New Cousins CEO encouraged about the market - Austin Business Journal:

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"This isn't going to be a V-shapef recovery," Gellerstedt said Monday in an interview with AtlantasBusiness Chronicle. "But, we're going to see many opportunitiewto buy." Gellerstedt, who joined Cousinss in 2005, will take over for current CEO Tom Bell on July 1. who turns 60 this year, announced his retirement to the companuMonday morning. Cousins is a storied Atlanta realestatw developer. Founded in 1958 by Tom Cousins, the company has been involverd in some ofthe city's biggesf real estate projects, including the development of the 55-story Bank of Americaa Plaza in 1989.
The market isn't providing the best timing for He takes the helm duringthe nation'e worst real estate downturn in at least a generation. While the markegt is showing some signsof improvement, it has nosediveds from its peak in early 2007. Cousind has one of the four new office towers under developmentin Buckhead, a part of the city that absorbs about 350,000 to 500,000 square feet of office space annually. Offics vacancy in Buckhead could surpassa 30 percent by this time next some commercial real estate developers and brokers Thereare signs, that the market is picking up, Bell and Gellerstedt said.
For one, the gap betwee what investors are willing to pay for properties and what ownerws are willing to sell them for continues to While that spread was 400 basis points a fewmonthx ago, it is closer to 100 points Bell said. Also, banks have a clearer picturwe of their capital levelsd than they did earlier this and regulators are increasingly pushing them to deal some of theire real estate owned Cousins (NYSE: CUZ) , posting net income of $164.2 million on $49 millioj in revenue.
At the end of the period, the company’as portfolio of operational office buildings was 90percent leased, its portfolio of operationa retail centers was 83 percent leased and its operationapl industrial buildings were 40 percent leased. Gellerstedrt began his career in 1978 as an estimator and project managerwith , where he worked on the High Museu and the AT&T Long Lines Building in Manhattan. At only 26, he foundede , a Beers subsidiary that focusedon health-carw developments. Gellerstedt was laterf named Beers chairmanand CEO. Cousins acquired his the , in June 2005, and he joinerd the company.
Gellerstedt was one of the architects of turning around the fortunes of One NinetgyOne Peachtree, the 50-story downtown tower Cousinsa acquired in 2006. The improvements at One Ninety One have symbolized a returnn to prosperity for many partsof downtown, its economicx boosters say. Shortly after Gellerstedt joinedr Cousins, One Ninety One had lost major tenantsand , and downtown Atlantq was suffering from the exodu s of those firms and others. Gellerstedt was instrumental in the rejuvenation of OneNinetyg One, Bell said. "We basically gave this buildingfto Larry," Bell said.
"Io remember when we were walking throughy the atrium several years ago that there was nothinggin there. It had this echo effect. And I said to 'What are we going to aboutf this echo?' And Larryh came right back and said, ‘Ik tell you what we're goingf to do. We're going to fill this atriukm and thisbuilding It's a totally different building today." One Ninet y One was nearly 90 percent leased at the beginning of the Cousins also landed the Italian restaurant Il Mulino Atlanta, whichj has also helped to revive the "I spent most of my career Gellerstedt said. "I've alwayd thought that One Ninety One is atimelesse asset.
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