Skyline Views

CEO of Atlanta's Newest Fortune 500 Firm Emerging as Key Advocate for City

ATLANTA (Feb. 22, 2015) - Though PulteGroup has been in Atlanta less than a year, its CEO is taking quick action to ingrain himself in the business community and serve as a needed vocal advocate for the city and region.

Richard Dugas Jr., who led the way in Pulte's decision to relocate from metro Detroit to Atlanta last year, is active in the Metro Atlanta Chamber and its new Public Policy Advisory Board and already serves as chairman of the influential Westside Future Fund that will play a critical role in the future of the Martin Luther King Jr. Drive corridor and West Atlanta. The fact Mayor Kasim Reed and the Atlanta Committee for Progress picked so quickly after Dugas returned to Atlanta shows that Pulte's president and CEO already is a trusted adviser.

More evidence of Dugas' civic standing appears in today's Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He writes in response to the AJC's Atlanta Forward series that laid out how Charlotte and Dallas have pulled ahead of Atlanta on key indicators in the past decade. Here's what Dugas had to say:

Opinion: Problems well-known, we’re working on solutions

Updated: 7:50 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 19, 2015  

By Richard J. Dugas Jr.

 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution has been running a series of articles suggesting Atlanta is falling behind other southern metros such as Dallas and Charlotte in terms of economic development and, more specifically, business growth. The AJC highlights the challenge we face recruiting new business to metro Atlanta because of issues that include traffic and education. The idea that Atlanta has too much traffic and not enough education is old news and, in truth, what metro in America doesn’t have challenges? Since these are known, I think the more important questions are: what are the solutions we should be implementing and what are the competitive strengths we can capitalize on right now?

To the former, we have leaders who are clearly engaged and actively working to implement answers, not just rehashing the old refrain of what ails us. Mayor Reed does a great job engaging business and community leaders through the Atlanta Committee for Progress to drive solutions, and he and Governor Deal work extremely well together on behalf of Atlanta and our entire state. Likewise, the Metro Atlanta Chamber is a forward-thinking organization that does a terrific job highlighting Atlanta’s strengths and helping to work on real issues that need improvement.

A billion dollars or more in new transportation funding is being considered, and we have recruited and hired dynamic and nationally recognized superintendents to get our public schools on a better track. At the same time, we have the CEO’s and senior executives of metro Atlanta businesses, including Fortune 500 industry leaders, linked through the Mayor’s office and the Metro Atlanta Chamber, working on innovative solutions. And when I say working, I mean working, as the resolve among these individuals to implement solutions – not just list problems – is very real.

No kidding ourselves here, our region has some big challenges and it will take time to resolve them. Step one in solving any problem is acknowledging there is one. Consider step one complete. While we are working on solutions, let’s remember the incredible benefits this region has to offer. Knowing metro Atlanta’s current profile, PulteGroup, Mercedes and others decided to move here because we appreciate the tremendous strengths this region delivers every day.

It shouldn’t be lost on anyone that metro Atlanta offers a competitive business climate, low cost of doing business and low cost of living, fantastic airport, improving transit system (MARTA), and a robust talent pipeline. The region’s higher education system, with 66 colleges and universities and more than 275,000 students, is a vital component of its economic success that fuels area businesses with talent, discovery and innovation. Metro Atlanta ranks seventh in the nation for total number of bachelor’s degrees conferred, ahead of Dallas and Charlotte.

In addition to talent, I have found an open community where one can engage quickly to help tackle critical issues. Two groups I’m involved with personally are the Westside Future Fund, an independent, non-profit entity that is working with numerous partners to help guide the development of the critical neighborhoods that are part of the westside Atlanta community, and the Metro Atlanta Chamber’s Public Policy Advisory Board. I agreed to chair the Advisory Board because I believe it is critical we come together to develop a stronger business voice with our elected officials and advance the key policy priorities to build a more prosperous region.

Based on the strong talent in our great region with state and local government, civic, non-profit and other leaders willing and able to engage and drive change, I see a huge opportunity to improve the numbers and help tell the next chapter in the story of the Atlanta region’s prosperity and growth. Let’s move this dialogue forward and focus on what we’re doing – today and tomorrow.

Richard J. Dugas Jr. is chairman, president and CEO of PulteGroup.

Charlotte Ups Ante in Battle with Atlanta for New Jobs

CHARLOTTE (Nov. 18, 2014) - I wouldn't be surprised if Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed places a congratulatory call to Bill Cronin today, though the mayor wouldn't be wishing him good luck in much success in Cronin's new venture.

That's because former Invest Atlanta VP Cronin - who played a key role in the city of Atlanta's economic development efforts under Reed - yesterday was named head of economic development in Charlotte. Cronin will leave his position as executive director of the American Red Cross' outpost in Columbia, South Carolina, and head a little bit north next month. In photo above, Cronin (right) celebrates the expansion and opening of a new headquarters of gaming company Thrust Interactive with Mayor Reed and Thrust CEO Jesse Lindsley.)

During his tenure in Atlanta, The Wilbert Group served as Invest Atlanta's public relations agency of record. I saw firsthand and got a behind-the-scenes look as Cronin helped woo major companies to the city of Atlanta - both from outside the metro area (PulteGroup) and inside (athenahealth). He used knowledge gained during economic development stints in South Carolina and Florida to best position Atlanta when the city competed with those states for new jobs.

We suspect the savvy Cronin will do the same and leverage what he knows about Atlanta and how the city and state incentive plans work to help Charlotte. Cronin discusses this overall strategy at this in an article in the Charlotte Observer.

“Having been a competitor to Charlotte in my previous roles, I understand the city’s strengths and challenges.

“I love Charlotte,” said Cronin, in a statement. “I am very excited about working with the business community.”

As for the Atlanta mayor, he's made it perfectly and publicy clear on several occasions that Charlotte is a second-tier city striving to be an Atlanta when it grows up. It will be interesting to watch things play out when Charlotte and Atlanta compete for the same headquarters relocation or new job-creating tech endeavor.

 

 

UPDATE @ajc: Every business editor should own a white dinner jacket

Charlie just posted this blog entry centered on his new role on ajc.com.

ATLANTA (Oct. 5, 2014) - Long-time AJC newsman and bow-tie wearer Charlie Gay is about to tke over the powerful paper's Business department.

Gay, the paper's deputy managing editor, soon will add daily assignment editor for business to his duties. He will replace Chris Quinn, who assumed that position in March. Quinn wil shift to cover education, and Angela Tuck to features.

Gay will work closely with Henry Unger, the paper's player/coach/editor on the Business desk.

Charlie says the AJC will maintain its recent increased focus on commercial real estate and development, which is a very good thing. Reporter Scott Trubey has written scores of impactful CRE stories this year, even jumping into the normally boring industrial market for some good pieces.

"The big-picture story I want us to tell is that of metro Atlanta's economic recovery: the opportunities, the obstacles, the challenges ahead," Charlie tells Skyline Views. "Will we be the first Sunbelt city to plateau - to lose our mojo, as [Atlanta] Mayor [Kasim] Reed put it - or will we successfully navigate a path to greater prosperity? Commercial real estate and development are integral to telling that story."

We agree. Commercial real estate is to Atlanta what cars once were to Detroit and Microsoft is to sloppy (because of all the rain) Seattle.

A Washington & Lee grad and Savannah native, Gay joined The Atlanta Journal-Constitution in 1998 after stints at the dailies in St. Petersburg, Florida and Augusta and Valdosta, Georgia.

He is married to Jennifer Brett, who writes the wildly popular blog The Buzz on accessatlanta and ajc.com.

We look forward to getting together with Charlie to hear more about his plans.

Local Commercial Real Estate Expert Kirk Rich Joins Invest Atlanta Board

ATLANTA (Aug. 18, 2014) - Invest Atlanta, the city's economic development arm, knows first hand that real estate is at the heart of most of what it does. So, it makes total sense that local real estate executive and expert Kirk Rich has been appointed to its board of directors.

The Atlanta City Council already has approved Rich's addition to the board of Atlanta Development Authority, whose dba is Invest Atlanta. In photo above, Rich is on the right. He is with Paul Aase of Roberts Commercial Real Estate Services and Jeff Pollock of Pollock Commercial.

The Invest Atlanta board will approve its fiscal year 2015 directors at Thursday's meeting.

There's also an item about bonds for the National College Football Hall of Fame on the agenda, so I bet Mayor Kasim Reed, who chairs the Invest Atlanta board, will be there to join in affirming the City Council's action. Plus, we were the first to call Reed the "Real Estate Mayor," and now that the local paper of record seconded, it must be true.

Kirk founded Rich Real Estate Services in 2001. His commercial real estate credentials stand up against anyone in the city, and his knowledge will help Eloisa Klementich, Kevin Johnson, Ernestine Garey and whomever is chosen to replace former President and CEO Brian McGowan, who left earlier this year to be COO at the Metro Atlanta Chamber. He now also heads economic development efforts at the Metro Chamber.

McGowan shifted Invest Atlanta's focus to one centered on attracting companies and people prepared to make investments in the city. The Wilbert Group helped communicate the organization's new mission during the years we served as Invest Atlanta's public relations agency of record.

Commercial real estate brokers play a key role in corporate relocations, expansions and development, so Rich's insight will be especially helpful to Invest Atlanta's board, which includes ex official members from local governments (City Council, Atlanta mayor's office, Fulton County Board of Commissioners, Atlanta School Board) who likely are not in commercial real estate.

According to his bio, "Kirk has completed more than 1,100 commercial leasing, property acquisition and disposition transactions during the past 23 years. He currently serves as Board President of the Georgia Chapter of The Society of Industrial and Office Realtors (SIOR). SIOR is a prestigious global organization of the top 2% of commercial Realtors. Kirk also is a Director with the Atlanta Commercial Board of Realtors and is a member of CCIM, NAIOP, NAR and the Atlanta Board of Realtors. He has consistently ranked in the NAIOP and ACBR Million Dollar Clubs annually throughout his career."

Here's the official word from Councilman Alex Wan's Facebook page: "Congratulations to my friend Kirk Rich for being unanimously confirmed by Atlanta City Council to serve on the board of Invest Atlanta! You're going to be great, and thank you for your willingness to serve the City of Atlanta."

In turn, Rich responded (via Facebook, of course):  "I look forward to serving and doing my part to keep Atlanta the best city ever! Very excited and honored to be appointed!!!"

 

 

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.)

 

Atlanta Mayor, Obama Official to Deliver Keynotes at CAP's Downtown Development Day

ATLANTA (Oct. 27, 2011) – Central Atlanta Progress (CAP), in partnership with Commercial Real Estate Women (CREW) of Atlanta, has set the line-ups for the breakout panels at CAP’s Ninth Annual 2011 Downtown Development Day, which will take place on Nov. 3 at Hyatt Regency Atlanta. Some of the hot issues affecting Downtown Atlanta including the transportation SPLOST, streetcar development and greening of Atlanta through buildings will be discussed. The breakout sessions will run concurrently from 10:30 a.m. to 12 noon.

Preceding the breakout sessions, the Obama Administration’s Federal Environmental Executive Michelle Moore and Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed (shown on right in photo with Carter President Scott Taylor) will serve as keynote speakers and launch the Atlanta Better Buildings Challenge.

Breakout session one, “The Atlanta Better Building Challenge – Greening Atlanta through Higher Performance Buildings,” will discuss the integration of President Obama’s Better Buildings Challenge into Atlanta’s development goals and the city’s first sustainability plan. Panelists are John Bracey, technical projects manager, Southface; Bill Hosken, interim director, City of Atlanta – Office of Sustainability; Matt Otani, Georgia Power; Shyam Reddy, regional administrator, GSA’s Southeast Sunbelt Region; and Clark Wisenbaker, associate, Davis, Pickren, Seydel & Sneed, LLP. Nathan Mize, senior manager at The Reznick Group will moderate the panel.

Breakout session two is “Project list for the Transportation Investment Act – What’s in It, What’s Not, Where is It Going, and What It Means for Downtown and the City”. Panelists are Ray Christman, former executive director, Livable Communities Coalition; Dan Reuter, land use division chief, Atlanta Regional Commission; Tom Weyandt, senior policy advisor for transportation, City of Atlanta - Office of the Mayor; and Dave Williams, vice president of transportation at Metro Atlanta Chamber. John Reyhan, executive at Skanska USA Building will moderate the panel

Breakout session three is an interactive planning session around strategy for Atlanta’s streetcar development. Facilitators are Jennifer Ball, vice president of planning and economic development, Central Atlanta Progress; Herman Howard, co-founder and partner, The Laminin Group; Caleb Racicot, senior principal at Tunnell-Spangler-Walsh and Associates; John Skach, senior associate, Urban Collage; and Ron Stang, principal, Stevens & Wilkinson.

There is still time to register, but tickets are going fast. Tickets are $45 for CAP or CREW members and $400 for a table of 10. Non-member tickets are $55 and $500 for a table of 10. Student tickets are $25.  Visit www.atlantadowntown.com to learn more about the event and purchase tickets.

Event sponsors include-Gold: Cousins Properties, Georgia Power, Reznick Group and Skanska; Silver: AmericasMart Atlanta, The Coca-Cola Company, Creative Outhouse, Georgia-Pacific, Integral Group, KPMG, Turner Broadcasting and W Atlanta Downtown; Bronze: Atlanta Development Authority, Development Authority of Fulton County, DLA Piper, Greenberg Traurig, Legacy Property Group, Luckie Marietta District, Parkway Realty Services, Richard Bowers & Co., Stites & Harbison, UPS and Wilbert News Strategies.

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Central Atlanta Progress, Inc., founded in 1941, is a private nonprofit community development organization providing leadership, programs and services to preserve and strengthen the economic vitality of Downtown Atlanta. With a board of directors of Downtown’s top business leaders, CAP is funded through the investment of businesses and institutions.

CREW Atlanta, founded in 1982, CREW Atlanta’s mission is to elevate women to positions of power and influence in commercial real estate by providing resources and business opportunities. CREW-Atlanta is a member of CREW Network, a growing organization of over 8,000 members and 66 chapters across the United States and Canada that provides a business development network representing every discipline in commercial real estate.

The Atlanta Downtown Improvement District, founded in 1995 by Central Atlanta Progress, is a public-private partnership that strives to create a livable environment for Downtown Atlanta. With a board of directors of nine private- and public-sector leaders, ADID is funded through a community improvement district. The District currently contains 220 blocks within an area generally bounded by North Avenue on the north, Memorial Drive on the south, Piedmont Avenue and the Downtown Connector on the east, and the Norfolk-Southern rail line on the west.

Wilbert News Strategies is a sponsor of Downtown Development Day and is providing public relations services to Central Atlanta Progress in connection with the event.