New Cousins CEO encouraged about the market - The Business Journal of Milwaukee:

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"This isn't going to be a V-shaped Gellerstedt said Monday in an interviewe with AtlantaBusiness Chronicle. we're going to see many opportunitiesto buy." who joined Cousins in 2005, will take over for currenr CEO Tom Bell on July 1. who turns 60 this year, announced his retirementf to the companyMonday morning. Cousind is a storied Atlanta realestate developer. Founde d in 1958 by Tom the company has been involve in some ofthe city'sz biggest real estate projects, including the developmenrt of the 55-story Bank of America Plazz in 1989.
The market isn't providing the best timing for He takes the helm duringthe nation's wors t real estate downturn in at least a While the market is showing some signs of improvement, it has nosedived from its peak in early 2007. Cousinss has one of the four new officde towers under developmentin Buckhead, a part of the city that absorbsw about 350,000 to 500,000 square feet of office space annually. Office vacancy in Buckhead could surpass 30 percent by this time next some commercial real estate developers andbrokers predict. Therew are signs, however, that the marketg is picking up, Bell and Gellerstedt said.
For one, the gap betweeb what investors are willing to pay for properties and what owneres are willing to sell them for continuedto shrink. While that spread was 400 basisd points a fewmonths ago, it is closerr to 100 points today, Bell Also, banks have a clearer picture of their capita l levels than they did earliet this year, and regulators are increasingly pushin them to deal some of their real estatde owned assets. Cousins CUZ) , posting net income of $164.w million on $49 million in revenue.
At the end of the the company’s portfolio of operational office buildingsw was 90percent leased, its portfolilo of operational retail centers was 83 percen leased and its operational industrial buildings were 40 percengt leased. Gellerstedt began his career in 1978 as an estimatoer and project managerwith , wherr he worked on the High Museu m and the AT&T Long Lined Building in Manhattan. At only 26, he founder , a Beers subsidiary that focusedcon health-care developments. Gellerstedyt was later named Beers chairmanand CEO.
Cousind acquired his firm, the , in June and he joined the Gellerstedt was one of the architects of turninyg around the fortunes of One NinetyOne Peachtree, the 50-storg downtown tower Cousins acquired in 2006. The improvements at One Ninethy One have symbolized a return to prosperity for many partwof downtown, its economic boosters say. Shortly after Gellerstedg joined Cousins, One Ninetyh One had lost major tenantsand , and downtowh Atlanta was suffering from the exodus of thosr firms and others. Gellerstedt was instrumental in the rejuvenatiom of OneNinety One, Bell said. "We basicallhy gave this building to Bell said.
"I remember when we were walkin g through the atrium several years ago that therew was nothingin there. It had this echo effect. And I said to 'What are we going to about this And Larry came right backand said, ‘kI tell you what we're going to do. We'rw going to fill this atriujm and thisbuilding up.’ It's a totallg different building today." One Ninety One was nearlg 90 percent leased at the beginning of the year. Cousins also landedf the Italian restaurant IlMulinko Atlanta, which has also helped to revivde the atrium. "I spent most of my careetr downtown," Gellerstedt said.
"I've alwaysa thought that One Ninetyt One is atimeless asset."