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Happy Blah Year, CRE
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| Wake us when it’s 2014. That sums up the sentiment of Wells Fargo’s Mark Vitner and Georgia State’s Rajeev Dhawan, who say Atlanta’s economy in 2013 won’t be much to write home about. They spoke at our 2013 Atlanta Real Estate & Economic Forecast event yesterday. |
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| “2014 will be glorious,” Rajeev says. “Forget about 2013. It doesn’t exist.” He notes that 70% of the countries in the world are either slowing or in recession and fiscal cliff talks are dragging down future growth. Still, Rajeev says, the US is a bright spot in the world economy, a fact that keeps Treasury rates down. “The Europeans have made us look like the cleanest shirt in the laundry basket,” he says, helping American government refi its debt at cheaper rates. |
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| Mark has seen predictions that US GDP will only tally between 1.5% and 2.5% next year, which can be hurt if consumers are spooked or even if taxes go up marginally (possible if there are Social Security tax increases or an Obamacare 3.8% surcharge on unearned income). “In many ways, the outlook for 2013 looks dicier than the outlook for 2008,” he says. But all is not lost. Click the video above to hear about Mark’s outlook into 2014. |
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| A GLASS ACT |
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| Icon Commercial’s Ryan Bowie recently secured a 225k SF lease for AGC Glass Co North America to 660 Campbell Court in Lithia Springs, moving from its Marietta facility. He tells us it brings 150 new jobs to the area. Cushman & Wakefield’s Chip Craighill and Gordon Benedict repped the landlord, KTR Capital. |
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| THEY GOT THE POWER |
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| Talk about power women! At a recent CRE Girls Night Out event at Bone’s, here are nine former CREW presidents, one former NAIOP president, two former REGA presidents, seven golfers and a dozen with more than 20 years in the biz. Front row: First American Title Co’s Sally French Tyler; Annette Meyer Commercial Real Estate’s Annette Meyer; Cushman & Wakefield’s Lisa Dunavin; Equifax’s Karen Dick; Avison Young’s Char Fortune; The Cheroff Group’s Penelope Cheroff; Eastwood Real Estate Services’ Lee Eastwood; SRS Real Estate Partners’ Ray Uttenhove; JLL’s Kay Younglove; Hartman Simons & Wood’s Lori Kilberg; Taylor & Mathis’ Ginger Martin; and Morgan Keegan & Co’s Lisa Boone. |
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| A WILBERT BY ANY OTHER NAME… |
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| Everyone’s favorite CRE PR power firm is changing its name. Sort of. Wilbert News Strategies is now being called The Wilbert Group as it grows to encompass more clients and employees. The staff: Stephen Ursery, Hadley Creekmuir, Elizabeth Hagin, Caroline Wilbert (the one who really controls the firm), Tony Wilbert, MC Rhodes, and Savannah Duncan. “When we first started, it was really just Tony,” Caroline tells us. “Now, we are growing and truly have a full team. We are moving from the man to the brand.” (Next, be on the lookout for branded apparel and a line of kitchenware). |
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| If nobody knows the trouble you’ve seen, you’ve never lived in a small town. Email news [email protected]. |