Category: Commercial Development

F. Keene Miller, President of Brokerage with Ackerman & Co. was named President of the Atlanta Commercial Board of REALTORS (ACBR) for the 2017 term. Miller was sworn in during ACBR’s Annual Business Meeting and Awards Ceremony held at the InterContinental Hotel Buckhead on December 9th. The Atlanta Commercial Board of Realtors, an instrumental factor in the growth of organized real estate in the state of Georgia since 1910, is the largest commercial realtor association in the country with more than 2,500 members.

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“Service above self is his motto,” said John O’Neill, senior managing director at Cushman & Wakefield, when describing Miller from the podium during the ceremony. “Keene is a consensus builder who leans in to get the job done,” he added. Miller will be the association’s 42^nd president.

Miller who believes in “never letting the moment be bigger than him” is committed to the ACBR’s continued efforts to increase diversity, offering higher education classes and advocating for the commercial real estate industry while supporting the communities in which they do business.

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The growing retail services division of Ackerman & Co. recently welcomed Courtney Brumbelow as Senior Vice President of Ackerman Retail. Brumbelow is charged with directing the leasing of Ackerman’s retail properties as well as the company’s third-party retail property assignments. Additionally, she will help facilitate the continued team effort to strengthen and expand Ackerman’s retail platform throughout the Southeast.

Brumbelow brings more than 18 years of commercial real estate experience to Ackerman Retail and has completed more than 365 real estate transactions in excess of $155 million.

Prior to joining Ackerman Retail, Brumbelow was Vice President of Leasing at Moonbeam Capital Investments, where she was responsible for overseeing a 3.5-million-square-foot portfolio of shopping centers, enclosed malls and offices. Brumbelow also worked as Director of Real Estate for Penn Hodge Properties, in charge of development, leasing and property management of their real estate portfolio.

“Courtney has a solid track record of driving strong results. She brings a tremendous amount of talent and experience to our team,” said Leo Wiener, President of Ackerman Retail.

Ackerman & Co. is developing Braselton Logistics Center – a 1,000,315-square-foot bulk distribution center in Jackson County off of Broadway Avenue and BDC Parkway in Atlanta’s northeast industrial submarket, arguably the largest industrial tenant submarket in the Southeast.

The speculative bulk distribution center, slated to deliver in the first quarter of 2017, is well underway. Slab has been poured, walls are up and roofing has begun. The cross-dock building will feature 40-foot clear heights, ductilcrete floors, and heavy trailer and car parking.

Check out the live camera at: https://app.oxblue.com/open/ackerman/braselton

For more information, contact:

Brett Buckner | 770.913.3923  
bbuckner@ackermanco.net

Tom Sims – Ackerman & Co. Brokerage

Tom Sims, who joined Ackerman a little more than a year ago, recently completed two major deals deserving of a congratulatory nod. The commercial real estate veteran sold almost 800 acres of land in the last two months.

Tom first sold two separate properties, totaling 135 acres, to the Lennar Corporation, one of the nation’s leading home builders. The sale, contingent on the City’s approval of a septic system, took several months to complete. The properties are located north of Atlanta, just off Arnold Mill Road.

The second deal, while transacted in just two short weeks, required special attention and branding. “Packaging the property so it could capture the beauty of the land was a challenge,” said Tom. “Thankfully our in-house marketing team did a fantastic job of marrying copy and visuals to produce a beautiful and very effective sales brochure,” he added. Selling this property required all hands on deck; Tom was out of town when he got “the” call. His quick-thinking assistant pulled the documents together allowing Tom to complete the deal remotely. The property fetched more than $2.3 million.

With more than 37 years of commercial real estate experience, Tom has participated in many notable transactions in the Atlanta area. He has the experience and knowledge in the acquisition and marketing of land for mixed-use developments, golf course residential communities, shopping centers, multi-family projects, hospital/medical developments and office-industrial sites.

For more information on these deals or any commercial real estate needs, please contact Tom at:
770.913.3944
tsims@ackermanco.net

Ackerman & Co. prides itself on having some of the most reputable, hard-at-work brokers in the business. Today we’re checking in with Ben Campbell and Troy Morris. They are two of our newest (and youngest) brokers and they seem to have a lot more in common:

• both have successful uncles in the business
• both have dreams of developing and revitalizing the part of Atlanta in which they grew up
• both enjoy shooting hoops

For Ben, family was one of the biggest influences in his decision to go into commercial real estate.  His uncle, Tom Kirbo, is President of SK Commercial Real Estate and his cousin, Shea Campbell, is an Associate with CBRE’s Multi-Housing Private Client Group.  Seeing their success, the long-time Cabbagetown resident, struck out, determined to make a name for himself.

Ben joined Ackerman because of its stellar team of land brokers, namely John Speros and Larry Wood.  “I’ve only been here a couple of months and have learned so much already,” he says. When asked what he felt was most rewarding so far, Ben tells us “I’m loving meeting new people, learning about the art of the deal and pitching to potential clients.” The budding developer is looking forward to changing communities and improving the lives of the people in those communities, and making his mother proud in the process.

Equally committed to improving his community, Troy Morris dreams of redeveloping East Point, where he grew up. This self-motivator believes perseverance and consistency will be key to his success. Troy’s interest in commercial real estate started early; his family has owned and managed Glenn-Mor, the first African-American nursing home in Thomasville, Georgia since 1969. He spent many summers marketing the property to increase vacancy and of course, did his share of maintenance work.

At Ackerman, Troy focuses on tenant rep. “I’m currently working with an Atlanta non-profit group and helping a major fast food restaurant chain with their retail needs.” Since joining the company six months ago, Troy facilitated a deal to move a Nationwide Insurance branch to a new space in Peachtree Hills.

FUN FACTS:

• The basketball enthusiasts are planning a one-on-one challenge at Candler Park in July
•  Troy, a huge soccer fan, is gearing up for the 2014 FIFA World Cup (Go Team USA!)
• Ben, a.k.a. the outdoors guy, enjoys fishing

Ben and Troy are just two examples of young, ambitious brokers at Ackerman. We are proud to offer an environment where commercial real estate brokers can grow and prosper. If you’re interested in joining our team, check our Careers page periodically for openings.

President of Atlanta-based Ackerman & Co., Kris Miller sets the strategic direction for the firm’s investment, management and leasing initiatives. Miller joined the firm in 1996, and during his tenure, Ackerman & Co. has experienced significant growth and has solidified its reputation as one of the most prominent real estate firms in the Southeastern United States.

In this Four on Friday, Hartman Simons got a chance to chat with Miller about the state of the Atlanta commercial real estate market and his career in the industry.

Give us a brief overview of the services offered by Ackerman & Co.

Ackerman is a full-service commercial real estate company. We represent tenants seeking space, landlords renting space, and manage owned and third-party space. We also buy, sell and develop commercial real estate properties.

What is your take on how the Atlanta commercial real estate market has recovered from the Great Recession? 

The recovery of the Atlanta commercial real estate market from the recession of 2008 has been gradual. Positive absorption of industrial space began in 2011, followed by the positive absorption of office space a year later. In both cases, those markets had endured net negative absorption for a longer period than any time in Atlanta’s history. The recovery now seems to be gaining momentum and spreading from the submarkets where it began to a metro-wide phenomenon.

What is it about commercial real estate that makes it such a satisfying career for you?

Commercial real estate is satisfying because the effort of your labor is tangible: you can touch it, see it, visit it, and explain to friends and colleagues what you do for a living.

If you could give one piece of advice to someone just beginning his or her commercial real estate career, what would it be?

Get experience as a tenant broker. All the value in commercial real estate is created when a broker brings a tenant to a landlord and a lease is signed. The better you understand this process, the more successful you will be in this business.