News
NORTH X NORTH 400
September 4, 2012
 | ||
| So, what's up with North Fulton? It's one of the wealthiest neighborhoods in the US and is also feeling a housing recovery. But there's still a ton of office vacancy. That's the assessment from our Future of the 400 Corridor event last week at The Retreat at Perimeter Summit. We snapped Choate Construction's Millard Choate, Pope & Land Enterprises? Kerry Armstrong, Highwoods Properties' Jim Bacchetta, Wakefield Beasley?s Lamar Wakefield, and Bull Realty's Michael Bull (who moderated). | ||
 | ||
| Lamar (with Michael, who snuck in that white suit before Labor Day) says because North Fulton is among the nation's ?wealthiest 20-mile radius? areas, there's strong retailer demand, which is being demonstrated in the Avalon project. Wakefield Beasley is an architect on the North American Properties mixed-use development. ?So far the leasing has done really well,? he says. | ||
 | ||
| Millard adds, ?There are pockets that are starting to see a resurgence on the residential side.? In fact, he notes that there's been a price rebound on distressed houses in the right places. ?It's the old mantra: Location, location, location.? And even a modest comeback in housing should feed new commercial development, he adds. | ||
 | ||
| We moseyed up to Seven Oaks Co's Andrew Pearman and Wells Fargo?s Brent Farnham during the Schmooze portion of our event. Brent tell us Wells Fargo is active in multifamily lending. Given increasing planned starts in the pipeline across the Southeast, there's a risk of oversupply in these markets over the longer term. In the near term, projects with ?the strongest sponsors? will likely go forward first, giving those developers an advantage. |
