Cooper Carry's Angelo Carusi, who focuses on retail and mixed-use, says Atlanta has a little more time to see a solid retail recovery. “It is clear that there are certain parts of the country that are very strong. And it's clear that Atlanta is not one of them,” he says. “Retail follows rooftops. And no one has moved in the last six years.” (We've all gotten too comfortable with the feng shui of our current locales.) But Angelo concedes that seems to be changing now, with the housing market starting to show signs with resales and even in some development. But real new household growth probably won't happen in 2014.
Cooper Carry's work certainly follows this view. Its picked up some 120 new projects—including 3M SF of retail and 1.2M SF of residential—everywhere but Atlanta. The projects include a Hilton-flagged 600-room convention center in Cleveland and a DC's largest hotel, the 1,175-room Marriott Marquis. But there's one area here Angelo is bullish on: Central Perimeter, which "is about to see a lot of activity.”
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