News
ANOTHER FOR STEVE MARTIN?
March 14, 2011
| Steve Martin's purse strings are open again. And he would very much like to go on a buying spree for assets like the one he bought recently. | |
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| Here's Suwannee Gateway, a 142k SF five-story office building in North Gwinnett that SDM Partners (a union between Steve and the Atlanta office of Colliers International), purchased last year for $7.7M from Fifth Third Bank, which itself took it over from Opus South. It was completely empty and has remained so, although Steve's seeing a pop in activity in the area. He admits that—at least for core properties—it somewhat worries him to see cap rates have dropped again, with caps even in Atlanta dipping below 7% for solid assets, such as the record trade for 3344 Peachtree. ?We're getting right back where we were. And you sort of scratch your head wondering about that,? he says. ?If you would have told me two years ago that we'd be back to this level of yield, if ever, I'd say no way.? | |
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| ?I believe we're in something that comes along in this severity onlyevery 30 to 40 years,? Steve told us over breakfast at Midtown's Silver Skillet. He says volatility in today's market and banks unloading bad assets have finally led to opportunities to buy truevalue-add office buildings. And he's planning to buy as much as he can: ?For guys like me, I've got to be out front. At some point I'll get priced out of the market.? Steve calls himself a ?redneck from Powder Springs? who ?by luck, grace of God and hard work? ended up going to Wharton Business School for his MBA. His most sage advice: ?It's what I tell my son: It's not where you start, it's where you finish.? | |
