Congratulations to our very own Miller Getz who was awarded the “Huey Award” from BOMA Georgia. This is a very high honor given only once in a lifetime recognizing someone who has tirelessly given their time in service to BOMA. This is quite the recognition for Miller who served not only as past president, but also in many committees of the organization.

For those unfamiliar with BOMA, the Building Owners and Managers Association is a trade association with approximately 1,000 members representing commercial real estate. You probably have seen their work with government advocacy, the “industry standard” method of floor measurement, TOBY Awards (Bldg of the Year) and of course, education. Congratulations Miller… we are fortunate and proud to work alongside you.

BRIAN SMITH, MILLER GETZ JOIN COMPANY; REBECCA WATERS OPENS GULF COAST OFFICE

DULUTH, Ga. — Brand Real Estate Services, a full-service commercial real estate firm, announces the addition of two new executive team members in its Duluth headquarters and the opening of a Gulf Coast office to support the firm’s strategic growth throughout the Southeast. Brian Smith joins as Executive Vice President, Leasing and Development, and Miller Getz serves as Executive Vice President, Property Management. Senior Managing Director Rebecca Waters transitions to pioneer the firm’s newest office on Florida’s Gulf Coast, Brand’s second location in the state.

“Throughout the last decade, our leasing and management professionals delivered results that really solidified our position as a Southeast leader in the retail, office and mixed-use arenas,” states Scott Meadows, president, Brand Real Estate Services. “Now, we are putting more boots on the ground in Florida to penetrate underserved markets, while deepening our redevelopment capabilities to further support our clients’ value-add opportunities.”

In his role as Executive Vice President, Leasing and Development, Brian Smith leads the retail and office leasing teams and oversees development activity undertaken on behalf of third-party clients. Prior to joining Brand, Smith served as Chief Strategy Officer and Executive Vice President for Memphis-based Poag Shopping Centers where he oversaw a $1.5 billion portfolio of open-air and mixed-use centers. Smith also executed strategic new property branding, redevelopment initiatives and merchandising that increased asset values up to 50%. In addition, Smith was responsible for new business development which resulted in the fastest growth in the firm’s history.

“Smith’s experience with leading teams and driving value align with our corporate vision and portfolio goals,” says Meadows. “His redevelopment expertise is a huge asset as we pursue value-add opportunities for our clients. From parking lot utilization to remodeling and major renovations, we’re confident Smith’s fresh eyes and experience will deliver significant value to our property owners.”

Miller Getz, Executive Vice President, Property Management, succeeds Pat Freeman, a 35-year real estate veteran who is retiring April 1 to pursue philanthropic service. In his new role, Getz oversees the property management, property accounting and engineering departments that consists of 32 associates. A native Atlantan and past president of BOMA Georgia, Getz most recently worked as general manager for Atlanta-based Piedmont Office Realty Trust where he led a team of seven and was responsible for the management of a 4 million sq. ft. portfolio.

“Rebecca and Pat were among the first people hired when I arrived at Brand in 2013, and their leadership and performance are the foundation from which our business and culture grew,” shares Meadows. “I am absolutely confident that Brian and Miller will continue our legacy of a people-focused culture delivering high-touch, value-driven service, as well as our pursuit of reputable clients and quality assets.”

Brand aims to take a dominant position as a regional real estate services firm whose local expertise provides personal customer service and strategic asset maximization. In 2022, the Brand team will focus on delivering client value while further expanding its geographic footprint, securing new clients and high-quality assets such as Class A and B office properties, grocery-anchored and open-air centers, mixed-use developments and industrial properties.

Wonderful news about our legendary company founder Scott Hudgens!

Many thanks to Elliott Brack, Editor and Publisher of the GwinnettForum, October 12, 2021

Link: Hudgens to be inducted into Hall of Fame for Georgia veterans

Hudgens to be inducted into Hall of Fame for Georgia Veterans

“The late Scott Hudgens Jr. of Duluth will be inducted into the Georgia Military Veterans Hall of Fame in Columbus, Ga. on November 6. Nominating him for the award was Mike Camp of Johns Creek, a person who never met Mr. Hudgens, but heard of his war record and many lifetime achievements.

Camp told GwinnettForum he nominated Mr. Hudgens for this honor because of his war record and for his exemplary philanthropic works over many years, and especially for his donation of 775 acres near Canton to form the Georgia National Veterans Cemetery.

The Georgia Military Veterans Hall of Fame is a nonprofit, 501(c) (3) corporation with the dual purpose of honoring Georgia veterans and educating young people. It was established in 2013. Its goal is to annually honor and induct up to 15 Georgia military veterans selected by an independent committee. So far, 131 Georgia veterans have been inducted into the Georgia Hall of Fame, and 15 more inductees plus a Medal of Honor winner in this year’s ceremony.  The group also provides scholarships to families of veterans being honored.

The ninth annual Georgia Military Veterans Hall of Fame ceremony will be Saturday, November 6 at noon at St. Luke Ministry Center, 301 11th Street, in Columbus. The event is open to the public, with tickets priced at $55 per person. Reservations may be made with Ms. Debbie Freeman, via email.

Part of the nominating letter from Camp reads:

“It is my honor and pleasure to nominate a superlative candidate, (Scott Hudgens), a WWII Veteran, a native of Georgia, an outstanding successful businessman and an unsurpassed benefactor to his community and state. During Scott Hudgens’ years, he was a very private person, humble and always kind and considerate of others. Despite his success and generous philanthropy, he was always extremely adamant about maintaining his anonymity.

“During World War II he served in the U.S. Army in the European Theatre. Shortly after D-Day, he landed on Omaha Beach. Thereafter, he fought in the major battles of Normandy, Cherbourg and the Spearhead Breakout. As the allied troops advanced toward Germany he fought at the Siegfried Line, Hurtgen Forest and the Battle of the Bulge, as well as Remagen and Nordhausen. He was awarded the Purple Heart for wounds received in these campaigns.

“During his post war years he entered the real estate market in the greater Atlanta and Georgia area and made an outstanding success building shopping malls and a large variety of other ventures has been well documented.”

Mr. Camp pointed out that anonymously, (Hudgens) made many charitable donations during his lifetime. “He took great pride in being able to help his fellow man in this way. In many cases the donor was never announced or made public.

“Privately, he took special pride in a few selected projects such as the Peachtree Christian Hospice, the Jacqueline Hudgens Art Center and the establishment of the Gwinnett Technical College. This was in addition to his donation of the land for the Duluth hospital. His benevolence however was far more extensive than these examples.

“His ‘crowning achievement,’ however, was the donation of the North Georgia mountain acreage overlooking Lake Allatoona near Canton, Ga. The pristine tract of 775 acres was donated for the creation of the Georgia National Veterans Cemetery. This cemetery is completed and functioning according to his visualization.”

Mr. Camp also noted that despite his passing in 2000, Mr. Hudgens was thoughtful enough to establish the Scott Hudgens Family Foundation which continues his goal of helping others.”

We are happy to share more detailed news about our recent merger!  Many thanks to Scott Meadows, Steve Tart, and Gina Adkins of Bouncepath for arranging this announcement in the Gwinnett Daily Post. We are happy to merge our two companies and our long histories. Welcome aboard to our Genesis co-workers!  The article by Curt Yeomans is here.

We are in the news! The press release of our Genesis merger with Brand Real Estate Services came out recently. Many thanks to Scott Meadows, Steve Tart, and Gina Adkins of Bouncepath for arranging this announcement in the Commercial Real Estate section of the Atlanta Business Chronicle. We are happy to merge our two companies and our long histories. Welcome aboard to our Genesis co-workers!  The article by Douglas Sams is below:

https://www.bizjournals.com/atlanta/news/2021/01/08/real-estate-notebook-neighborhood-future.html

“Another big acquisition

Brand Real Estate Services is significantly expanding its portfolio across the Southeast.  Brand bought Sandy Springs, Ga.-based Genesis Real Estate Advisers in a deal that adds 15 retail projects totaling 754,000 square feet.  Terms were not disclosed.

The joined companies will operate under the name Brand Real Estate Services and oversee a portfolio of 120 commercial properties.  The firm will have 50 employees.

Scott Meadows, president of Brand Real Estate Services, said adding Genesis offers an opportunity to become a top player in the Southeast. It will expand its retail portfolio into Columbus and Savannah, Ga., eastern N.C. and Jacksonville, Fla. Genesis is known for its retail-dominant portfolio, a complement to Brand’s blend of mixed-use, office, industrial properties that will now exceeds 4.9 million square feet throughout the Southeast.

Brand Real Estate Services’ sister company, Brand Properties, is also expanding multifamily and commercial ground-up development. Steve Tart, president of Genesis, will join Brand as senior managing director.

The shared history of Brand Real Estate and Genesis links back to the 1990s and prominent metro Atlanta developers Scott Hudgens and Ben Carter.”

Scott Hudgens (original founder of Brand Real Estate Services) donated the land to build the veteran Georgia National Cemetery in Canton. If you have not seen this site before, it is very beautiful (see website). Last year Brand Properties built the new carillon bell tower at the entry. This year we are donating wreaths to be laid at the tombstones throughout as part of the Wreaths Across America program.  Thank you to our client Bruce Williams and our team Michael Walker from Leasing, Madeline McManus from Property Management and her son Harrison for laying wreaths today! It is a beautiful tribute to those who have sacrificed so much.

Even as the 2020 budget season wraps up, there is the old saying: “It is always budget season.” For 2020 and 2021, this saying is especially true as asset and property managers deal with the unique challenges to building operations and operating expenses caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. With these challenges comes considerations that must be made not only for the management and operations teams at a property, but also for the equitable treatment of the tenant customer.

During this presentation, Marc Fischer with InspiRE University shares and explores research and insights about how the COVID-19 pandemic is affecting operating expenses and tenant passthroughs. The program includes a dialogue facilitated by Pat Freeman, EVP of Property Management with Brand Real Estate Services, that looks at these trends and their effect on management, operations staff, and the tenants at a property.

Follow this link to view Marc Fischer’s informative webinar.

We are very proud of our own Dj Adams, Property Manager at Brand Real Estate Services, as she discusses the impact and many benefits of recently attaining her RPA (Real Property Administrator) designation from BOMA in this brief video interview.  Click here to view.

“The BOMA Georgia Foundation has given out almost 500 scholarships to commercial real estate professionals looking to progress in their careers. Dj Adams is a recipient of one of the scholarships and, in this video, explains the impact her classes had on her career. Learn about the value of continuing education and how the BOMA Georgia foundation can help you achieve those goals.”

Congratulations Dj! Your training is of great benefit to our company and our clients!

Tenant improvement allowances have benefits and risks for both tenants and for owners, as our EVP of Leasing Rebecca Waters weighs in. The following article “What Landlords Give and Get from Tenant Allowances” written by Joel Groover is featured by ICSC in this September 2020 edition of Shopping Centers Today.

“Not only are we among the largest providers of tax revenues for local communities, but owners and developers are also the first-look lenders for many, many businesses in any respective community,” said Raider Hill Advisors founder and CEO Daniel Hurwitz. He and others in the industry say landlords need to speak out about the billions they lend to mom-and-pop restaurants, expanding big-box chains and other businesses in the form of tenant improvement allowances.

The average person has little to no understanding of landlords’ practice of granting TI allowances to support all kinds of retailers and restaurants. That matters, observers say, because the industry needs to protect its interests and lobby for better policies amid COVID-19. “The last several months have highlighted a complete lack of understanding of the beneficial role that shopping centers play,” said Hurwitz, who also is ICSC chairman.

Individual landlords often incur annual TI costs into the tens of millions of dollars. Kimco Realty, for example, provided $62.7 million in TI in 2019, according to its annual report, while mall owner CBL spent $36.3 million. “Historically, the industry has invested billions of dollars in TI allowances,” Hurwitz said. “Most retailers, including large public companies, benefit from a TI package when they initially sign a lease or exercise a renewal. It enables them to operate more profitably and use their cash in more diverse ways. There’s a huge effect on the jobs sector, as well.”

Benefits to owners, managers and developers

But owners benefit from these arrangements, too. For starters, Equity Retail Brokers principal David Goodman notes, retailers tend to pay their landlords high interest on these loans. Consider a landlord providing a TI allowance of $20 per square foot for a 2,000-square-foot space. That totals $40,000 out of pocket, amortized over the life of a 10-year lease. It would not be unheard of, he says, for the interest to run anywhere from 8 to 10 percent in such a deal, while business loans from traditional banks, according to small business resource provider Fundera, tend to range from 3 to 6 percent. “Landlords aren’t doing this solely out of the goodness of their heart,” Goodman said, “but again, they’re incurring the risk.”

Moreover, these loan and interest payments are added to tenants’ rent, and if you increase the rent, you increase the value of the center, said Rebecca Waters, executive vice president of leasing at Brand Real Estate Services, a leasing, management and redevelopment firm. “There’s definitely a benefit to the landlord.”

Benefits to tenants

TI allowances provide critical operating capital that can bolster cash-strapped entrepreneurs’ odds of long-term success. Without this spending by landlords, retailers would be forced to win loans from traditional banks, a time-consuming process that could stall their business plans, Goodman said. “Landlords put tenants through fewer hurdles than the banks,” he said. “Sometimes, tenants don’t understand the risks landlords are taking by doing that and providing that TI allowance.”

Small businesses, in particular, are prone to failure, and landlords certainly can lose their TI investments, Hurwitz says. “The landlord is in many cases providing TI dollars to individuals and businesses that don’t satisfy the criteria of the traditional commercial lenders,” he said. “There can be enormous operational risk.” These agreements also can help tenants steer clear of some adverse consequences of loading up on conventional debt. “When you have a tenant improvement allowance, that doesn’t show up on your credit report or appear as a liability on your financial statement,” Waters noted.

But owners contribute to the success of local businesses in other ways, including as business plan advisors. Even delivering a polite “No thanks” to a business’ request for a lease can help that operator in the long run, says The Parkes Cos. director of leasing and property management Rhonda Thomas. “When mom-and-pops come to us, we always ask for their business plans because we want to be sure they are well thought out. Sometimes, you get these calls from people who just woke up one day and decided they wanted to open a restaurant. Maybe they cook good fried chicken, but they have never run a restaurant before.”

Indeed, landlords around the country routinely act as de facto business consultants in their dealings with new franchisees and independent retail stores and restaurants, Thomas says. The owner might steer entrepreneurs toward resources provided by the Small Business Administration or ask them hard questions about how much cash they have on hand. “We’ll tell them they need to have enough money that, if nobody walks in the door for the first six months, they can still keep their merchandise fresh and pay their rent and utilities,” Thomas said. “It gives them something to think about.”

Once an operator has a solid business plan in place, Parkes may offer TI allowances, give the retailer ample time to secure permits and then throw in a couple of months of free rent. “We will ask those retailers specifically to put those dollars they saved to work in the form of marketing,” Thomas said. “People have to be able to find you.” Thomas and her colleagues don’t hesitate to speak up when they see a tenant that is about to make an unwise business decision. “We have had tenants who wanted to deviate from the norm and not put up a lit sign because it costs more money,” she said. “In addition to allowing them to use TI dollars to pay for that, we’ll explain to them why they need a lit sign: If somebody is driving by at night and you aren’t open, they may see your sign and say, ‘Oh, I didn’t know that store was there.’”

Larger landlords like Kimco have taken this kind of assistance to a new level in recent years, says Goodman. “With their KEYS [Kimco Entrepreneurs Year Start] program, they’re seeking entrepreneurs and new business owners and basically putting them in shopping centers, giving them a year of free rent and providing all kinds of support to make them successful,” he said. According to Kimco, the program has expanded into 19 states, with more than 600 KEYS small shops operating in the portfolio.

Landlords’ Image Problem

A great many of today’s successful chains got their start with store buildouts funded in whole or in part by landlords’ TI allowances. “It’s that way almost every time,” Hurwitz said. Nonetheless, landlords still have something of an image problem among tenants and the general public.

Tough negotiations in the COVID-19 era, in particular, have revealed the common misperception that landlords have carte blanche to give tenants free rent in perpetuity. “Many people don’t understand that landlords are answering to their lenders and that the big, publicly traded owners have to answer to their shareholders and meet certain goals,” Goodman noted. “The landlord is not just a king who can do whatever they want: ‘I like you, so I’m going to give you a break; I don’t like you, so I’m not.’ That’s not the way it works.”

While landlords are often portrayed as villains, adds Hurwitz, their TI lending and other activities create jobs, fund infrastructure, generate tax revenues and enhance people’s lives. “The shopping center industry and individual companies of size and magnitude need to do a better job of articulating the many benefits they bring to the communities they serve.”

Brand Real Estate Services is excited to share the progress of the redevelopment of 121 Perimeter Center West!  Located in the dynamic Central Perimeter market, this property was acquired by our long-time client the Hudgens Company in 2015.  The 50,000 SF three-story office building and adjacent parcels across from Perimeter Mall showed great potential in the midst of this vibrant office, retail, hotel and residential market.  With the input of our experienced team at Brand, led by EVP of Property Management Pat Freeman and Property Manager Dj Adams, the office building has been beautifully renovated.  Candy McIntyre, VP of Leasing, brought an exciting new co-working tenant Serendipity Labs with 26,650 SF on the 2nd and 3rd floors, joining SunTrust / Truist Bank located on the ground floor. A five-level parking deck has been added thanks to the expertise of Towson Engsberg of Brand Properties as Construction Project Manager.  The adjacent beautiful new AC Hotel by Marriott is now under construction.

Click here to see the story of the redevelopment as featured in the spring edition of the Design Develop Construct Journal.