Stirling Properties’ Will Barrois Appointed to the Advisory Board of Trustees of the Alabama Center for Real Estate
Stirling Properties is pleased to announce that Will Barrois, Vice President/Regional Manager of Alabama and Florida, has been appointed as an Industry-Specific member of the Advisory Board of Trustees of the Alabama Center for Real Estate. Mr. Barrois was appointed by the University of Alabama’s Culverhouse College of Commerce, the Alabama Association of Realtors and the Alabama Real Estate Commission. The appointment is for a two-year term effective through December 31, 2016.
Stirling Properties Expands Asset Management Team
Stirling Properties is excited to announce two additions to its growing Asset Management Division. Charles Barclay joins Stirling Properties as Assistant Asset Manager on a variety of retail and office properties in the Greater New Orleans area. Mr. Barclay’s office is in the company’s Corporate Headquarters at 109 Northpark Boulevard, Suite 300 in Covington, Louisiana. Before moving to New Orleans, Mr. Barclay worked for CW Capital Asset Management in Bethesda, Maryland where he was involved in the management of over $500 million of REO multifamily assets across the United States. He is a 2009 graduate of the University of Maryland. Ryan Juneau, Project Manager with Stirling Properties since 2013, will transfer from the Development team to Asset Management. His transition to Assistant Asset Manager will occur over the next several months as he completes several of his development assignments. Mr. Juneau has worked as project manager on MacArthur Village, Perkins Row, Ambassador Town Center, River Chase and the Hornbeck Offshore office renovation at Northpark Corporate Center II, amongst others. These projects cover retail, office, multi-family, and infrastructure development. Mr. Juneau earned a Masters of Business Administration from Louisiana State University and currently resides in Baton Rouge.
Stirling Properties Celebrates Team Members at Annual Stirling Honors Event
Stirling Honors – 40 Year Toast
Stirling Properties officially celebrated the company’s 40th anniversary during Stirling Honors, an annual event to celebrate the Stirling Team. On Thursday, March 19th, the company hosted a Commercial Celebration Dinner to honor Commercial Agents and to award Commercial Production Awards. On Friday, March 20th, Stirling Properties hosted the Stirling Honors meeting and recognition luncheon, a day to honor the hard work and dedication of the entire Stirling Team and to award Service Awards. Both events were held at Harrah’s Hotel in New Orleans. Commercial Award recipients received recognition for Bronze, Silver, Platinum, Diamond and Ruby production levels based on individual Adjusted Gross Commission figures for 2014. This was the first time in Stirling Properties’ history that four agents reached Ruby Level status in the same year. Special recognition was given to Ryan Pecot, Senior Leasing Executive in the Lafayette office, for being the Top Agent in 2014.
Ruby Award 2014:
Diamond Award 2014:
Platinum Award 2014:
Silver Award 2014:
Bronze Award 2014:
Also recognized were employees and agents who achieved special anniversaries with the company. Service Awards were given to 5, 10, 15, 25 and 30 year milestones. 30 Years: Sharon Amacker – Covington, LA Office Donna Taylor – Covington, LA Office 25 Years: Jeff Marshall – Covington, LA Office Rick Skelding – New Orleans, LA Office Monica Milazzo – Covington, LA Office Dottie Tarleton – Baton Rouge, LA Office 15 Years: James Hutchinson – Baton Rouge, LA Office James Bennett – Covington, LA Office Joe Kramer – Covington, LA Office 10 Years: Roslyn Pellegrin – Covington, LA Office Mark Salvetti – Covington, LA Office Tracy Gandy – Covington, LA Office 5 Years: Jessica Zeringue – Covington, LA Office Rick Pomerenke – Lafayette, LA Office Phillip Perkins – Baton Rouge, LA Office Jim Short – Baton Rouge, LA Office Kathy McGoey – Covington, LA Office
President’s Message: Change and Progress
Our 40th year is now in full swing! Recently, we officially celebrated this milestone during our annual Stirling Honors recognition luncheon. My message for the day centered around Tony Robins’ quote “Change is Inevitable. Progress is Optional.” Stirling has survived and prospered over the years and it is clear that Stirling opted to choose progress. Here’s what 40 years looks like in a 4 minute video:[wpvideo k1cJ0dhf] During Stirling Honors, I also highlighted many of our recent achievements across the entire spectrum of our company:
- Commercial Brokerage: 2014 was a record year across all business lines – office, retail, industrial and investment sales – with volume up 65%!
- Magnolia Marketplace, New Orleans, LA: With partners JCH Development, we recently celebrated the grand opening on the site of a former housing project almost 10 years after Hurricane Katrina – significant not only for the location but the timing
- Ambassador Town Center, Lafayette, LA: Our 2nd joint venture with CBL is under construction with the official groundbreaking ceremony this month
- Fremaux Town Center, Slidell, LA: Phase I opened a year ago; Phase II is well underway with a scheduled October opening
- Academy Sports + Outdoors, Lake Charles, LA: Under construction with scheduled Summer opening
- Premier Centre, Mandeville, LA: Successfully landed our 1st Whole Foods deal, to open January 2016
- Offices at Mid-City Market, New Orleans, LA: Historic tax credit rehab adjacent to Mid-City Market, anchor Gallo Mechanical set to occupy and open by year end 2015
- Walgreens, Terrytown & Metairie, LA: Terrytown opened a year ago and was our first build-to-sell; fee development Metairie at Vets & Power Blvds is under construction
- Perkins Rowe, Baton Rouge, LA: Awarded leasing and management contract last year; condos now on the market, new block of apartments available this summer, office activity is brisk and more retailers/deals in the works
- Ansley Place, Houma, LA: Acquired the 246-unit Class A luxury garden-style apartment complex for $27.3 Million last year
- Alabama/Florida Expansion: Since opening in Mobile less than 2 years ago, we have acquired John Toomey & Company Inc. in Mobile, opened a Pensacola office and expanded/consolidated the Mobile office into One St. Louis Centre in Downtown Mobile; totaling 34 employees/brokers and 2.5 million square feet managed
- Santa Rosa Mall, Mary Esther, FL: Recently awarded contract for leasing and property management of this 734,000 square-foot enclosed mall
Reflecting back on these accomplishments in light of the 40th anniversary of our company, it underscores the fact that change is most certainly inevitable and makes me proud that we have chosen the option to progress.
I know that the future will continue to present us with twists and turns and unexpected new challenges; however, I am confident that we will face these challenges with the knowledge that we have built a strong foundation, rooted solidly in values which are timeless, consistent and enduring.
Indeed change is inevitable…and at Stirling Properties progress is not optional!
Stirling Properties Welcomes Andrew Dickman to its Mobile, AL Team
Stirling Properties is pleased to announce the addition of Andrew Dickman to the Commercial Brokerage Division as Sales and Leasing Executive. Andrew will work from the company’s Mobile, Alabama office located at 1 St. Louis Street, Suite 4100.
Andrew’s expertise and experience include development and brokerage of raw land, site selection and site analysis for national retailers and restaurant chains, marketing and disposition of existing or dark national retail and restaurant sites, Landlord and Tenant representation for big box retailers and small shop tenants and commercial real estate portfolio sales.
Andrew is a CCIM candidate and a graduate of Indiana State University. He can be reached at 251-375-2483 or andrewdickman@stirlingprop.com.
End of Life (EOL), Have you made your plans?
Thanks to the overwhelming media hype last year, we all know by now that Windows XP went End of Life and out-of-support by Microsoft on April 8, 2014, but did you know that Microsoft Windows 2003 is going End of Life on July 14th of this year?
Do you have a file server in your office that is still running on Windows 2003? Are any of your key control systems, hvac or other automation systems running on Windows 2000 or 2003? Seems like every time Stirling starts managing a new property, we run into a slew of Windows XP computers and/or an old Windows 2003 Server or two.
What’s the big deal? Why should we care if software goes End of Life? We all see the sensationalized hacks that are publicized in the media which are sometimes just hype, what they miss is the whole industry that’s grown up around exploiting your operating systems and software. It’s the old game of cat and mouse or whack a mole, but updated for our digital world. Criminals find holes that they can exploit and then companies like Microsoft release a patch to fix the hole. If you stay up-to-date with the patches, you’re in ok shape. The problem comes when a product goes End of Life – the criminals are still finding and exploiting the security holes, but Microsoft is no longer issuing patches to fix the holes so if you’re running an Operating System or software that’s no longer supported, you’re throwing a big neon sign out to the world that says please exploit my systems.
Running an old version of Internet Explorer, Microsoft Office or some other productivity software that’s no longer supported? Same problem, probably need to look into upgrading.
Is your automation system running an old version of Windows? Might want to check with your vendor to find out what needs to be done to get you up-to-date. Looking at installing a new Automation System? If the dollars add up, ask about systems that run on proprietary hardware and software, instead of Windows. Windows is a great general purpose operating system, but part of what makes it so versatile, also makes it a huge risk for security exploits.
We no longer live in a world where we can put systems out and forget about them. We need to stay up-to-date on the patches, know the End of Life dates and keep your automation systems under contract so you can keep them up-to-date.
