Stirling Properties’ Commercial Agents Among Top Industry Producers In The Greater New Orleans Area
Stirling Properties commercial real estate agents were recently honored for outstanding industry achievements and transactions during the New Orleans Metropolitan Association of REALTORS® (NOMAR) Commercial Investment Division’s (CID) 25th Annual Achievement Awards ceremony.
(Pictured L to R: Chris Abadie, Sonia Shoemaker, Carly Plotkin, Lauren Ryan, Joe Gardner, Melissa Warren, and Gaines Seaman)
Gaines Seaman receives the F. Poche Waguespack Award
Gaines Seaman, Sales & Leasing Executive, earned the Overall Top Producer of 2017 and was the recipient of the prestigious F. Poche Waguespack Award for outstanding achievement with a sales and leasing volume of more than $33.9 million. Seaman was also awarded for Top Landlord Office Lease and Overall Top Office Producer. Additionally, he was instrumental in brokering the deal that earned Stirling Properties 2nd Place for Largest Transaction Award to a Company with the recent 178,000-square-foot office lease to DXC Technology in New Orleans’ CBD.
Rhonda Sharkawy, Senior Retail Leasing & Development Executive, was the overall top retail producer in the greater New Orleans area with a sales and leasing volume of nearly $38 million in 2017. She received the newly created designation of Overall Hall of Fame for Retail Achievement. She was also awarded Top Landlord Retail Lease and Most Transactions for 2017. A Hall of Fame was created in 2014 after Sharkawy received the F. Poche Waguespack Award five years in a row.
Lauren Ryan, Sales & Leasing Executive; Melissa Warren, CCIM, Sales & Leasing Executive; and Beezie Landry, Vice President of Investment Advisors were among Production Award recipients for obtaining total commercial credit sales and leasing of more than $2.5 million.
With forty agents and ten offices spanning the Gulf South region, Stirling Properties’ brokerage team specializes in all aspects of commercial real estate including retail, office, industrial, and investment sales. In 2017, our commercial brokers completed 651 transactions totaling 5.1 million square feet, with a total commercial volume of over $318 million.
Stirling Properties Brokers Sale of 184,608 SF Executive Office Tower in Metairie, LA
Stirling Properties commercial real estate company has brokered the sale of the Executive Office Tower located at 3500 North Causeway Boulevard in Metairie, LA. Roger Bajon, Broker Associate with Stirling Properties, represented the seller in the property transaction.
The Executive Office Tower is a 184,608-square-foot, 14-story high-rise office building located in the heart of the Metairie Business District. Conveniently situated near the southwest intersection of Causeway Boulevard and West Esplanade Avenue, the property offers proximity and easy access to all major destinations around the city including the New Orleans CBD, Northshore, and Louis Armstrong International Airport.
A well-established real estate firm out of Dallas, TX, purchased the office building as an investment property. The building will remain a multi-tenant office tower, housing notable tenants such as Keystone Engineering. The buyer has plans for future capital improvements to the property, including remarketing and increasing occupancy of the office space.
“This sale truly demonstrates the strength of the New Orleans office market—particularly in the suburban office market area of Metairie,” said Bajon. “We have worked with this buyer for quite some time to secure the acquisition of this property. The Executive Office Tower’s aesthetic attraction, ample surface parking, strong historic occupancy, and strategic location in such a desirable business district are all key factors that brought this deal to fruition.”
Roger Bajon can be reached at rbajon@stirlingprop.com or (985) 246-3749.
Stirling Properties Welcomes Drive Shack to New Orleans
Stirling Properties commercial real estate company is pleased to announce that Drive Shack is officially coming to the greater New Orleans area. This celebrates one of the first locations for the new golf entertainment concept.
Ryan Pécot and Saban Sellers, leasing executives with Stirling Properties, represented Drive Shack in securing the location.
Drive Shack is leasing the former Times-Picayune facility located at 3800 Howard Avenue, just off Interstate 10. The company is expected to demolish the existing building to make way for a three-story, 62,000-square-foot facility that will include 90 indoor driving range bays, a restaurant, corporate and group event space, additional lounge areas, and ample parking.
Demolition is expected to commence by June-July of this year with Drive Shack beginning construction shortly thereafter. Opening date of the facility is anticipated for late 2019.
Drive Shack is a new-to-market entertainment concept that is competing in the same space as the more established Topgolf brand. The first Drive Shack location opened in Orlando, Florida, this week. Drive Shack also has locations in the works in Richmond, Virginia; Raleigh, North Carolina; West Palm Beach, Florida; and Marietta, Georgia.
“Stirling Properties is thrilled to welcome Drive Shack to the greater New Orleans area. This deal has been in the works for quite some time, and we are happy to see it finally come to fruition,” said Sellers. “This is an exciting new-to-market concept—not just for New Orleans—but for the entire nation. The company is planning an aggressive expansion, and we are proud that they chose our market.”
“The greater New Orleans area is long overdue for major entertainment concepts such as Drive Shack. Retail and restaurant venues are evolving—consumers want to be entertained,” said Pecot. “We are proud to have had the opportunity to help Drive Shack find and secure this location, and we are confident that the company will perform exceptionally well in this market.”
National Association of REALTORS® Selects Beth Cristina as Commercial Committee Chair
Stirling Properties’ Senior Broker Associate, Beth Cristina, ALC, has been selected as the 2018 Commercial Committee Chair for the National Association of REALTORS® (NAR). She assumed the role on January 1, 2018, and will serve for a one-year term.
The Commercial Committee’s purpose is to identify, monitor, review, analyze, and recommend policies addressing commercial real estate industry issues and trends, with a focus on affecting business solutions that help members achieve their business goals more effectively.
“Beth’s role on the committee will help to bring value and benefit to the association’s 1.3 million members, the nation’s 75 million real estate property owners, and the numerous individuals striving to achieve homeownership,” said Elizabeth Mendenhall, 2018 NAR President, who made the appointment. “I know Beth cares deeply about our profession, our industry, and the clients we serve, and she will help to guide us forward; I am proud to have her serve as Commercial Committee Chair.”
As Committee Chair, Cristina will help to advance the organization’s 2018 goals, which include involving committee members in outreach with large brokerage firms to increase brand awareness and membership; developing commercial member testimonials on the value of the REALTORS® Political Action Committee (RPAC); and working with NAR Consumer Communications Committee to increase the amount of advertising relating to commercial brokerage.
“I’m excited and grateful for the opportunity to take on this leadership role. I’m honored to serve on NAR’s Commercial Committee and to contribute to the decision-making process and help shape the direction of the association and its policies,” said Cristina. “Volunteering is crucial for the future of our business. President Ronald Regan said it best ‘The work of volunteer groups throughout our country represents the very heart and soul of America. They have helped make this the most compassionate, generous, and humane society that ever existed on the face of this earth.’”
Cristina has over thirty-eight years of successful experience in commercial real estate sales, leasing, development, and investments. Her qualifications include retail and office market analysis, tenant/landlord and purchaser/seller representation, marketing sales, leasing strategies, and consulting services. She has earned numerous awards and recognition throughout her career, including Outstanding Achievement in Commercial Real Estate, Realtor of the Year, and Woman of the Year.
Most recently, she served as the 2017 NAR Commercial Committee Vice-Chair. She is also affiliated with several business and professional organizations, including Realtor Land Institute (RLI); Louisiana Realtors (LR), where she served as 2015 President; New Orleans Metropolitan Association of Realtors (NOMAR), where she served as 2005 President; and Commercial Investment Division (CID) of NOMAR, where she served as President for 2000 and 2008.
The National Association of REALTORS® is America’s largest trade association, representing over 1.3 million members, including NAR’s institutes, societies, and councils, involved in all aspects of the residential and commercial real estate industries. Membership is composed of residential and commercial realtors who are brokers, salespeople, property managers, appraisers, counselors, and others engaged in the real estate industry.
Beth Cristina can be reached at (504) 620-8127 or bcristina@stirlingprop.com.
President’s Message: A dog and a birthday celebration.
No, this is not the punchline for a corny joke. These two things have special significance in 2018. They are both symbolic of an exciting and momentous year to come for our company, our region, and our industry. Let me explain.
According to the Chinese Zodiac, 2018 is the Year of the Dog. The Chinese regard the dog as an auspicious animal, and even more encouraging is its characteristic word: Action! Being proactive is essential in keeping up with the change of today’s fast-paced landscape.
As for the birthday, the City of New Orleans is celebrating its Tricentennial Anniversary this year. In typical New Orleans style, there are many festivities planned throughout the year. (More to come.) However, the 300th Anniversary is more than just a party. It’s a celebration and reflection of the past, present, and future of New Orleans and our region as a whole. The Crescent City has quite a unique and colorful history and has undergone tremendous transformation to reestablish itself over the years. Recently, New Orleans has become one of the most remarkable comeback stories in our nation.
Stirling Properties is entering our 43rd year in business. (In dog years, that’s 301 years.) Much like the City of New Orleans, we too have transformed dramatically from where we started to where we are today. The speed of change—mostly resulting from technological advancements—is tremendously affecting not only our business but our entire lives. To me, the pace seems to be moving in dog years. It’s accelerating 7x over what we’ve witnessed in the past! We must learn to adapt to keep stride.
As evidence to our transformation and evolution as a company, last year, we celebrated many major achievements, including our expansion into the healthcare real estate sector, increasing our portfolio to more than 17.8 million square feet of property, and growing our footprint in the Gulf South region.
In 2017:
Stirling Properties acquired the shuttered Louisiana Heart Hospital in Lacombe, Louisiana, out of bankruptcy. We partnered with Ochsner, St. Tammany Parish Hospital, and Slidell Memorial Hospital to repurpose the 205,000-square-foot facility as a post-acute care hospital offering a variety of services including long-term acute care, skilled nursing, and inpatient & outpatient rehabilitation. Anticipated reopening date is in the 3rd quarter of 2018.
We are developing a new Ochsner medical facility at The Grove in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The $105 million project includes a new 5-story, 206,510-square-foot medical office building and ambulatory surgery center. Stirling Properties is also overseeing a $15 million off-site infrastructure package as part of the project. The clinic will be located along the 1-10 Bluebonnet/Siegen corridor and is expected to open in early 2019.
Stirling Properties served as the landlord representative in the lease with DXC Technology for multiple floors of office space at the Freeport McMoRan Building in New Orleans, Louisiana. The company will initially occupy two floors of the building beginning in January, with future options to lease up to 10 floors representing a total of 178,000 square feet.
The Freeport McMoRan Building will be the permanent operations for DXC Technology’s new Digital Transformation Center in New Orleans, where the company will eventually employ 2,000 professionals. This is the largest economic development deal in the history of Louisiana, and #2 “Deal of the Year” nationally by Business Facilities magazine. The project has been in the works for more than 18 months and was heavily competed for, but New Orleans emerged as the front-runner beating out great cities across the country.
We completed the first phase of the Offices at River Chase in Covington, Louisiana. Located at the southwest corner of Brewster Road and Stirling Boulevard, Phase I includes a Class-A, two-story, 45,000-square-foot office building positioned on 3.5 acres. We also welcomed our first tenants to the space, including Duplantis Design Group and Liberty Mutual.
Just a few weeks ago, in a joint venture with Ochsner Clinic Foundation, we closed on the acquisition of a new rehabilitation hospital in Jefferson, Louisiana. The five-story, 129,875-square-foot medical building will house long-term acute care, inpatient rehabilitation, and a skilled nursing facility.
All of these ventures represent new milestones for Stirling Properties, which we were able to achieve because we altered our strategies and adapted to meet the demands of our industry. This allowed us to take advantage of innovative opportunities that presented themselves. We managed to translate our more than four decades of experience, combined with our talented team, to be successful.
In the same vein, the commercial real estate industry is currently undergoing a radical transformation. The bulk of this change can also be attributed to the fast-paced advancements in technology and digital platforms. Undoubtedly, as we move forward, technological innovation will continue to play a huge role in reshaping our business. Again, we must adapt to survive. As they say, old dogs need to learn new tricks!
2018 is going to be an exciting year. We’re eagerly anticipating the Tricentennial Celebration and the Year of Action (Dog). Stirling Properties is looking forward to new projects in the pipeline, and I’m confident that even more unforeseen prospects will arise that will require the same type of action and flexibility.
Happy New Year,
DXC Technology Signs Lease For Office Space In New Orleans
Stirling Properties Brokers Deal At 1615 Poydras Street
Stirling Properties was recently part of the brokerage team that landed DXC Technology in its new office location in New Orleans, Louisiana. DXC Technology has reached a lease agreement for multiple floors of the Freeport McMoRan Building located at 1615 Poydras Street, across from the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in the city’s Central Business District. Gaines Seaman, Stirling Properties’ Sales & Leasing Executive, represented the building owner in the transaction.
DXC Technology will initially occupy two floors of the building and is expected to begin operations in January of 2018. The company has future options to lease up to 10 floors representing a total of 178,000 square feet of commercial space. Freeport McMoRan Inc. will continue to maintain a major presence in the building and in New Orleans, according to a release issued by Louisiana Economic Development (LED).
The Freeport McMoRan Building will house the permanent operations for DXC Technology’s new Digital Transformation Center in New Orleans, where the company will eventually employ 2,000 professionals in one of the largest economic development deals in the history of Louisiana.
The announcement that DXC Technology had selected New Orleans to establish its Digital Transformation Center was regionally celebrated back in November. This economic development win further solidifies the emergence of New Orleans as one of the top cities for young professionals to live and work, and reinforces the momentum of our area as a major technology hub. Stirling Properties is proud to have been a part of this historic accomplishment for our region.
#StirlingProud
