Exclusive Q&A: Crosland Southeast's Barry James

This summer, Crosland Southeast promoted Barry James to partner, the first new one since the formation of the company five years ago. Barry's four years at Crosland Southeast have been busy, overseeing project management and construction on projects including One Bellevue Place (shown below), the redevelopment of the Bellevue Mall in Nashville. We asked Barry about what's ahead for the Nashville market and the company.

Bisnow: Do you anticipate Nashville will maintain its strong growth momentum in job creation and real estate absorption?

Barry: Yes. The fundamentals for Nashville are very strong for job creation and real estate growth. Nashville is doing particularly well in attracting a young, creative and knowledgeable workforce, and that trend will bode well for the Nashville market in the years ahead.
 
Bisnow: What's next for Crosland Southeast?

Barry: Crosland Southeast will expand and diversify both geographically and by product type by leveraging our foundation in retail and mixed-use development. We brought on Bobby Speir last year to focus on acquisitions of existing income-producing assets across multiple product types throughout the Southeast. We're also looking to expand our geographical reach for development to areas such as Florida and Texas, as well as other markets.

Bisnow: What other property types?

Barry: We'll continue to look for new opportunities that utilize our strength in retail and apply it to other product types, such as medical office. We also started a construction company, C4 Builders, which is focused on small projects and interiors and upfit work. Through these new initiatives, Crosland Southeast will be more diversified and thus more sustainable over time.  

Bisnow: What are the biggest challenges ahead?

Barry: The biggest challenges we face are the difficulty and the length of time it takes to entitle or zone projects, and the inflation in construction costs. These are making projects much more difficult to pencil. The entitlement challenge, however, is a competitive advantage to Crosland Southeast, given our experience and reputation.