2/10/21 Atlanta Perimeter Mastermind Group Meeting

Atlanta Perimeter February 2021 – Key Take-Aways

• 2021 is off to a good start; very active and busy.
• Second round of PPP seems to be going slowly.
• Rent deferral period is ending and seeing more requests from landlords to help. Most landlords are willing to help, some rent is better than none, but other landlords want their property back. (MendenFreiman)
• Multi-family and industrial continue to reign supreme. Volume of weekly calls from multi-family developers and industrial are too many to count; developers are optimistic, even outside multi-family and industrial. Optimism exceeds financing available. (Ackerman & Co)
• Not as many distressed hotels on the market as we expected.
• Opportunities for new office and retail development at 6 West Project; Need a value-add office with 50% occupancy for a 1031 client (Ackerman & Co.)
• Development continues to be strong in and around Carrollton, GA. Several opportunities for development: 12 acres in downtown and 12 acres just east good for multi-family or Senior Living; 25 acres priced reasonable in a Federal Opportunity Zone. Also have a 50k warehouse in Dalton which would make a great spot for distribution or manufacturing (Commercial Realty Services of W. Ga)
• 1031 work is still very active.
• Downtown Savannah retail is starting to come back and starting to see hospitality occupancy increase. Multi-family development downtown is also coming back – SCAD will be back in the fall and that is driving some student housing development (Colliers Savannah)
• Growth due to Georgia Port is unreal and keeps expanding (Colliers Savannah)
• Robust marketplace for 1031s; haven’t seen any drop-offs due to the new Administration, but may be some bubbles forming as real estate values increase more than inflation (Atlanta Deferred Exchange)
• Recommended reading: The Deficit Myth by Stephanie Kelton – easy read; not too technical (Atlanta Deferred Exchange)
• We’re in a “wait and see” regarding 1031s; there’s an 80% chance that the topic will come up in the next round of budget reconciliation, but working behind the scenes to keep it out. Will provide talking points, who to contact, etc. if we get to that point (Atlanta Deferred Exchange)
• Single tenant office buildings are hot, but very hard to find. (ATL Commercial Real Estate)
• Beware: Wholesalers are advertising CRE on FaceBook; these people are brokering deals without a license. They don’t know what they are doing, not wanting to pay proper commissions and are causing lots of problems.
• Many companies pay referral fees when a client/customer/contact sends them business that results in a contract/project.
• Environmental work has been steady so far, but a slowdown is anticipated due to the second round of PPPs which will keep the banks busy. (AKT Peerless)
• Environmental industry outlook is steady and stable due to emerging contaminants; most of the good land is used up; and urbanization.
• Susan Donkers gave an excellent presentation on her company – Global Location Strategies. They assist companies with their location strategies and site selection, but also have developed technology that clients can purchase that can assist them with their own site selection projects.