Atlanta Real Estate News

Best In Atlanta Real Estate Awards

2009-02-11T13:17:00.001+02:00

Mix and mingle with the "hottest properties" of Atlanta Real Estate!

Join us March 5, 2009 at the Fox Theatre for our annual Best in Atlanta Real Estate Awards. Meet the "Human Highlight Film," Atlanta Hawks Vice President and NBA Hall-of-Famer Dominique Wilkins! The event begins with the best cocktail-networking hour in town at 6 p.m., followed by words on winning from #21. We'll then present our awards for categories including: Office, Industrial, Retail, Land, Residential, Design, Mixed-Use, Rehab/Renovation and Overall Deal of the Year. We'll also induct our highly esteemed Visionary Award winner! A delicious buffet dinner is also part of the evening's celebration.

Tickets are $75.00 per person or $750 for a table of 10. To purchase tickets, please use the registration link above or contact Michelle Barriteau at 404.249.1756 or mbarriteau@bizjournals.com.

The Best in Atlanta Real Estate Awards are presented by Frazier & Deeter LLC and Atlanta Business Chronicle. Note: All tickets are non-refundable.

Housing money gets weak welcome

2008-11-11T12:14:00.001+02:00

Local governments across Georgia are getting ready to jump into the house-flipping game —- financed with federal tax dollars.

Government officials and housing organizations in Georgia will have $153 million to spend under the Neighborhood Stabilization Program, part of the federal $700 billion bailout of the banking system. The aim is to buy, repair and sell or rent run-down homes and create affordable housing, while stabilizing neighborhoods distressed by foreclosures and abandoned properties.
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“This is such a golden opportunity if it is done right,” said Evelyn Nu’Man, director of the Bureau of Housing for the city of Atlanta. “They are calling this disaster recovery money. The housing market is in a disaster.”

The enthusiasm of some government housing officials is being tempered by elected officials, real estate professionals and others who say the NSP creates huge potential for corruption, ineffectiveness, waste and conflict.

Will AIG sell Atlantic Station to pay for its bailout?

2008-09-30T17:07:00.000+03:00

The new chief executive of American International Group said the insurance giant will have a list next week of the assets it plans to sell to repay its $85 billion federal loan. Will Atlantic Station be in the mix?

AIG Global Real Estate, a subsidiary of AIG, is the majority owner of the unfinished mixed-use development in Midtown.

Asian Real Estate Association Launches Atlanta Chapter

2008-09-05T20:42:00.000+03:00

A national real estate trade association that seeks to promote home ownership among Asian-Americans launched its Greater Atlanta chapter at a gala Aug. 23.

The Asian Real Estate Association of America, or AREAA, educates housing-related professionals who serve Asian Pacific American communities around the country.

The organization was founded in 2003 and now has 12,000 members across 38 states. Its Atlanta chapter was created in May but was officially inaugurated at the gala.

AREAA seeks to help Asian homebuyers overcome the linguistic, cultural and knowledge barriers that cause lower Asian home ownership rates in the U.S. relative to other ethnic communities.

Real estate market threatening Georgia banks

2008-07-04T22:03:00.000+03:00

Nearly $1 out of every $5 on Georgia banks' loan books bankrolled homebuilders and real estate developers — by far the highest proportion in the state in at least 30 years, according to federal regulators' data.

Even during the savings-and-loan crisis of the 1980s and 1990s, when thousands of banks and thrifts across the nation failed, Georgia banks were far less exposed to these higher-risk loans. Today, the banks have double the concentration of those loans, according to federal data on banks.

Such loans are considered higher-risk than mortgages or conventional business loans because of the boom-and-bust nature of the real estate development business and the uncertain value of assets such as raw land and unfinished projects.

Soft condo sales prompt shift to rentals

2008-06-11T10:52:00.000+03:00

"Building condos right now is next to impossible; it really is," said Stephen Franco, a partner at Franco DeFoor Properties, an Atlanta real estate development company. "It's just financing. You can't get financing for condos."

High-end apartment complexes are in the works across the metro area, from trendy intown Atlanta neighborhoods to more suburban locales. Franco DeFoor is planning to build 250 to 300 upscale apartments on Memorial Drive in southeastern Atlanta's Reynoldstown neighborhood, not far from a cluster of condo complexes.

"The new darling child of multifamily residential is rental," Franco said.

City officials looking at tax hike, layoffs and raising water rates

2008-05-10T03:43:00.000+03:00

Mayor Shirley Franklin justified the fears of City Council members – and many taxpayers – this past Thursday when she laid out a budget proposal that calls for the sacking of 440 city employees; cuts in municipal services; increases in various fees and fines; and, the most dreaded element, a $40 million property-tax increase.

Actually, Franklin didn't so much propose citywide layoffs as announce them, since by law the mayor's office can make near-unilateral decisions regarding staff reductions. By the time you read this, most of the pink slips likely will have been handed out.

Record No. of Atlanta Foreclosures

2008-04-17T13:27:00.000+03:00

The first Tuesday of every month is a feast for some, a famine for others. Experienced buyers and curious novices mingle on the courthouse steps in every Metro Atlanta county.

The first Tuesday in May, 7,335 properties are scheduled for courthouse auctions, a record number.

The numbers are just another sign of the slowing economy and the real estate slump.

The towering condominium building under construction on Peachtree Street disappeared into a cottony sky

2008-04-06T01:40:00.000+03:00

After 20 months of labor, hundreds of construction workers and white-collar business types who've invested time and money came together for a chicken-and-fish luncheon in the building's future retail space.

They were celebrating 1010 Midtown's topping out — the completion of structural work.

The overcast day was apt, considering it's unclear who will buy all the new condos.

Unsold condominium inventory at the end of 2007 was 7,252 units, compared with 5,990 units in 2006 — a 21 percent increase, according to Atlanta research firm Haddow & Co. Unloading that inventory would take more than four years at 2007 sales rates, Haddow's numbers show.

The condominium market is about to get worse as many cities brace for a flood of new supply this year

2008-03-25T10:45:00.000+02:00

More than 4,000 new units will be completed in both Atlanta and Phoenix by the end of the year. Developers in Miami and Fort Lauderdale, Fla., are readying nearly 10,000 total new units in a market already struggling with canyons of unsold condos. San Diego, another hard-hit region, will add 2,500 units, according to estimates provided by Reis Inc., a New York-based real-estate-research firm.

Phipps Tower, a 20-story office building in Atlanta's Buckhead area

2008-03-17T12:39:00.000+02:00

Phipps Tower has been registered with the U.S. Green Building Council for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design certification. The building will feature energy-efficient air and lighting systems, water and plumbing conservation systems, and enhanced air-quality measures.

"Phipps Tower is representative of the high quality, customer-focused and sustainable design for which Crescent Resources projects are best known," says Patrick Henry, senior vice president and chief development officer for the Charlotte-based developer's commercial division.

Locke Lord Bissell & Liddell Adds Renowned Real Estate Partner In Atlanta Office

2008-03-10T11:01:00.000+02:00

Mustakeem will bring a strong real estate presence to the Atlanta office. She practices in the area of commercial real estate, including the representation of developers, purchasers and sellers in connection with the acquisition, disposition and development of office, hotel, retail, industrial and mixed-use projects. She also has significant experience representing both landlords and tenants in negotiating commercial leases, lenders and borrowers in secured loan and workout transactions, and the representation of companies and institutions nationwide in the ownership, operation and finance of corporate-owned real estate. Clients include institutional lenders, national and international office, retail, and hotel developers, and individual, corporate and foreign investors.

“I am excited about the opportunity to join a firm with such a strong national real estate practice and a terrific footprint,” stated Mustakeem.

Intercontinental Acquires Atlanta Area Office for $103M

2008-03-03T19:10:00.000+02:00

Intercontinental Real Estate Corp. has acquired Lakeside Commons, a 514,000-square-foot, Class A office complex in Atlanta’s Central Perimeter submarket, for $102.8 million. It is at least the third office acquisition made through Intercontinental’s U.S. Real Estate Investment Fund, L.L.C., in recent weeks.

The name of the seller was not disclosed today.

Investor group envisions thriving Macy's building

2008-02-25T13:18:00.000+02:00

A group of Atlanta investors hopes to transform the bottom three floors of the now-vacant downtown Macy's department store into a thriving retail and restaurant space.

The group, called the Davison's Downtown LLC, has the bottom three floors (including the grand street-level space complete with chandeliers) under contract. Those three floors total 185,000 square feet, which will be sold as a condo interest for $16.5 million. The sale is expected to be completed by the end of March. The group, which includes 18 investors (all from Atlanta with one exception) plans to spend up to $14 million more to revitalize the space.

Once the Atlanta investors take control of the space, the future looks bright. The spectacular main shopping floor will once again be open to the public and will become an integral part of a well-balanced downtown, a downtown that has been hungry for new retail with more restaurant choices.

Weak dollar makes Atlanta a good buy for overseas investors

2008-02-20T12:02:00.000+02:00

Investors like Jarvis are helping to buoy Atlanta's real estate market in the tough 2008 economic climate. Increasingly, as U.S. buyers struggle under the weight of a slowing economy, marketing executives are searching the globe for potential customers.

Haynes, representing a range of U.S. developers, many of them in Atlanta, spent almost two months participating in trade shows in the Middle East and Asia making connections with international buyers like Jarvis. His company provides a range of services for investors who want to buy residential real estate in the United States.

Metro Atlanta mortgage fraud ring convicted

2008-02-16T19:58:00.000+02:00

Focusing on the Country Club of the South neighborhood and other high-end developments and subdivisions in metro Atlanta, Keith Garner and his co-conspirators bought properties in the name of their straw borrowers, often without the straw borrower's consent. Each of the properties was accompanied by an inflated appraisal, which in addition to the submission of false loan applications, enabled the defendants to secure real estate financing from SunTrust Mortgage in excess of the fair market value of the properties. The defendants then stole the spread between the inflated and fair market value of the properties primarily through defendants Latesha Garner and Khodadad, who ensured that SunTrust Mortgage either directly paid a bogus seller's obligation or was never made aware that a substantial portion of seller's proceeds was being paid to the defendants outside of closing pursuant to a criminal agreement with the seller.

Best In Atlanta Real Estate Awards

2008-02-12T01:10:00.000+02:00

We invite you to share in the celebration of our annual Best in Atlanta Real Estate Awards ceremony on March 6 from 6-9 PM at the Grand Hyatt Buckhead. Come for great food, cocktails and a room full of the "hottest properties" in real estate while we hand out awards for these categories: Office, Industrial, Retail, Land, Residential, Design, Mixed-Use, Rehab/Renovation and Overall Deal of the Year. We'll also induct our highly esteemed Visionary Award winner!

Noble Investment Group

2008-02-06T02:27:00.000+02:00

ATLANTA, Privately held Noble Investment Group ("Noble"), a leading sponsor of private equity real estate funds and an integrated lodging and hospitality operating and development organization, today announced that it has added additional leadership depth to its operations team with the naming of Gary Rosenberg as vice president of resort operations. The company has current developments underway that will double its resort portfolio within the next three years.

Pinnacle at Symphony Place

2008-02-02T11:46:00.000+02:00

Atlanta-based developer Barry Real Estate Cos. says it completed financing of The Pinnacle, the office tower currently under construction in downtown, from first-time partners Canyon-Johnson and Integral Urban Fund I LLC.

The Pinnacle marks the second investment in Nashville for the Los Angeles-based Canyon-Johnson Urban Fund, a joint venture between Canyon Capital Realty Advisors and Johnson, the former Los Angeles Lakers star.

Mortgage crisis hits SunTrust earnings, but stock rises

2008-01-28T09:23:00.001+02:00

The first part happened Wednesday at SunTrust, which said profits plunged 99 percent. Like so many of its counterparts, it cited falling home values, rising delinquencies and asset-backed securities that are no longer as valuable as they once were.

But SunTrust Banks Inc. shares rose 7.74 percent Wednesday and finished at $65.73. The company's stock has gained nearly 13 percent on a volatile week on Wall Street.

Georgia recession likely would be brief

2008-01-23T21:29:00.000+02:00

One thing working in Georgia’s favor, Heaghney said, is that the state’s housing market never experienced the tremendous rise or ensuing crash in real estate prices that is plaguing the real estate market. As a result, the increase in the foreclosure rate is in-line with the national average, although that is rising.

Atlanta Real Estate Website Launches New Home Search Technology & Design

2008-01-20T01:02:00.000+02:00

Realsourcebrokers.com has an unprecedented new home search tool that provides information on Atlanta homes for sale and homes sold. The search feature, called Market Watch, uses data from the First Multiple Listings Service to calculate market sales averages every time listings are displayed. It also displays the latest numbers on local homes for sale, sales pending, and homes sold within the past week. RealSourceBrokers.com is also featuring a new custom design and rebranding by Real Estate Webmasters.

Charles M. Taylor, 78, Atlanta Real Estate Developer, Is Dead

2008-01-19T09:05:00.000+02:00

Charles M. Taylor, one of the major real estate developers of Buckhead, an affluent northern section of Atlanta, where high-rise office towers, condominium buildings and boutique malls dot a landscape of mansions tucked into forests, died Saturday at his home in Buckhead. He was 78.