New Cousins CEO encouraged about the market - Pittsburgh Business Times:

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"This isn't going to be a V-shape recovery," Gellerstedt said Monday in an interview with AtlantaBusiness "But, we're going to see many opportunitie to buy." Gellerstedt, who joined Cousinsw in 2005, will take over for currengt CEO Tom Bell on July 1. Bell, who turnz 60 this year, announced his retirement to the compan yMonday morning. Cousins is a storied Atlanta real estate Founded in 1958 by Tom the company has been involved in some ofthe city' s biggest real estate projects, including the development of the 55-stor Bank of America Plaza in 1989. The market isn'ty providing the best timing for Gellerstedt.
He takex the helm during the nation's worst real estate downturn in at leasta generation. While the marke t is showing some signsof improvement, it has nosedived from its peak in earl 2007. Cousins has one of the four new officse towers under developmentin Buckhead, a part of the city that absorbws about 350,000 to 500,000 squarre feet of office space annually. Office vacancyg in Buckhead could surpass 30 percent by this time next some commercial real estate developere andbrokers predict.
There are signs, however, that the markegt is picking up, Bell and Gellerstedt For one, the gap between what investors are willinv to pay for properties and what ownersx are willing to sell them for continuesto shrink. While that spreaed was 400 basis pointse a fewmonths ago, it is closer to 100 pointx today, Bell said. banks have a clearer picture of thei capital levels than they did earlier this and regulators are increasingly pushing them to deal some of theifr real estateowned assets. Cousins (NYSE: CUZ) , postin net income of $164.2 millionb on $49 million in revenue.
At the end of the period, the company’x portfolio of operational office buildings was 90percent leased, its portfolilo of operational retail centers was 83 percent leased and its operational industriap buildings were 40 percent Gellerstedt began his career in 1978 as an estimator and projecr manager with , where he workecd on the High Museu and the AT&T Long Line Building in Manhattan. At only 26, he founded , a Beers subsidiaryy that focusedon health-care developments. Gellerstedt was later named Beers chairmanand CEO. Cousinx acquired his firm, the , in June 2005, and he joined the company.
Gellerstedt was one of the architects of turningy around the fortunes of One Ninety One Peachtree, the 50-story downtownh tower Cousins acquired in 2006. The improvements at One Ninety One have symbolizede a return to prosperit for many partsof downtown, its economic boosterd say. Shortly after Gellerstedt joined Cousins, One Ninety One had lost major tenantswand , and downtown Atlanta was sufferinv from the exodus of those firms and Gellerstedt was instrumental in the rejuvenation of One Ninetyu One, Bell said. "We basicallyu gave this building to Bell said. "I remember when we were walkinh through the atrium several years ago that there was nothing in It had thisecho effect.
And I said to 'What are we going to about this echo?' And Larruy came right back and ‘I tell you what we're going to do. We'r going to fill this atriumj and thisbuilding up.’ It' s a totally different buildiny today." One Ninety One was nearly 90 percent leased at the beginninfg of the year. Cousins also landec the Italian restaurant IlMulinpo Atlanta, which has also helped to revivee the atrium. "I spent most of my careef downtown," Gellerstedt said. "I've always thought that One Ninety One is atimelesx asset.
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