10/12 - Carter's To Consolidate Operations, Plus InterFace Investment & Finance Conference Coverage

OCTOBER 12, 2012

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CARTER'S TO CONSOLIDATE OPERATIONS WITH NEW FACILITY

Carter's Inc. opened a 1 million-square-foot distribution center
in Braselton, Ga., this summer.

ATLANTA -- Carter's Inc., a children's apparel maker, plans to combine its retail store and financial operations, currently managed in its Shelton, Conn. facility, with the company's Atlanta-based headquarters. To enable the consolidation of these operations and to support the company's expansion plans, Carter's is looking for long-term space needs in the Atlanta area. The company will bring approximately 200 jobs to Georgia and complete this consolidation by the end of 2013. Invest Atlanta, the city's economic development agency, partnered with the state on Carter's expansion.

The company, which has had a presence in Georgia since 1925, opened a 1 million-square-foot distribution center in Braselton, approximately 50 miles northeast of Atlanta, this summer. The company will invest more than $50 million over the next three years in its Braselton facility and employ more than 1,000 full- and part-time employees by 2015. Blair Lewis, director of the Georgia Department of Economic Development Corporate Solutions team, managed the project on behalf of the state.

A FIRST FOR ROSWELL: CLASS A MEDICAL OFFICE BUILDING OPENS

North Fulton Medical Plaza will house North Fulton Hospital's Pain and Spine Center.

ROSWELL, GA -- The three-story, 52,000-square-foot North Fulton Medical Plaza has opened at 4500 Hospital Blvd. in Roswell. The outpatient facility is located across from the main entrance to North Fulton Hospital. Indianapolis-based Duke Realty developed, financed, owns and manages the Class A medical office building that houses North Fulton Hospital's Pain and Spine Center and the Roswell Imaging Center. It is the first Class A medical office building in the community, according to Duke Realty. The facility is set to receive LEED certification by the U.S. Green Building Council. ASD of Atlanta and Lyman Davidson Dooley of Atlanta served as the project architects and Brasfield & Gorrie's Atlanta office was the general contractor.

DEVELOPMENT BEGINS ON NORTHSIDE CHEROKEE TOWNE LAKE MOB

Northside Cherokee Towne Lake Medical Office Building will be
complete in August 2013.

WOODSTOCK, GA -- Duke Realty has broken ground on Northside Cherokee Towne Lake Medical Office Building at 900 Towne Lake Parkway in Woodstock, approximately 25 miles north of Atlanta. Northside Hospital will lease the entire four-story, 100,817-square-foot medical office building that will house outpatient healthcare services and physician practices. Indianapolis-based Duke Realty is developing the medical office building as well as a three-story, 350-space parking garage. Duke Realty Towne Lake Development LLC, a wholly owned entity of Duke Realty LP, will own the medical office building when completed in August 2013. Lyman Davidson Dooley Inc. is the project architect and Brasfield & Gorrie is the general contractor.

PANEL: WHY INVESTORS ARE WARY
OF PLACING THEIR BETS ON ATLANTA

ATLANTA -- Real estate investors are looking to allocate their capital in gateway cities or markets that are experiencing significant job growth. Unfortunately, that leaves Atlanta on the outside looking in, according to an expert panel discussing where investment capital is going in 2013.

"[Atlanta is] just not in the game in respect to the things that are driving job growth, and that's the reality," says Chip Davidson, co-founder, chairman and CEO of The Brookdale Group, an Atlanta-based real estate investment firm. "The reality is we're still lagging behind the West Coast markets, Austin and Raleigh in the technology departments. And I don't know of anyone who has drilled an oil well here in Atlanta recently."

Note: Numbers in Thousands

Sources: Bureau of Labor Statistics, Linneman Associates

Davidson's sobering comments came Thursday, Oct. 4, during a commercial real estate finance and investment conference at the Westin Buckhead in Atlanta. The law firm of Morris, Manning & Martin LLP and France Media's InterFace Conference Group jointly produced the daylong event, titled "What to Expect In 2013?" The event attracted more than 400 leading investors, developers, lenders and financial intermediaries from across the Southeast.

To read the rest of John Nelson's article, click here.

FROM NEW HEADQUARTERS FOR PORSCHE TO MULTIFAMILY, DEVELOPMENT REBOUNDS

ATLANTA -- A new wave of commercial real estate development is beginning to emerge in the South as cities such as Houston, Atlanta and Charleston shake off the construction slump triggered by a deep recession. In Houston's multifamily sector, for instance, new apartment supply this year is expected to double from 2011, according to brokerage firm Marcus & Millichap.

During a commercial finance and investment conference last Thursday, Oct. 4, at the Westin hotel in Atlanta, the topic of growth was front and center. The panel discussion -- titled "Development: What? Where? By Whom?" -- featured some of the biggest names in the commercial real estate business today. The panel featured remarks from Jim Jacoby, chairman and CEO of Jacoby Development; Reid Freeman, president of Regent Partners; Charlie Tickle, chairman and CEO of Daniel Corp.; Chad Weaver, vice president of investments for Camden Development; Jay Jacobson, director of national acquisitions for Wood Partners; and moderator Michael McDonald, managing director of Eastdil Secured.

Panelists agreed that select development opportunities do exist, particularly in the multifamily sector, and indicated that activity at their companies is picking up.

"It's a good time to be in the apartment business," said Jacobson of Wood Partners, an Atlanta-based multifamily development company. "The equity is flooding into core product in infill locations in major gateways cities. The activity between Boston, New York, Washington, D.C., Seattle, San Francisco, Los Angeles and sometimes Houston is off the charts."

The rest of Liz Burlingame's article can be found by clicking here.