Atlanta Office Market Update

Ms. Rivers is a Partner with Lexicon Strategies, focusing her practice on public and government affairs, commercial real estate, infrastructure, public finance, community development and organizational management. Clients include commercial real estate owners and developers, governments, community improvement districts (CIDs) and civic organizations in pursuit of successful public-private partnerships. Her attention to technical, political and financial strategies leverages resources and drives value. Through these partnerships, complex initiatives are successfully – and cooperatively – delivered. Throughout her career, Ms. Rivers played instrumental roles in public-private partnerships such as Truist Park, the Atlanta Braves’ $1.3B stadium and mixed-use development; the Northwest Corridor Express Lanes, an $875M segment of Georgia’s managed lanes system; and numerous roads, bridges, parks, trails, and other community improvements. Ms. Rivers easily migrates between the disparate interests of business, politics and planning to keep collective efforts moving forward. A leading expert on CIDs, Ms. Rivers is deeply familiar with both the policy and practice of these uniquely powerful public-private mechanisms. She guides commercial real estate owners of all sizes – from institutional REITs to small property owners – along with local, state and federal governments through the complicated process of jointly managing infrastructure needs. Ms. Rivers oversaw the formation of the Chamblee Doraville CID and continues as its Executive Director. She advises local governments on CID feasibility and oversees their engagement with the private sector. She also spent more than two decades at the helm of the Cumberland CID, developing it into one of the most successful in the country. Under her leadership, Cumberland successfully leveraged $140M in commercial real estate value into more than $2B in capital improvements, allowing the submarket to grow an additional 6M square feet, or $3B worth of commercial and multifamily real estate value. A four-time ‘Notable Georgian, by Georgia Trend Magazine, Ms. Rivers also was honored with a ‘100 Influential Women to Know’ distinction by the American Council of Engineering Companies, a ‘25 Power Women to Watch’ by Atlanta Woman magazine, a ‘40 Under 40’ by both Georgia Trend Magazine and Atlanta Business Chronicle, and a ‘Woman of Achievement’ by the YWCA. Ms. Rivers completed a series of executive leadership programs at Harvard Business School and will receive her Certificate of Management Excellence in Fall 2020. She has been an appointee of the Speaker of the Georgia House of Representatives as well as held various board seats with the Georgia Chamber of Commerce, the Council for Quality Growth and the Urban Land Institute Atlanta. She’s a member of Lambda Alpha International, a land economics society, as well as a graduate of the Regional Leadership Institute. In earlier capacities, Ms. Rivers was with regional planning agencies and boutique consulting firms in Atlanta and Washington, D.C. She holds a B.S. from Virginia Tech and is an avid hiker, an enthusiastic world traveler, and a volunteer helping to feed, clothe and house those in need. She lives in Atlanta with her two children.

Mr. Heagy is a senior managing director and is responsible for the leasing and marketing of the office projects and for securing corporate services and mixed-use development assignments in the Southeast Region of the United States. Mr. Heagy joined the firm in 1996 and has been active in Atlanta's commercial real estate market since 1977. Heagy received his BA in Political Science from the University of Georgia. Mr. Heagy serves on the Board of Directors of the Atlanta Commercial Board of Realtors, Central Atlanta Progress (CAP); Metro Atlanta Chamber; and the Perimeter Community Improvement District (PCID).

Dallas is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer at T. Dallas Smith & Company. He leads all new business development initiatives. His role includes overseeing all brokerage affairs related to the company and providing chief liaison services to key clients. Dallas began his commercial real estate career in 1982 at Atlanta Air Center Realty under the guidance of Thomas W. Tift as leasing and management representative for the portfolio. In 1989, Dallas became the first African-American broker at Cushman & Wakefield of Georgia where his affiliation with the company opened doors for many minority brokers. In 1995, he pioneered the brokerage division for H.J. Russell & Company, an African-American owned construction and management firm, where he served as VP of the Brokerage Division. Dallas led the company initiative of acquiring 40 parcels of real estate, a full city block in the intercity of Atlanta resulting in a mixture of office, retail and multifamily developments now valued at over $20 million. In 2006, with the blessing of the late H. J. Russell, Dallas opened T. Dallas Smith & Company, specializing in tenant representation. T. Dallas Smith & Company has led projects across the country with metrics exceeding more than seven million square feet of commercial property leasing and acquisitions and five thousand acres of land purchases. Since its inception, the team has grown exponentially successfully leading transactions totaling over $15 billion in aggregate value. Dallas is an innovator and thought leader in the commercial real estate community and is intentional about cultivating and developing diverse talent to help shape the commercial real estate industry. He is a graduate of Georgia State University with a Bachelor of Business Administration. Among his many memberships, honors and awards are Georgia State University Foundation Board – Chair of the Real Estate Committee, Council for Quality Growth – Board Member, Atlanta Commercial Board of REALTORS-Board Member. He has been awarded as Atlanta’s Most Admired CEO (2017), Atlanta Commercial Board of Realtor’s Realtor of the Year (2018) and Empire Board of Realtists Broker of the Year (2018).

Bill Halter joined COOPER CARRY in 2010 as Director in the Office Workplace Studio and was named Principal in 2015. He has spent the last 30 years specializing in the design of corporate and commercial office buildings. While with COOPER CARRY, Bill has led the master planning and office design teams for the 300,000 SF Riverwood 200, the 585,000 SF Park Center (State Farm) One, the 240,000 SF Intergraph Headquarters, the 275,000 SF Mylan Pharmaceutical Headquarters and the Georgia Multi-Modal Passenger Terminal. Bill’s designs have received accolades from the American Institute of Architects and have been featured in publications such as Architectural Record. He has also been a key speaker at several conferences, including the 2011 Urban Land Institute (ULI) Infrastructure Conference in Atlanta, Georgia. He spent four-and-a-half years in China speaking on the virtues of a well-planned infrastructure in the form of exhibition centers and transit to manage urban transformation. Bill is a member of the American Institute of Architects (AIA), the National Council of Architectural Registration Board (NCARB), and is a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Accredited Professional (LEED). Bill is a member of CoreNet and the ULI – currently serving on the Public Development Infrastructure Council (PDIC). He has also served on the Atlanta Urban Design Commission. Bill hold a Bachelor in Architecture from Ohio State University, a Master in Architecture and Urban Design from the Georgia Institute of Technology, and is registered to practice in four states.

Scott Moore joined Humphries and Company in 1985.  For the first 25 years of Scott’s career he project managed over 800 projects in more than 125 buildings in the greater Atlanta area.  Scott has since transitioned into the business development side of the company where he is involved in both developing new clients and retaining existing clients.  Scott also serves as the Principle-in- Charge on many of the company’s largest projects.  Under Scott’s leadership, Humphries has grown to become the largest interior general contractor in Atlanta.  Scott is a graduate of Georgia State University where he earned a Bachelor’s of Business Administration.  Scott spends his free time exercising and traveling with his wife and two kids.

Chris Eachus is a Partner and founding member of the firm and is responsible for developing and managing all partnership business in Atlanta, Charlotte, Nashville, and Raleigh. His responsibilities include sourcing and capitalizing acquisition and development opportunities, creating and implementing asset management strategies and overseeing property management and leasing functions within his region. Joining the Crocker organization in 2003, Mr. Eachus was directly involved with the acquisition of over 5 million square feet of office space throughout the southeastern United States — with a total value of approximately $1 billion. Previously, he worked in the investment banking department of Bear, Stearns & Co. Inc. in New York within the company’s Financial Sponsors Group. Mr. Eachus is a CFA charter holder and earned a Bachelor of Business Administration in Finance from Emory University.

Matt Shulman is the CEO and Managing Partner of The Ardent Companies (“Ardent”) and the CEO of each of the General Partner and the Advisor. Prior to forming Ardent, Matt Shulman was a Managing Director with Rialto Capital where he managed an origination platform for equity investments across Rialto’s strategies. In that role, Matt oversaw deployment of capital into deals varying from performing and non-performing loans, equity investments directly in real estate, and recapitalization of existing sponsors. Prior to Rialto, Matt was a founding partner at Fairway Capital Partners - a real estate investment firm founded in 2007. Matt is a member of YPO and Wexner Heritage. He actively serves on the boards of the Atlanta Real Estate Collaborative, Usher 1F Collaborative, Jewish Federation of Greater Atlanta in addition to serving as Chair of The Epstein School board. Matt formerly served on the board of Open Doors Atlanta and Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta ELC board. Matt received a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from the University of Arizona and a Master of Science in Real Estate Finance from New York University. After graduate school, Matt served as an adjunct professor of Real Estate Finance at his Alma Mater NYU.

Amanda has twenty years of professional experience as an Interior Designer and Project Manager for Corporate Workplace, Multifamily, and Higher Education projects. She directs team meetings, establishes and manages budgets and schedules, and oversees the quality of the design, FF&E, and production documents to meet the goals and objectives of the client. Amanda excels in establishing and maintaining long-term relationships with clients. She believes in creating a design that meets the needs of the client, enhances their productivity, and allows the values and brand of the end user to shine through the design and aesthetic.

A recognized leader in the real estate industry, Michael Berretta has close to three decades of sales and corporate development experience. Since joining IWG in 2000, Michael has developed the growth strategy for the company and helped to expand IWG’s North American footprint to include more than 1,100 centers in excess of 23 million square feet of flexible office space. IWG’s companies include Regus, Spaces, No18, Open Office, and Signature – each catering to professionals in need of flexible workspaces around the world. As Vice President of Network Development for the Americas, Michael spearheads strategic development and new center growth for Canada and the United States. He also leads the Business Development; Real Estate; Lease Administration and Development Finance departments. Prior to his current position, Michael held senior roles within IWG, including Regional Vice President, Sales and Corporate Development Director and National Brokerage Manager. Previously, Michael served as Vice President, Corporate Development for eHome, an Internet-based residential real estate sales organization. He was also Vice President, Development at HQ Global Workplaces where he was responsible for the new center development program and for developing a prototypical workplace model. Michael has proven time and again his keen understanding of how marketing, business and technology interact and the ability to drive profitability through that interaction. Since starting his corporate development career with OmniOffices in 1989, Michael has fostered long-standing industry relationships to drive growth at each of his business development positions. He is widely considered an expert in the category and is a frequent speaker in the real estate industry. He has been cited in numerous publications, including Business.com, Bloomberg BNA, The Commercial Observer, and Commercial Property Executive discussing trends in the coworking industry.

Tim Perry is passionate about the power of community building and all the ingredients needed to create a great place: walkability, connectivity, hospitality, street-level energy, events and the right mix of uses. He deeply believes that fixing high-potential-but-challenged mixed-use developments or bringing new experience through additional neighborhood density is the best way North American Properties can give communities the great places they deserve. As Managing Partner, he is responsible for advancing North American Properties’ vision and strategy to acquire, reposition, and redevelop mixed-use communities as well as adding to the firm’s portfolio of fortress commercial properties. Tim has driven North American Properties’ acquisition strategy for over a decade ultimately serving as North American Properties’ Vice President of Acquisitions in 2009, Director of Investments in 2012 and Chief Investment Officer in 2015. He previously led the acquisition, due diligence, capitalization or disposition teams for landmark communities Atlantic Station, Avalon, Colony Square, Newport on the Levee, Birkdale Village and Avenue East Cobb; and the debt/venture capitalization through his career of over $2.5 billion of total value.