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

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"This isn't going to be a V-shaped recovery," Gellerstedft said Monday in an interview with AtlantaBusinesxs Chronicle. "But, we're going to see many opportunitiesto Gellerstedt, who joined Cousins in 2005, will take over for currengt CEO Tom Bell on July 1. who turns 60 this year, announced his retirement to the companyyMonday morning. Cousins is a storied Atlanta realestatr developer. Founded in 1958 by Tom Cousins, the company has been involve in some ofthe city's biggest real estate projects, including the development of the 55-storyu Bank of America Plaza in 1989. The market isn'tr providing the best timingf for Gellerstedt.
He takes the helm durinyg the nation's worst real estats downturn in at leasta generation. While the market is showinb some signsof improvement, it has nosedived from its peak in early 2007. Cousins has one of the four new office towers under developmentin Buckhead, a part of the city that absorbss about 350,000 to 500,000 square feet of office space annually. Offic vacancy in Buckhead could surpass 30 percenft by this timenext year, some commercialk real estate developers and brokers predict.
Thered are signs, however, that the market is pickingh up, Bell and Gellerstedt For one, the gap betweebn what investors are willing to pay for properties and what ownersa are willing to sell them for continues to While that spread was 400 basisz points a fewmonths ago, it is closeer to 100 points today, Bell Also, banks have a cleareer picture of their capital levels than they did earlier this and regulators are increasingly pushing them to deal some of theitr real estate owned Cousins (NYSE: CUZ) , posting net incomew of $164.2 million on $49 millionh in revenue.
At the end of the the company’s portfolio of operational office buildings was 90percenf leased, its portfolio of operational retail centerxs was 83 percent leased and its operationaol industrial buildings were 40 percent Gellerstedt began his career in 1978 as an estimator and projectg manager with , where he worked on the High Museum and the AT&g Long Lines Building in Manhattan. At only 26, he foundedf , a Beers subsidiarty that focusedon health-care developments. Gellerstedt was later named Beersz chairmanand CEO. Cousins acquirede his firm, the , in June 2005, and he joiner the company.
Gellerstedt was one of the architectsx of turning around the fortunes of One Ninety One Peachtree, the 50-storhy downtown tower Cousins acquired in 2006. The improvementx at One Ninety One have symbolizeed a return to prosperity for many parts of its economicboosters say. Shortly after Gellerstedy joined Cousins, One Ninety One had lost major tenantsand , and downtownh Atlanta was suffering from the exodus of those firmsw and others. Gellerstedt was instrumental in the rejuvenationm of OneNinety One, Bell "We basically gave this building to Larry," Bell "I remember when we were walking throughh the atrium several years ago that there was nothinhg in there.
It had this echo effect. And I said to 'What are we going to about this echo?' And Larrhy came right back and said, ‘I tell you what we're going to do. We're goinvg to fill this atrium and thisbuilding It's a totally different building One Ninety One was nearly 90 percenr leased at the beginnin of the year. Cousins also landed the Italian restauranft IlMulino Atlanta, which has also helped to revive the "I spent most of my career Gellerstedt said. "I've alwaye thought that One Ninety One is atimeleses asset.
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