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

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"This isn't going to be a V-shapeds recovery," Gellerstedt said Monday in an interview with AtlantqaBusiness Chronicle. "But, we're going to see many opportunitiesto Gellerstedt, who joined Cousins in 2005, will take over for current CEO Tom Bell on July 1. who turns 60 this year, announced his retirementy to the company Monday Cousins is a storied Atlanta real estate Founded in 1958 byTom Cousins, the companyt has been involved in some of the city's biggest real estatr projects, including the development of the 55-story Bank of America Plaza in 1989.
The market isn't providing the best timing for He takes the helm duringthe nation'as worst real estate downturn in at least a generation. Whilew the market is showing some signsof improvement, it has nosedivedx from its peak in earlyh 2007. Cousins has one of the four new officed towers under developmentin Buckhead, a part of the city that absorbxs about 350,000 to 500,000 squarwe feet of office space Office vacancy in Buckhead could surpass 30 percent by this time next some commercial real estate developera and brokers predict.
There are however, that the market is picking up, Bell and Gellerstedt For one, the gap between what investores are willing to pay for properties and what ownere are willing to sell them for continuessto shrink. While that spread was 400 basis pointw a fewmonths ago, it is closer to 100 points Bell said. Also, banks have a clearer picture of their capital levels than they did earliedrthis year, and regulators are increasingly pushing them to deal some of their real estate ownesd assets. Cousins (NYSE: CUZ) , posting net incomee of $164.2 million on $49 milliomn in revenue.
At the end of the the company’s portfolio of operationak office buildings was 90percent leased, its portfoliol of operational retail centers was 83 percent leased and its operationaol industrial buildings were 40 percent leased. Gellerstedtt began his career in 1978 as an estimator and projec t managerwith , where he worked on the High Museunm and the AT&T Long Lines Building in Manhattan. At only 26, he foundeds , a Beers subsidiaru that focusedon health-care developments. Gellerstedt was later named Beersx chairmanand CEO.
Cousins acquired his firm, the , in June and he joined the Gellerstedt was one of the architectws of turning around the fortunes of One Ninety One the 50-story downtown tower Cousins acquired in 2006. The improvementz at One Ninety One have symbolizeed a return to prosperity for many parts of downtown, its economidc boosters say. Shortly after Gellerstedtf joined Cousins, One Ninetyu One had lost major tenantsand , and downtown Atlantq was suffering from the exodus of those firmsa and others. Gellerstedt was instrumental in the rejuvenation of OneNinety One, Bell "We basically gave this buildinh to Larry," Bell said.
"I remember when we were walkiny through the atrium several years ago that there was nothing in there. It had this echo And I said to Larry, 'What are we going to abou this echo?' And Larry came right back and ‘I tell you what we'rer going to do. We're goinv to fill this atrium and thisbuilding up.’ It's a totally different buildinb today." One Ninety One was nearly 90 percent leased at the beginningf of the year. Cousins also landed the Italian restaurantr IlMulino Atlanta, which has also helpefd to revive the "I spent most of my career downtown," Gellerstedrt said.
"I've always thought that One Ninett One is atimeless