts. The influential industry group awarded its Henry H. Robinson Award to the mayor at its annual business luncheon. (In photo at left, Mayor Reed, center, accepts the award from 2011 Awards Chair Billy Hobbs, left, and Board President John Ferguson of CBRE.)

The award goes to people outside CRE who make an "outstanding contribution to the real estate industry."

Reed's contrubtions are highly visible. He oversaw two key CRE transactions in the city in the past 14 months.

In July, Reed celebrated the sale of City Hall East, the humongous former Sears warehouse on Ponce de Leon, to hometown firm Jamestown. The 2 million-square-foot hodgepodhge of buildings sat mostly vacant after another CRE group failed in its attempt to redevelopment the property.

In Jamestown, Reed helped the city find a well-financed partner led by a Morningside resident who wanted to get Jamestown involved in its hometown after a 10-year development absence.

In November 2010, the mayor accepted from Cox Enterprises, on the city's behalf, the donation of the former Atlanta Journal-Constitution building at 72 Marietta St. downtown. The city will house employees in the building that had been the anchor of Marietta Street for three decades. An empty AJC building would have pulled down the Marietta corridor, which is showing signs a couple blocks away.

It clearly took vision and persuasion on Reed'd part to get Cox to give the city a building valued at $50 million (the tax writeoff notwithstanding).

Moving forward, I'm sure we'll see more CRE activity from the mayor's office that benefits city residents. (Disclosure: I served on the communications committee of Kasim Reed for Mayor, Inc.)

 

Real Estate Journos Show: Eat, Drink & Be NAREE

By Tony Wilbert, Wilbert News Strategies

SAN ANTONIO - (June 20, 2011) - Record-setting heat, kick-ass real estate stories, speed dating, quick tweeting and a six-sided transaction in Ski Country created a buzz last week at the annual NAREE Spring Journalism Conference. Oh, yeah, and the host hotel next to the Alamo was haunted - allegedly.

The conference, put on by the 81-year-old National Association of Real Estate Editors, attracted a good mix of mainstream media powerhouses and online media startups and bloggers. The strong turnout by reporters from The Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, Los Angeles Times, Smart Money and freelancers who write for other national publications helped attract lots of PR people (in a good way).

 NAREE knows its crowd and did a good job making sure each day ended with camaraderie, cold beers and some breaking local news. 

Given that NAREE 2010 took place in Austin, I'm not sure why the NAREE board selected San Antonio as the location. Maybe the board thought four consecutive days of 100-degree-plus temperatures would remind participants that real estate could be hot again (one day).

That said San Antonio did not disappoint. Most panels were more than informative, and some even were entertaining. SDS Real Estate's Steven Shane's stories about a six-sided, multimillion dollar, multinational transaction captivated the crowd, and a Texas A&M professor's colorful comparisons and language cracked up the crowd. Here's a list of bests and not-so-goods from the 45th annual conference.

Best Event: NAREE Awards. NAREE kept things moving while handing out awards in 25 categories. The Riverwalk restaurant where it took place was cool, the beer cold and margaritas frozen.

Best Move: One NAREE attendee asked to switch hotel rooms because of the perception the room at the historic Menger Hotel was haunted. The hotel, which opened two years before the Civil War started, proved an adequate home base, and no ghost sighthings were reported. (However, "room service" delivered a meal at 3:30 a.m. Saturday to no one in particular.)

Best Venue: Pearl Brewery Reception area. This event space provided just-right A/C on a blistering day. The haunted Menger, on the other hand, had warm common areas and freezing ballrooms. Only thing missing from the Pearl venue was...

Biggest Disappointment: Discovering no beer is brewed at Pearl Brewery, despite the huge Pearl beer can out front. Still, the property was pretty cool, and they offered an alternative selection of beer and wine. 

Best Awards Response: Kris Hudson. The WSJ's retail and hospitality reporter ran through the crowd high-fiving attendees as he accepted one of several awards won by his paper's real estate team.

Best Tweet: Texas A&M's refreshing take: national indices don't mean crap to a local buyer. #NAREE. This one comes from Smart Money's Alyssa Abkowitz, who won two awards, including The Ruth Ryon Best Entry by a Young Journalist.

Conference MVP Award: Conference Chairman Ralph Bivins of Realty News Report and NAREE Executive Director Mary Doyle-Kimball put in numerous houts to ensure members got what they came for.

Conspicuous No-Show (Not in a Bad Way): Some big winners sent no one pick up their awards. People who made the effort to enter and won should have been there. However, this left more Dos Equis for everyone else.

Conspicuous Interloper: Self-proclaimed Menger Hotel resident who hung out around in his bathing suit and wished everyone "Happy Father's Day" or "Happy Mother's Day." He even greeted NAREE convention-goers as they departed at 5 a.m. Saturday. Nevertheless, he was harmless.

Best Impromptu Speech: Shannon Behnken, real estate reporter Tampa Bay Tribune and News Channel 8. NAREE officer and Sarasota Herald-Tribune real estate editor Harold Bubil put Behnken on the spot in the Menger's Presidential Suite by asking her to discuss her stories that earned her the Best Overall Entry by an Individual. She performed admirably. 

Best Overall Part: Meet the Press. In this event, loosely based on speed dating, PR people get three minutes to pitch their stories, clients and selves to journalists they've been dying to meet. The time went by way too fast, but we PR people can talk quickly. 

Best Decision: Moving the conference out of Texas for 2012. While everyone loves Texas, it was hotter than hell. Next year's show in Denver will be cooler, in several ways.

 

 

 

ULI Atlanta Releases Edgy Awards Dinner Video

ATLANTA (Sept. 23, 2010) - Comedian Tripp Crosby opened ULI's 16th Annual Development of Excellence Awards Dinner with a video that left audience members laughing and wondering whether he really said "sh*t" when honoring Shirley Franklin, "Atlanta's sewer queen."

The video has just been released. See for yourself.

2010 ULI Awards Opener from Retro 8 Films on Vimeo.

Atlanta Galleria developer wins ULI's Frank Carter Award

ATLANTA (Sept. 20, 2010) - ATLANTA (Sept. 17, 2010) - Don Childress, the visionary developer behind Atlanta Galleria Office Park and Midtown's 999 Peachtree Tower, received one of ULI Atlanta's highest honors at the group's annual awards dinner last night.

ULI Atlanta bestowed its Frank Carter Community Achievement Award upon Childress. The award, named for the late Frank Carter - founder of Carter, "recognizes an individual in development or real estate related field who has made an outstanding contribution to the Atlanta community in his or her lifetime."

As part of the ceremony, ULI showed a video that featured Jack Guynn, former president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta; Billy Peeples, headmaster of Lovett School; and Tad Leithead, chairman of the Atlanta Regional Commission, talking about their relationships with Childress. 

To read the rest of the story, go to Atlanta Galleria Now, the official blog of Atlanta Galleria Office Park. Atlanta Galleria is a Wilbert News Strategies, or WNS PR, client.