Skyline Views

DJ Frank Ski Puts His Buckhead Restaurant on the Market

UPDATE from Rodney Ho of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Frank Ski's Restaurant & Lounge is for sale at $395,000 in cash for the assets inside the building and the rights to a long-term lease for $18,000 a month. 

Rodney also, in a classy media move, credited Eli Zandman of Tomorrow's News Today with breaking the news. In this case, Eli did in fact have tomorrow's news a day early.

ATLANTA (Feb. 26, 2015) - Uber -DJ Frank Ski's restaurant on Peachtree Road in Buckhead, which recently only operated as a club at night, is on the market.

The freestanding 8,000-square-foot restaurant basically on top of the BeltLine is available for a mere $395,000 -or for lease at a "blow-out" below-market rent of $18,000, according to The Shumacher Group, which has the listing. Rodney Ho of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution broke the story about the marketing of Frank Ski's, which opened in September 2011.

The sale of Frank Ski's Restaurant and Lounge likely will be followed by the sale of the entire Bennett Street development (stay tuned).

The owner recently placed large pieces of beige packing paper to block most of the view into the restaurant.

Here's how Shumacher's Steven Josovitz described the property, which has housed several concepts, including Mick's and Thirsty Dog Tavern.

This is a sale of a well known , well established full service restaurant in the heart of  Buckhead. This super hot Buckhead location is surrounded by Midtown,Downtown and the Perimeter marketplace affording an amazing middle to hi income, hi density residences, tons of retail, restaurants, office hi rises, hotels, convention centers stadiums, concert halls, etc and two regional malls Lenox Mall and Phipps Plaza.

Space is approximately 8,000/sf with seating for 400 in an amazing build out that was recently renovated at over $1,000,000 creating a stunning and state of the art facility.

In addition to indoor seating of 400 space has 30-seat bar, 2-private dining rooms accommodating ten guests and one seating 75-guests and a special wine cellar dining room.

Outdoor seating is set up for 120 but can easily accommodate 400 in a special events set-up. Owners spent $200,000 on outdoor venue alone.

- Tony Wilbert, The Wilbert Group, 404-405-3656

Mark Bisnow Disrupts Commercial Real Estate Coverage (In a Very Entertainingly Good Way)

ATLANTA (JULY 23, 2013) - Anyone who knows Mark Bisnow can see he's the consummate entrepreneur always teeming with enthusiasm, curiosity and new ideas.

More than eight years ago, Bisnow chose to alter the way reporters covered commercial real estate, one of the country's most traditional and conservative industries. Instead of focusing on the transactions (sales, leases, lsitings), Real Estate Bisnow focused on the brokers, developers, financiers and others who made the deals happen. And because commercial real estate is filled with personalities, gunslingers and characters, the formula is working.

This week, Bloomberg Businessweek profiles Bisnow as an entrepreneur who disrupted commercial real estate coverage, in a very good way, and perhaps has changed the way it's covered forever. Moreover, he's succeeded in a media world wracked by declining revenue, layoffs and a tired work force.

Here's the nut graf from the article:

"Bisnow Media has taken a high-volume, light-hearted approach to its conference business. It hosted 250 events in 2012, selling 60,000 tickets at prices that are typically about $70 a pop. That helped the company earn just shy of $11 million in revenue in 2012, says Begelman, and he estimates that will increase 35 percent this year."

Clearly, Bisnow's events are the money maker here, but the newsletters create the buzz.

To read the entire article, The Guys Putting Jet Packs on Commercial Real Estate Brokers," click here.

In Atlanta, Real Estate Bisnow has become a must read. Brokers and developers across the metro area instantly forward the e-newsletter when they see a buddy pictured. Caroline Wilbert, a principal of The Wilbert Group, helped launch Bisnow's Atlanta newsletter in March 2010 by working as the first Bisnow reporter in the city.

But not everyone is embracing the new format. Yesterday, three old-school brokers bemoaned the picture-and-caption-heavy newsletter. Specifically, they seems annoyed that Bisnow published a photo of brokers joking around at a Braves game.

Of course, they were discussing Bisnow, which is half the battle. If Mark Bisnow had been there, I'm sure he would have joined the converation and asked them how he could make the product better.

Bisnow recently handed the reigns of his growing Bisnow Media to Ryan Begelman and son Elliott Bisnow. Keep an eye on them.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

@Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers Rock Atlanta's "Golden Corridor'

ALPHARETTA, Ga. (April 30, 2012) - Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers delivered a rousing rock concert in this tony Atlanta suburb last night.

Petty let the packed house at Verizon Amphitheatre know he was glad to be in Georgia, where he traces some of his roots. "It's good to be back in Georgia, I tell you what."

Specifically, Petty played what once once dubbed Atlanta's "Golden Corridor" - the area along Ga. 400 where four-story spec office buildings popped up weekly during the late 1990s. Some of the luster is lost, but North Fulton will rise again. OK, enought real estate. Now back to rock 'n' roll.

Petty and his all-American rock 'n' roll band from Gainesville, Fla., played a 21-song setlist that included the hits ("I Won't Back Down," "Free Fallin,'" and "Refugee") and some deep cuts they haven't played live in a while ("Something Big" from Hard Promises and  "Spike" from Southern Accents). 

And while their encore of "Mary Jane's Last Dance" and "American Girl" kicked ass, the show's highlight might have been the lesser-known "I Should Have Known It" from Mojo or the bank's cover of J.J. Cale's "Travelin' Light." On both songs, the Heartbreakers - especially guitarist Mike Campbell - proved that - even 36 years in - they're one of the tightest rock bands around.

And for a night, quiet Alpharetta rocked.

Fair and full disclosure: The author of this post has seen Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers 49 times.

Loan on Two Alliance Center Hits Market

ATLANTA (July 8, 2011) - Bank of America, advised by CB Richard Ellis, is marketing the $117.5 million (performing) loan to Tishman Speyer that's secured by Two Alliance Center in Buckhead. That's the scoop from today's edition of Commercial Mortgage Alert newsletter.

The floating-rate loan, scheduled to mature next year, was originated in 2007 to replace the construction loan on the 30-story, 493,000-square-foot office tower on Lenox Road, CMA reports.

More than 80 percent leased, thanks to Tishman Speyer landlord reps Peter Kasian and Chris Ahrenkiel, Two Alliance Center has been one of the success stories emerging from the Buckhead office mini-boomlet. Over the past couple years, developers erected several half-million-square-foot office towers within a six-block radius, leading ULI's 2009 Emerging Trends report to predict, "a bloodbath is coming to Buckhead."

Two Alliance Center's stability - none of the leases there expires before 2018 - Commercial Mortgage Alert expects Bank of America's offering to appeal to investors looking for a safe, short-term bet.

CBRE will take bids on the BofA loan the week of July 18, CMA says.

Bob Nardelli Scouting for Deal with Jim Jacoby?

By Tony Wilbert, WNS PR

ATLANTA (Sept. 2, 2010) - Bob Nardelli, once Atlanta's most famed business celebrity, is back in town checking out potential investments for Cerberus, the huge investment firm.

I ran into Nardelli leaving an office tower at Atlantic Station last month. Nardelli said he had just met with Jim Jacoby, the real estate visionary who came up with the idea to turn the rusty Atlantic Steel plant west of Midtown into a mini-city. 

Nardelli said he and Jacoby discussed a couple of potential investments. Jacoby has several projects under way or in the planning stages, including the redevelopment of the former Ford plant near Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport and another former Ford Assembly Plant in Norfolk, Va.

Nardelli became the biggest name in Atlanta business when he replaced local business legend and chief Falcon Arthur Blank as Home Depot CEO in December 2000. He earned very mixed reviews before leaving with a $210 million severance package in January 2007.

In July 2009, Nardelli rejoined Cerberus (for which he previously ran Chrysler) as the head of one of its business units. In the press release announcing Nardelli's new job at Cerberus, the company said, "Nardelli will also join Cerberus' investment committee and valuation committee, and will be integrally involved in significant due diligence projects relating to prospective investments."

Jacoby and Nardelli likely know each other through their roles as members of SCAD-Atlanta's Board of Visitors, which Nardelli chairs. If they make a deal for Cerberus to invest in a Jacoby development, expect to see huge headlines here.

Petty Ready to Rock Philips Wednesday

By Tony Wilbert, WNS PR

ATLANTA (Aug. 6, 2010) - Warning: Today's post has only a thin connection to commercial real estate. It's more about rock 'n' roll. 

But first, the CRE connection. When Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers play Philips Arena for the first time Wednesday night, you can expect lots of CRE types in the audience, including Avison Young principal Chet Koenig and his wife Debbie, who runs NAIOP Georgia. 

Also, Petty has a long history of writing songs with real estate overtures ("One Story Town," "The Apartment Song," "Century City"). 

To celebrate Petty Week and the Mojo Tour's local stop, I dug up an article I wrote seven years ago for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. At the time, the show at Arena at Gwinnett marked the 35th time I'd seen Petty & Co. live. Next week's concert will be No. 44.

Rock 'n' roll's 'Everyman' appears tonight at Arena

BY TONY WILBERT

13 August 2003

The Atlanta Journal - Constitution

When Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers take to the stage for tonight's concert at the Arena at Gwinnett Center, it will mark the 35th time I've seen the band live.

I've traveled coast to coast to see Petty and the Heartbreakers, rivaled only by Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band and Aerosmith for longevity among American rock 'n' roll bands.

While Springsteen often is hailed as a working-class hero, Petty appeals to rock's Everyman.

Petty, 52, postures, dances and urges the audience to sing along throughout his concerts. And his backers, the Heartbreakers, are one of the tightest rock groups around.

I first saw Petty in the summer of 1980 at Merriweather Post Pavilion in Columbia, Md. I was a 15-year-old high school freshman.

Petty made a lifetime fan out of me that night.

He has put on many memorable shows over the 23 years I've seen him. But the June 2, 2001, show at the Hard Rock Hotel in Las Vegas ranks first among the Petty concerts I've seen. Petty played loud and hard that night, and then he got married the next morning.

I've never met my guitar hero, but I've talked with him on the phone.

During summer 1991, I got through to a call-in radio show where Petty was taking calls from fans. When my turn came, I stumbled a little and asked Petty how he would like to be remembered. He was quick with a succinct answer that went something like this: "Like Roy Orbison once said, 'I just hope I'm remembered,' " Petty said.

I taped my one-question interview, and I listen to it every now and then. My wife can't believe I still have the tape around. She'll be with me tonight when Petty plays his first show in Gwinnett County. I'll make a Petty fan out of her yet.

As for the near future, it's off to Nashville for the show Saturday night, No. 36 and counting.

Tony Wilbert is a staff writer for the Business section of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Photo Tom Petty urges the audience to sing along throughout his concerts. / Associated Press

Portman Continues to Market SunTrust Plaza III

ATLANTA (Aug. 3, 2010) - You've got to love John Portman's style. Even in this current commercial real estate market, the architect/developer continues to push plans for a 1 million-square-foot office tower adjacent to SunTrust Plaza Garden Offices (below left) and SunTrust Plaza.

Portman, 85, who created downtown Atlanta's skyline with Peachtree Center, the Westin Peachtree Plaza, Marriott Marquis and Hyatt Regency, has been planning SunTrust Plaza Phase III for more than a decade. "We're trying to make that Phase III building happen," Portman Management exec Brian Hogg told me in June 2000 for an Atlanta Journal-Constitution story.

Plans for Phase III, on a tract a Portman affiliate owns with SunTrust Banks, were moved to the back-burner after Sept. 11, and they have remained there. But that hasn't stopped Portman from subtly marketing the office tower. The copy "A Proposed SunTrust Plaza Phase III" is prominently positioned on the website for SunTrust Plaza. 

I found it this week after clicking on an advertisement for SunTrust Plaza in an edition of Bisnow Atlanta. The SunTrust Plaza site is filled with all kinds of good-but-outdated information about Phase III.

I won't be surprised of Portman's SunTrust Plaza Phase III is one of the first new office towers out of the ground when the current malaise ends and the market turns.

(In this photo, John Portman is shown at Atlanta's Blue Ridge Grill this spring with Ben Johnson, author of Sam Zell biography Money Talks, Bullsh*t Walks. No word on whether Johnson is angling to write Portman's biography. Maybe Maria Saporta will do it.)

Dewberry Runs Ultimate Quarterback Sneak

By Tony Wilbert, WNS PR

ATLANTA (July 26, 2010) - As we predicted about two weeks ago, the Chase for Campanile blossomed into the commercial real estate story, for this month anyway. The news also prompted reporters to break out their best gridiron/real estate analogies.

Early last week, word on the street said John Dewberry came out of nowhere and emerged as the leading contender to acquire the 440,000-square-foot former headquarters of BellSouth at Peachtree & 14th streets in Midtown. Because Dewberry, a former Georgia Tech and Georgia quarterback loves football analogies, we'll offer one here. John Dewberry ran the ultimate quarterback sneak on this one.

(Disclosure: WNS handled media relations for Dewberry Capital's March announcement of its joint venture with Gene Kansas Commercial Real Estate.)

The real estate press jumped on the story Thursday, with Real Estate Rooster, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution and Atlanta Business Chronicle posting stories. Real Estate Rooster blasted an e-mail with the headline: Dewberry Closes in on Campanile. Rooster writer Bailey Webb quoted an unnamed source saying Dewberry has coveted the former Bell tower for years. "If Dewberry Capital can cross the goal line" and complete the transaction, the firm will add to its impressive Midtown holdings, Webb writes.

Rachel Ramos' story in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution included detailed information about the transaction, including a price tag of about $36 million. She quotes Cushman & Wakefield tenant rep Ken Ashley, who authors a blog, describing the Campanile as an "iconic asset."

In his story, the ABC's Doug Sams broke out a football analogy of his own: "The former Georgia Tech quarterback might pull it off, but he faces a challenge if he's going to lead Campanile on a comeback," Sams writes.

Knowing Dewberry, he's up for the challenge and will be happy to tell the world about Campanile when the time is right.

Trump Towers Atlanta Site for Sale

ATLANTA (July 6, 2010) - Trump Towers Atlanta is done. 

We all figured that would be the case when lenders foreclosed this winter on the 1.-7-acre surface lot in Midtown where Donald Trump planned to erect the 48-story condo/hotel complex. But seeing the promotional wrap removed from the fencing - and the new "For Sale" sign posted hit home the point.

We're hopeful Donald and daughter Ivanka will give Atlanta another chance when the condo market finally improves. Of course, given that no one really knows how deep the city's condo market is, that could take awhile. We'll be here when you're ready.

As for the Trump Towers site, we're sure Jones Lang LaSalle will find a good buyer with some more cool plans. Check out JLL's offering here.

Hunsaker Takes Reins of Grubb & Ellis Atlanta

ATLANTA (Feb. 24, 2010) - It's nice to see Brett Hunsaker back at the helm of a brokerage shop in Atlanta. Yesterday, Grubb & Ellis announced that Hunsaker, one of Atlanta's best-known personalities, has been named executive vice president and managing director of its Atlanta operations.

The position opened up last month when Steve Dils split to open the Atlanta office of Canadian commercial real estate powerhouse Avison Young. At that point, several people speculated that Hunsaker would replace Dils, and they were right.

In May 2008, Hunsaker shook up Atlanta's brokerage community when he left CB Richard Ellis for a national business development position at Grubb. 

Here's the official release from Grubb headquarters.

Brett Hunsaker Assumes Responsibility for Grubb & Ellis Company’s Atlanta Operations

SANTA ANA, Calif. (Feb. 23, 2010) -- Grubb & Ellis Company (NYSE: GBE), a leading real estate services and investment firm, today announced that Brett Hunsaker has been named executive vice president and managing director of the company’s Atlanta office. 

Hunsaker, 50, joined Grubb & Ellis in 2008 as executive vice president, Business Development, responsible for overseeing the company’s business development, marketing and training programs for its Real Estate Services business.  In his new role, he will be responsible for the company’s Atlanta-area Real Estate Services operations.

“Brett is undoubtedly one of the most respected commercial real estate professionals in the Atlanta area,” said Jack Van Berkel, chief operating officer and president, Real Estate Services.  “His deep relationships within the Atlanta commercial real estate community, incredible track record and proven ability to lead will greatly support our continued success in this market.  I’m pleased he has taken on this role.”

Prior to joining Grubb & Ellis, Hunsaker was senior managing director at CB Richard Ellis, where he served as one of the company’s market leaders and head of its ownership services business in Atlanta.  During his tenure, he was responsible for more than 50 property management, agency brokerage and investment sales producers.

“Grubb & Ellis has significantly enhanced its platform to better support its individual offices and brokers, making this an exciting time to take on a market leader role,” said Hunsaker.  “I look forward to working with the exceptional brokerage team and staff we have here in the Atlanta office to increase our visibility and market share in the region.”

Hunsaker is the immediate past president of the Atlanta Commercial Board of Realtors and founder of Meet At, a commercial real estate networking group. He also was one of the founders of Real Estate Group of Atlanta, whose membership draws from all business sectors of the commercial real estate industry.  Hunsaker holds a bachelor’s degree from California State University.