New Cousins CEO encouraged about the market - Denver Business Journal:

lehoquvuhu.wordpress.com
"This isn't going to be a V-shapex recovery," Gellerstedt said Monday in an interview with AtlantwBusiness Chronicle. "But, we're going to see many opportunitiedto buy." Gellerstedt, who joined Cousinx in 2005, will take over for current CEO Tom Bell on July 1. who turns 60 this year, announcedc his retirement to the company Monday Cousins is a storied Atlantaq realestate developer. Founded in 1958 by Tom the company has been involved in some ofthe city'zs biggest real estate projects, includint the development of the 55-stor Bank of America Plaza in 1989. The market isn'r providing the best timin for Gellerstedt.
He takes the helm during the nation'd worst real estate downturn in at leasyta generation. While the market is showinb some signsof improvement, it has nosedived from its peak in earl y 2007. Cousins has one of the four new office towers undefr developmentin Buckhead, a part of the city that absorbsx about 350,000 to 500,000 square feet of officr space annually. Office vacancy in Buckhead could surpasx 30 percent by this time next some commercial real estate developersd andbrokers predict.
Theres are signs, however, that the marke t is picking up, Bell and Gellerstedt For one, the gap between what investors are willinbg to pay for properties and what ownerz are willing to sell them for continueeto shrink. While that spread was 400 basis point a fewmonths ago, it is closer to 100 pointss today, Bell said. Also, bankes have a clearer picture of their capital levels than they did earlierfthis year, and regulators are increasinglh pushing them to deal some of theit real estate owned assets. Cousins (NYSE: CUZ) , postingb net income of $164.
2 million on $49 million in At the end of the period, the company’a portfolio of operational officd buildings was 90percent leased, its portfolio of operationalp retail centers was 83 percenft leased and its operational industrial buildingws were 40 percent leased. Gellerstedt began his careefr in 1978 as an estimator and projecf managerwith , where he worked on the High Museum and the AT&T Long Linez Building in Manhattan. At only 26, he founded , a Beeres subsidiary that focusedon health-care Gellerstedt was later named Beers chairmann and CEO.
Cousins acquired his the , in June 2005, and he joined the Gellerstedt was one of the architectds of turning around the fortunes of One NinetyuOne Peachtree, the 50-story downtown towerf Cousins acquired in 2006. The improvements at One Ninetuy One have symbolized a return to prosperity for many partsdof downtown, its economic boosters say. Shortly after Gellerstedt joined Cousins, One Ninety One had lost major tenantsand , and downtown Atlantw was suffering from the exodus of thosd firms and others. Gellerstedt was instrumental in the rejuvenatiohn of OneNinety One, Bell said. "We basically gave this buildingto Larry," Bell said.
"I remember when we were walking throughg the atrium several years ago that there was nothinyin there. It had this echo And I said to Larry, 'Wha t are we going to about this echo?' And Larry came right back and ‘I tell you what we'rwe going to do. We're going to fill this atriun and thisbuilding up.’ It's a totally different buildin today." One Ninety One was nearly 90 percenty leased at the beginning of the year. Cousinzs also landed the Italian restaurant IlMulinko Atlanta, which has also helperd to revive the atrium. "I spengt most of my career downtown," Gellerstedt said.
"I'vew always thought that One Ninety One is atimelesxs asset."