Stirling Properties Announces Latest Investment Sale in Mobile, Alabama
Stirling Properties’ agents Justin Toomey and Andrew Dickman recently completed the sale of a 100,000 square-foot United States Postal Service facility in Mobile, Alabama. The industrial distribution warehouse, located at 4538 Shipyard Road, was sold for $3.1 Million on Friday, July 31, 2015. Justin and Andrew represented the seller, Alabama Gulfstar, LLC and a local Mobile based investor group with the acquisition.
For more information regarding investment sales, leasing opportunities or any of your real estate needs contact Stirling Properties at 251-375-2495 or visit www.stirlingproperties.com.
Louisiana Continues to be Recognized in National Rankings
As the International Council of Shopping Center’s (ICSC’s) State Director for Louisiana, I recently contributed an article for our Quarterly Membership Newsletter that I’d like to share:
Louisiana State Director’s Message – Summer 2015
I have written many times in recent newsletters about Louisiana’s economic development growth and I can’t help myself but to continue to report the good news. Our State continues to be on an unprecedented roll for economic growth and diversification that is really changing our trajectory in a way that is having extreme benefits on our industry, our career, our families and our long term well-being. The progress and growth is not going unnoticed, this summer’s publications have bestowed some significant rankings and milestones.
For the 6th straight year, Southern Business and Development has ranked Louisiana #1 among Southern states for attracting the most significant capital investment and job-creation projects per million residents. In the State of the Year category, Louisiana earned honorable mention. While not receiving State of the Year this year, Louisiana has earned State or Co-State of the Year honors in five of the past seven years. In addition our cities are being recognized individually as well.
- 2015 Small Market of the Year (Pop < 250K) – Lake Charles
- Honorable Mention – Houma-Thibodaux
- 2015 Major Market of the Year (Pop 750K – 2M)
- Honorable Mentions – New Orleans & Baton Rouge
- 2015 Mid-Market of the Year (Pop 250K – 750K)
- Honorable Mention – Shreveport
In June Area Development magazine awarded Louisiana the 2015 Silver Shovel Award (Pop 3M to 5M category) for posting one of the best economic development performances in the U.S. during the past year. The awards honor states with the most significant impact from their 10 leading investment and job creation projects during 2014. This is our State’s 6th year in a row earning a Silver Shovel Award.
In May Chief Executive magazine honored Louisiana with its highest ranking ever in its CEO survey of state business climates, ranking #7 on Best & Worst States for Business. This is up 40 positions since January 2008, representing the greatest improvement of any state in that time period. Additionally, Site Selection magazine picked Louisiana No. 2 in U.S. for economic development competitiveness in 2014 with 7 of the top 10 states located in the Southeast, which points to the region’s sustained competitiveness over the past decade.
All of this just a decade after most of the nation had written Louisiana off for dead following Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in the summer of 2005, quite remarkable to say the least. This is not only encouraging for our personal businesses but also inspiring for the business community in our State. I see the retail industry as a huge beneficiary of this success during this past decade with even brighter days ahead.
Never Cross the Streams, It Would Be Bad
Just as with proton streams when battling apparitions, banshees, phantoms or poltergeists, you don’t ever want to cross your store’s wifi with your public wifi.
What’s the issue? We have a perfectly good Internet connection that we use for our business computers, cash registers and automation systems, why not open it up to the public so that we can attract more business to our store? Really, you’re just trying to enrich the cable companies by making us buy another Internet connection for our customers. And the national outfit that wants the contract to install public wifi at our mall says that they can firewall the public wifi from our business cash registers without a problem. Cross their collective hearts and hope to die, they do this all the time and they never have a problem.
The first issue is that the sales lady from that national outfit would probably throw her own mother under the bus to get you to sign the contract. The second issue is that firewalls are software with vulnerabilities that can be hacked – firewalls are better than nothing, but it’s not something that Stirling uses to protect our corporate network from a public wifi on a shared Internet connection.
By crossing your business Internet with public wifi, the only thing you’re really accomplishing is providing a road map for someone to sit in the parking lot and hack your business. In this bold new world of interconnectivity that we live in, it’s simply safer and easier to calculate the cost of a dedicated Internet connection for your public wifi upfront before providing public wifi in your business, store or mall.
Jimmy Maurin and Roger Ogden, Founders of Stirling Properties, Give Back to LSU
Five Louisiana State Univeristy (LSU) business students – David Harms, Raju Marasani, Sawyer Chauvin, Saban Sellers, and James Guinn – received the 2015 ICSC Foundation Maurin Ogden LSU Scholarship Award. Funded by Jimmy Maurin and Roger Ogden, founders of Stirling Properties, this annual scholarship is awarded to a select handful of EJ Ourso College of Business students with an interest in Commercial Real Estate. The award provides an all-expense-paid attendance to the ICSC RECon Convention in Las Vegas.
David Harms, one of the award recipients, delivered the opening remarks as part of the ICSC Foundation Gala held on May 17th at the Wynn Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas.
More specifically, this scholarship is awarded to students enrolled in Finance 7720, Commercial Real Estate Investing, at LSU. This course is offered in both Spring and Fall semesters at LSU and taught by adjunct instructor Justin Landry of Stirling Properties. Each year Stirling Properties chaperones the five LSU Award Recipients to the convention, offering the students valuable exposure to industry leaders and potential employers at the convention.
“We’ve had tremendous success over the past two years with this scholarship award, in fact a handful of students have received jobs as a result of attending the convention,” said Justin Landry, Asset/Finance Manager for Stirling Properties. “None of this would be possible without the generosity of Stirling’s original founders, Jimmy Maurin and Roger Ogden who fund the scholarship yearly. There are no two people more committed to LSU, real estate and education.”
For more information about Finance 7720 – “Commercial Real Estate Investing” and its objectives contact Justin Landry at jclandry@stirlingprop.com or LSU Department of Finance at finance@tigers.lsu.edu.
Stirling Properties Stewardship Event Raises Over $40,000
Stirling Olympics
This past Friday, employees and agents of Stirling Properties gathered for the 3rd Annual Stirling Olympics, an event hosted by the Stirling Stewardship Committee to raise money for charitable causes. The event was a HUGE SUCCESS, with over $40,000 raised for charity!
Employees and agents divided into 10 teams with each team choosing their team name, colors, flag, and song. Charities were voted on in the weeks leading up to the event, with ALS Association and Alzheimer’s Association chosen as recipients of this year’s donations. Each of these well-deserving charities was presented with a check for $20,000.
Teams competed in 8 events – Hula Hoop Chain, Bean Bag Toss, Rubber Chicken Toss, Backwards Basketball, Word Scramble, Egg Relay, Pin the Mustache on the Partner and Shopping Cart Relay. Scores were tallied at the end of the day and individual medals were given for each event. Teams were awarded medals for top overall, top fundraising, most team spirit, most creative, and best sportsmanship. Events were judged by Tara Hernandez (JCH Development), Steve Zito (Zito-Russell Architects), Will Boudreaux (Netchex), Steven Serio (Fishman Haygood Phelps Walmsley Willis & Swanson, LLP), and Chip Songy (Former Stirling partner).
The Gold Medal overall went to Team Badditudes…congratulations to Justin Landry, Jeanne Taravella, Samantha Marshall, John Reynolds, Rhonda Creel, Brittany Orr, and Angie McArthur. Congratulations also to Ain’t Life A Beach who earned the Silver Medal – Melissa Serpas, Robin Zemke, Nathan Handmacher, Will Barrois, Ellen McCain, Bill Peitri, Paula Biggs, Jessica Zeringue, Robin Hayles, and Dominick Costanza. Townsend Underhill, Elaine Fullerton, Melinda Brazzel, Lindsey Palmer, Donna Allsup, John Toomey, Michele Wallace, Joe Gardner, Julie Watson and Mark Pinero of Stirling Funk You Up took home the Bronze Medal and Top Fundraising. Most Team Spirit awarded to Snow White & the Funky Dwarfs, Most Creative awarded to Wheelin N Dealin and Best Sportsmanship went to D’Funk Allstars.
At the end of the day, in an effort to raise even more money, the ownership team participated in a Bubble Soccer game versus 10 employees. For each goal the employees scored, the partners had to pay $500 to the Stewardship Committee. 16 goals were scored for a total of $8,000! This additional money will be used by the Stewardship Committee to donate to other charities throughout the year.
A special thanks to the Stirling Stewardship Committee for all their hard work organizing the event and making it happen.
Gulf South Investment Sales
Investment Sales remain a hot segment of the Commercial Real Estate Market in the Gulf South and opportunities continue to present themselves. A strong 2014 has bled over and the pattern is expected to continue.
Historically, local investors were hot on Louisiana, Mississippi and South Alabama earning slightly higher returns than most of the country. National and international investors viewed these markets as “risky” and, while considering properties in Texas and Florida, the Gulf South was too often overlooked, shrinking the buying pool.
In the past several years, that has all changed. Perception is reality, and here in the Gulf South is no exception. Low interest rates coupled with economic indicators stronger than national averages during the economic downturn grabbed the attention of investors from around the country. This led to increased activity from national investors who began seeing the opportunity that exists in these markets.
Six months ago some were asking “will lower oil prices impact the economic fundamentals in this market” and “will that impact pricing” in the Gulf South? The answers are yes and no. Yes, the energy sector does play a part in the economy. No, it has not affected pricing any more than in any other part of the country. Twenty years ago, these answers would not have been the same. Today, the economy of the Gulf South is more diverse than ever with rises in manufacturing, healthcare, technology and tourism making it more stable and attractive to investors. Gone are the days when the Gulf South economy relied so heavily on the energy sector.
Today, instead of overlooking the Gulf South, national investors are seeking out opportunities and considering properties within these markets as comparable to those of other similar markets around the country. While this may not seem to be an accomplishment, it is the first time in decades that these markets have competed on a national stage.
The continued low interest rate environment has caused many Gulf South owners to reconsider selling properties that they may not have in the past. While the so-called “bargains” of a few years ago are not as prevalent and several 2014 sales were done at all-time low cap rates, interest in acquisitions in the Gulf South remains very strong.
In 2014, Stirling Properties closed over $120 million in Investment Sales and is projecting similar numbers in 2015. Our knowledge of the Gulf South, comprehensive in-house brokerage services and proven track record of buying and selling investment properties positions us as the regional industry leaders for investment sales.
