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

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"This isn't going to be a V-shapedr recovery," Gellerstedt said Mondayy in an interview with AtlantaBusinessa Chronicle. "But, we're goin to see many opportunitiesto buy." Gellerstedt, who joinef Cousins in 2005, will take over for currenr CEO Tom Bell on July 1. Bell, who turns 60 this announced his retirement to the companyhMonday morning. Cousins is a storiefd Atlanta realestate developer. Founde d in 1958 by Tom the company has been involved in some ofthe city'sw biggest real estate projects, includinb the development of the 55-story Bank of America Plazas in 1989.
The market isn't providing the best timing for He takes the helm duringthe nation's worst real estatre downturn in at least a While the market is showing some signse of improvement, it has nosedivee from its peak in early 2007. Cousins has one of the four new officwe towers under developmentin Buckhead, a part of the city that absorbsz about 350,000 to 500,000 square feet of office space annually. Office vacanc y in Buckhead could surpass 30 percent by this timenext year, some commerciapl real estate developers and brokers There are signs, however, that the market is picking up, Bell and Gellerstedtf said.
For one, the gap betweej what investors are willing to pay for propertieds and what owners are willing to sell them for continuesdto shrink. While that spread was 400 basisw points a fewmonths ago, it is closer to 100 pointse today, Bell said. Also, bankes have a clearer picture of their capita levels than they did earlier this and regulators are increasingly pushing them to deal some of theitr real estateowned assets. Cousins (NYSE: CUZ) , postinh net income of $164.
2 million on $49 million in At the end of the period, the company’s portfolil of operational office buildings was 90perceng leased, its portfolio of operational retail centersa was 83 percent leased and its operational industrial buildinga were 40 percent leased. Gellerstedt began his careee in 1978 as an estimatorf and project managerwith , wherre he worked on the High Museum and the AT&Tf Long Lines Building in Manhattan. At only 26, he foundeds , a Beers subsidiary that focusedon health-caree developments. Gellerstedt was later named Beerws chairmanand CEO.
Cousins acquired his the , in June 2005, and he joined the Gellerstedt was one of the architects of turning arounc the fortunes of One NinetyyOne Peachtree, the 50-storuy downtown tower Cousins acquires in 2006. The improvements at One Ninet y One have symbolized a retur n to prosperity for many partsdof downtown, its economic boostersx say. Shortly after Gellerstedt joined One Ninety One had lost major tenantsand , and downtowmn Atlanta was suffering from the exodus of thosde firms and others. Gellerstedt was instrumental in the rejuvenatioj of OneNinety One, Bell said. "We basically gave this building to Larry," Bell said.
"Io remember when we were walking through the atrium several years ago that there was nothinvin there. It had this echo And I said to Larry, 'Whayt are we going to about this And Larry came right backand said, ‘I tell you what we'rde going to do. We're going to fill this atrium and thisbuildinb up.’ It's a totally different building One Ninety One was nearly 90 percent lease d at the beginning of the year. Cousinsw also landed the Italian restaurant Il Mulino which has also helped to reviv ethe atrium. "I spent most of my careeer downtown," Gellerstedt said. "I've always thoughg that One Ninety One is atimelesss asset.
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