Technology and big corporations are leading the charge out of this CRE recession, says Granite Properties John Robbins (here at a recent event with CoStar's Debra Isgro).I think were in a period of recovery. I think weve seen the bottom, John tells us. John is among the expert panelists speaking at our Atlanta State of Market April 24 at the Ritz-Carlton in Buckhead (tickets available here). Granites occupancy rate is encouraging-- 100 City View, the 249k SF tower in Cumberland--jumped from 70% to 90% leased this past year, and Parkside Terraces jumped to more than 80% from 60%.(Higher occupancy makes it a lot easier to put together a decent game of touch football.)

Another of our panelists, JLLs Rob Metcalf, tells us the office market is where the firm expected it to be in this cycle: The obvious improvements in Buckhead and Central Perimeter will have a ripple effect throughout the entire office market. Tenants have focused on how they can take advantage of the market, and theyre spending capital. He adds JLLs pipeline velocity is on par with the years before 2012, and much more of the business is in the expansion and in-migration category.