Louisiana State University Takes 3rd Place (Again!) In Global ARGUS University Challenge
Continues to propel national spotlight on growing educational real estate programs at LSU
Stirling Properties commercial real estate company is pleased to announce students from Louisiana State University (LSU) E.J. Ourso College of Business were awarded 3rd place in the global 2017 ARGUS Software University Challenge.
Since 2011, ARGUS Software has hosted the competitive challenge for university students from around the world aspiring to be commercial real estate professionals. Through this challenge, students create real-world investment strategies through informed decisions using ARGUS Software solutions. The theme of the case this year was Pokémon GO! A panel of judges from the academic community and real estate industry participated in reviewing the case studies and nominating the winners.
More than 30 top real estate programs from universities worldwide participated in the competition. The University of San Diego won 1st place, Cornell University placed 2nd, LSU took 3rd, and UCLA earned an honorable mention.
The team from LSU—Garrett Choate, Whitney Gaulter, Matt Hingle, Tyler Tamboli, Sophie Weber, Jason Wyman, and Cassius Dsouza—was coached by Stirling Properties Vice President of Finance, Justin Landry. Landry serves as an adjunct professor teaching Finance 7720 (Commercial Real Estate Investing). This is the 6th year he has taught the course and the 6th year an LSU team has competed in the ARGUS Challenge. It also marks the 2nd time placing under Landry’s leadership.
“This is the second consecutive year that we have secured a 3rd place finish in this competition, so it is no longer beginners luck! This win will certainly garner larger attention around the nation for LSU real estate programs and for students who seek a career in the industry. I am very proud of this team for their accomplishments—they have really worked hard,” said Landry.
LSU’s team secured $3,000 for the university through ARGUS Software. In addition, the students were bestowed the 2017 ICSC (International Council of Shopping Centers) Maurin-Ogden Foundation LSU Scholarship Award, funded by Jimmy Maurin and Roger Ogden, founders of Stirling Properties. Through the scholarship, students will receive all-expense-paid attendance to the ICSC RECon in Las Vegas, the world’s largest retail real estate convention. Each year Stirling Properties hosts LSU Award Recipients at the conference, offering the students valuable exposure to industry leaders and potential employers.
“We truly thank Stirling Properties’ founders, Jimmy Maurin and Roger Ogden for their generosity and unwavering commitment to LSU, real estate, and education. This is an invaluable opportunity for these students to meet and network with industry leaders. Many of our students in the past have garnered great job prospects through this experience,” said Landry.
For more information about Finance 7720 (Commercial Real Estate Investing) and its objectives, contact Justin Landry at jclandry@stirlingprop.com.
Stirling Properties is located at 109 Northpark Blvd., Suite 300 in Covington, Louisiana. For more information regarding our services, please visit us at www.stirlingproperties.com.
Stirling Properties Lets the Good Times Roll!
Celebrates Team Members At Annual Stirling Honors Event
Stirling Properties commercial real estate company recently celebrated its 18th Annual Stirling Honors to recognize the successes and accomplishments of Team Stirling over the past year. The Stirling Honors luncheon was held at Fulton Alley in New Orleans. A Commercial Celebration Dinner was also organized to honor Commercial Agents and to grant Commercial Production Awards at The Chicory in New Orleans.
Tim Williamson, President of NOLA Media Group
Stirling Properties employees were treated to a reinvigorating day of motivational messages, great food, team-building interaction, and, of course, bowling! Tim Williamson, President of NOLA Media Group, delivered the keynote address. REINVENTION was the overall theme of the day, inspiring the activities throughout. Marty Mayer, Stirling Properties President & CEO, served as the event host and emcee and discussed the need for a company to continually reinvent itself to grow and stay relevant in an ever-changing industry. Playing off the adage, “When nothing is sure, anything is possible,” he stressed that amidst the backdrop of such uncertainty in the business climate, we must be innovative and transform our strategic process to create new opportunities for progress. 
Robin Hayles and Ellen McCain were acknowledged as recipients of Stirling Properties’ most prestigious honor, the Exceeding Excellence Award, for extraordinary employee actions and innovations that better the company. Exceeding Excellence Award recipients are nominated and selected by their co-workers. Commercial Award recipients received recognition for Bronze, Silver, Platinum, Diamond and Ruby production levels based on individual Adjusted Gross Commission figures for 2016. Special acknowledgment was given to Rhonda Sharkawy, Senior Retail Leasing and Development Executive in New Orleans, for being the Top Commercial Agent in 2016!
COMMERCIAL DIVISION AWARDS
Ruby Award:
Emerald Award:
Diamond Award:
Platinum Award:
Gold Award:
Silver Award:
Bronze Award:
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Also recognized were employees and agents who achieved special anniversaries with the company. Service Awards were given for 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 35, and 40-year milestones. A special presentation was prepared for Judy McKee, Vice-President of Human Resources, who celebrated 40 years of service with the company!
SERVICE AWARDS
5 Years of Service Jason Babin – Southpark Storage Roger Bajon – Covington, LA Office John Berges – New Orleans, LA Office Carolyn Ciarrocchi – Lafayette, LA Office Scott Macdonald – Baton Rouge, LA Office 10 Years of Service Carri Creel – Covington, LA Office Lindsey Palmer – Covington, LA Office Dawn Plaisance – Covington, LA Office Debra Sebastian – Metairie, LA Office Tara Slater – Covington, LA Office 15 Years of Service Rhonda Creel – Covington, LA Office Patrick Malik – Covington, LA Office Ellen McCain – Covington, LA Office Ryan Pecot – Lafayette, LA Office Jeanne Taravella – Covington, LA Office 20 Years of Service Charles Cornay – Lafayette, LA Office Bonnie Hoover – Metairie, LA Office 25 Years of Service John Arthurs – New Orleans, LA Office 30 Years of Service Marty Mayer – Covington, LA Office 35 Years of Service Donna Derokey – Covington, LA Office Michele Wallace – Covington, LA Office 40 Years of Service Judy McKee – Covington, LA Office
Stirling Properties hires Amanda Goldman as Sales and Leasing Executive
Stirling Properties commercial real estate company is pleased to announce Amanda Goldman as Sales and Leasing Executive for its Commercial Brokerage Division in Alabama. Goldman will work from the company’s Mobile office located at One St. Louis Centre, 1 St. Louis Street, Suite 4100.
Goldman has been active in real estate in Alabama for five years. She is a candidate for the designation of Certified Commercial Investment Member (CCIM).
Following 11 years of service in the United States Air Force, Goldman has spent more than 30 years in sales, developing an expertise in working with both national and local businesses and providing quality service.
Current affiliations include membership in the CCIM, as well as the Alabama Chapter of CCIM, and the National Association of Realtors (NAR). A native of Manhattan, New York, Amanda currently resides in Daphne, Alabama, and has three grown daughters.
Amanda Goldman can be reached at (251) 375-2490 or agoldman@stirlingprop.com.
Stirling Properties is located at One St. Louis Centre, 1 St. Louis Street, Suite 4100 in Mobile, Alabama. For more information regarding our services, please visit us at stirlingprop.com.
Stirling Properties Welcomes The Home Depot to Hammond Square
Stirling Properties commercial real estate company is pleased to announce that The Home Depot is coming to Hammond, Louisiana, as part of the Hammond Square redevelopment. This will mark the first Tangipahoa Parish location for the long-awaited home improvement retailer.
The Home Depot closed on the acquisition of 9.65 acres of property located on the corner of West Minnesota Park Road and South Magnolia Street on the north side of the shopping center. Construction on the site is anticipated to commence by the end of the year. The store will occupy roughly 106,000 square feet of space with an adjoining 28,000-square-foot garden center, and is expected to open in 2017.
“We are excited that The Home Depot has chosen Hammond,” said City of Hammond Mayor Pete Panepinto. “The Home Depot brings more jobs and consumer choices that are critical to Hammond’s continued growth.”
The Home Depot is the world’s largest home improvement retailer with nearly 400,000 associates and more than 2,200 stores in the US, Canada and Mexico. The Home Depot at Hammond Square will offer a one-stop shop for do-it-yourselfers and professional contractors, with more than 35,000 products in store and 1 million products online.
“Stirling Properties is thrilled to welcome The Home Depot to Hammond Square and to the Hammond retail market,” said Grady Brame, Executive Vice President at Stirling Properties. “The Home Depot was one of the first retailers we targeted when we decided to redevelop the mall back in 2006. This addition has been a long time coming and we are happy to see it finally come to fruition.”
Hammond Square is Tangipahoa Parish’s premier shopping destination, located on approximately 100 acres at the northwest corner of Interstate 12 and US Highway 51 Business (SW Railroad Avenue) in Hammond, Louisiana. Anchored by Dillard’s, Target, Sears, JCPenney, Academy Sports+Outdoors, and AMC Theatres, the 850,000-square-foot shopping center offers a dynamic mix of national and local retailers, shops and restaurants. Stirling Properties developed Hammond Square and currently manages and leases the center.
Tenants include Academy Sports+Outdoors, Albasha Greek & Lebanese Restaurant, AMC Theatres, Bellagio Salon & Spa, Best Buy, Books-A-Million, Bra la Vie (coming spring 2017), Cato, Charming Charlie, Claire’s, Dillard’s, East of Italy, Foot Locker, GNC, Great American Cookies, Hibbett Sports, JCPenney, Justice, Kay Jewelers, Maurices, Menchie’s Frozen Yogurt, Nagoya Sushi & Japanese Steakhouse, Norris & Co. Salon, Obsession, Popcorn Bistro, Rite Aid, rue21, Sears, Shane’s Rib Shack, Shoe Dept. Encore, Sport Clips, Target, The Children’s Place, The Home Depot (coming 2017), T.J.Maxx, ULTA Beauty, Which Wich Superior Sandwiches and Zales. Outparcels tenants include Chase, Olive Garden, Raising Cane’s, Santa Fe Cattle Co., Smoothie King and Verizon.
For sales and leasing information at Hammond Square, contact Rhonda Sharkawy at rsharkawy@stirlingprop.com or (504) 620-8145.
Debunking E-Commerce Myths
We’ve recently heard of fake news stories, hoaxes, and fabricated plots that have permeated headlines lately—and, unfortunately, the negative consequences that some have caused.
One such fictitious headline that’s running rampant is “the death of the shopping mall” and countless more tales of online sales putting brick-and-mortar stores out of business. But the reality is that the in-store vs. online struggle is not quite the battle that you probably think it is. In fact, physical stores continue to dominate retail sales.
So with the proliferation of fake news stories, here are a few facts to debunk these e-commerce myths and demonstrate the strength of the shopping center industry.
In-store retail sales accounts for $4.2 trillion or 90.7% of the market. A common perception is that online giants, such as Amazon, dwarf brick-and-mortar competition, but the reality is that Amazon is still a small percentage of the overall market. Online-only retailers represent merely about 3.5% of all U.S. retail sales.
Research also shows that 78% of consumers prefer to shop in-store, and spend significantly more per month in a physical store than online. We’re also seeing that omni-channel retailing is actually an enhancement to brick-and-mortar stores. E-commerce and other technological advances are improving the brick-and-mortar shopping experience and boosting sales at physical stores. 93.4% of all retail sales owe all or part of sales to a brick-and-mortar presence.
These are all encouraging statistics that confirm the shopping center industry is thriving, and the rise of technology and e-commerce is not going to change that. But we do need to change our thought process. Industry professionals and supporters need to advocate for our shopping centers and educate the consumer. According to one of my industry colleagues, “The consumer needs to be told that bricks and mortar is here to stay because if you keep telling the consumer it’s dead, the consumer will think it’s dead and start shopping online.”
Our friends at ICSC (International Council of Shopping Centers) have recently drafted several editorial pieces that have appeared in national news publications such as The Wall Street Journal. We are grateful for the leadership of Tom McGee and his team to help this business create our own sources of credible information, and to educate consumers on how vital the shopping center industry is, to both them and our entire country. Read the full articles “A Talk With Tom McGee” and “E-Commerce and Physical Stores Are Friends with a Common Purpose.”
-Marty
‘Tis the Season For Giving
For the 5th year, Stirling Properties has participated in the Volunteers of America Christmas Wish project. Employees and agents donated Christmas gifts, food baskets and other essential items to local families across our Gulf South region.
Volunteers of America helps more than 2 million people every year in over 400 communities. The annual Christmas Wish Project helps bring joy and holiday cheer to families and individuals who might not have a Christmas at all. Through Volunteers of America, participating families submit three “wish list” gift items for each individual. Stirling Properties and employees were able to fill every single wish! In all, close to 30 families and more than 49 children, adults and seniors received Christmas gifts. Additionally, each family received a food basket with tasty treats for the holiday season.
Stirling Properties’ Stewardship Committee organized the company-wide event by partnering with Volunteers of America in Greater New Orleans, Greater Baton Rouge, Northwest Louisiana and the Southeast to serve the New Orleans Northshore and Southshore, Baton Rouge, Lafayette, Shreveport-Bossier City and Mobile communities.
In addition to donating to the Christmas Wish Project, Stirling Properties hosted the second annual Northpark Christmas Bazaar, Bake Sale and Raffle on Friday, November 18th. Local vendors, as well as employees of the Northpark office complex sold crafts, jewelry, ornaments, books, beauty products and many other great gift items.
The Bake Sale and Raffle raised nearly $2,000, which was donated in full to Volunteers of America’s Greater New Orleans’ Christmas Family Program!
Participating in this project is always a great reminder of the true spirit of the Holiday Season – giving and generosity. Stirling Properties is committed to supporting the communities where we live and work, and we will continue to support local nonprofits, community groups and charitable organizations throughout the year and beyond.
Thank you to all of the vendors, donors and shoppers who made this project a huge success. You are all on Santa’s nice list! We hope to see you next year.
For more information about Stirling’s Stewardship Committee, please visit our website or contact us by email at stewardship@stirlingprop.com.
