GNO, Inc. awarded the Mac Conway Award for Excellence in Economic Development by Site Selection Magazine
Site Selection Magazine awarded Greater New Orleans, Inc. (GNO, Inc.) the Mac Conway Award for Excellence in Economic Development. The Mac Conway Award for Excellence in Economic Development recognizes the top economic development agencies of the previous year in both metropolitan and micropolitan areas. The criteria used to select the recipients includes the total number of jobs created and the total amount invested as well as per capita investment and jobs created in the region. Site Selection also looks at unique ways economic development organizations are addressing critical issues in their communities.
A few of GNO, Inc. and the Greater New Orleans area successes:
- $4 billion in capital investments in 2015
- 1,988 new jobs created in 2015
- Knowledge industry jobs grew 37% in 2015
Congratulations to GNO Inc. for this prestigious and well- deserved honor! This award is yet another testament to the level of economic development, job creation and investment occurring in our 10-parish region.
GNO, Inc. was recognized along with 10 other groups in the nation. To see all the EDOs recognized, please read Site Selection’s article.
Stirling Properties Commercial Real Estate Agents Among Top Producers At Annual NOMAR CID Awards Ceremony
Stirling Properties commercial real estate agents were honored during the New Orleans Metropolitan Association of Realtors (NOMAR) Commercial Investment Division (CID) 23rd Annual Achievement Awards ceremony, held Friday, April 8th at the Audubon Tea Room.
Chris Abadie, Rhonda Sharkawy, Gaines Seaman
Leading the way was Rhonda Sharkawy, Senior Retail Leasing and Development Executive, with more than $28 million in sales volume for 2015. Sharkawy was inducted into the CID Hall of Fame after having received the prestigious F. Poche Waguespack Award for highest volume of sales and leases in the greater New Orleans area for the last five consecutive years. She is one of only a handful of women to receive this esteemed award since its inception in 1964.
Gaines Seaman, Sales and Leasing Executive, received the Overall Top Landlord Office Lease, Top Tenant Rep Office Lease and the Overall Top Office Producer, with nearly $19 million in production for 2015.
Joe Gardner, Sales and Leasing Executive, Beezie Landry, Senior Investment Sales Advisor, Sharkawy and Seaman were also among Achievement Award recipients, for obtaining total commercial credit sales and leasing in excess of $2.5 million.
The goal of the Commercial Investment Division (CID) Awards is to review and recognize individual achievement among commercial real estate practitioners who are members in good standing of the New Orleans Metropolitan Association (NOMAR) of REALTORS®.
New Orleans: A City for Entrepreneurs
The “Big Three” cities for entrepreneurship—San Francisco/San Jose, Boston and New York—all have a high cost of living, which can be difficult on a startup budget. Resultantly, entrepreneurs are starting to look elsewhere.
Enter post-Katrina New Orleans. Hurricanes Katrina and Rita allowed one of America’s most historic places to reimage itself as a startup city and business destination. The Crescent City’s renaissance has attracted new entrepreneurial talent, boasting a business startup rate 64% higher than the national average.
Not only does New Orleans offer an affordable cost of living, it proposes attractive culture, world renowned food, and a vibrant art, music and entertainment scene. This fun-loving and diversity-embracing ethos attracts people from all over the world.
Furthermore, housing in San Francisco is 227% higher than in New Orleans, groceries cost 25% more, and transportation costs are 33% greater. Likewise, housing in New York is 368% higher, and Boston up 95%. It’s easy to see why New Orleans consistently ranks at the top for cities attracting college graduates in flocks.
New Orleans also recently made the ranks among ‘20 Hottest Startup Hubs in America,’ according to a report from Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation. You can bet over the next few years, our resilient city will continue to top the lists of thriving marketplaces offering economic opportunities for entrepreneurs.
I could not agree more! We have already witnessed numerous companies—big and small—choosing New Orleans as home. The demand for office and industrial property has surged over the last few years. The city is ripe for opportunity and remains one of Stirling Properties’ most profitable areas for commercial real estate management, development and investment. We look forward to serving the growing commercial real estate needs of New Orleans for many years to come!
Read the entire article, What Makes New Orleans a Startup City to Rival the “Big Three”, by Harvard Business Review.
Stirling Properties Announces New Tenants to Offices at Mid-City Market in New Orleans
Stirling Properties is pleased to announce new tenants Sola Salon and Billes Partners to the Offices at Mid-City Market in New Orleans, Louisiana.
Billes Partners–a planning, project development, architecture, interior design, and graphic design firm–will occupy roughly 3,000 square feet and plans to open by early-March 2016.
Sola Salon Studios, a 4,295-square-foot franchise hair salon plans to open this summer.
Previously announced Gallo Mechanical, LLC and Orangetheory Fitness are currently open and operating. Exceptional Dental and H-3 Aesthetics & Dermatology are on track to open this spring.
A formal ribbon cutting ceremony is being planned and will be announced in the near future.
Offices at Mid-City Market, is a 54,000 square foot, mixed-use complex in the burgeoning Mid-City neighborhood of New Orleans. Located adjacent to Stirling’s recently completed Mid-City Market development, this building was originally constructed in 1954 and was most recently the home of Loubat Foodservice Equipment Company. Throughout the course of this development, Stirling Properties has maintained the historic integrity of the existing structure while renovating the interior into a combination of office and retail space and consequently brought a prominent neighborhood building back into commerce.
For more information and leasing opportunities for Offices at Mid-City Market, contact Joe Gardner at jgardner@stirlingprop.com or 504-620-8140.
Stirling Properties Names Saban Sellers As Sales and Leasing Executive
Stirling Properties is pleased to announce Saban Sellers as Sales and Leasing Executive for its Commercial Brokerage Division in New Orleans, Louisiana. Sellers will work from the company’s New Orleans Office located at 615 Baronne Street, Ste 100.
Prior to joining Stirling Properties, Sellers began his career in commercial real estate in 2014 working for NAI Latter & Blum out of Baton Rouge.
Sellers graduated from Louisiana State University’s E.J. Ourso College of Business with a Bachelor of Science in Finance. During his college tenure, Sellers was a member of the LSU Lacrosse team where he also took a position on the team’s Board of Directors as Treasurer.
Sellers can be reached at 504.620.8122 or ssellers@stirlingprop.com.
First Tenant Opens at the Offices at Mid-City Market in New Orleans
Additional Tenant Announcements Coming Soon
Stirling Properties is excited to announce the opening of the first tenant at Offices at Mid-City Market, a 54,000 square foot, mixed-use complex in the burgeoning Mid-City neighborhood of New Orleans.
Orangetheory Fitness, a fitness studio that specializes in hour-long group interval training workouts, has opened their first Louisiana location at Offices at Mid-City Market. Orangetheory is currently open and will celebrate their Grand Opening on December 31st. For more information, visit www.orangetheoryfitness.com/new-orleans.
Joining the previously announced Gallo Mechanical, LLC corporate headquarters and Orangetheory Fitness, are Exceptional Dental and H-3 Aesthetics & Dermatology.
Gallo Mechanical, LLC, a leading mechanical contracting company in the Gulf South, will be the first office tenant to open in the building, occupying 15,448 square feet. Gallo has relocated their corporate headquarters from Metairie to New Orleans.
Exceptional Dental, providing restorative and beautifying dentistry to patients across Louisiana is scheduled to open spring 2016.
H-3 Aesthetics & Dermatology, offering general and cosmetic dermatology services, along with a juice bar, is also scheduled to open spring 2016.
New tenant announcements coming soon!
Located adjacent to Stirling’s recently completed Mid-City Market development, this building was originally constructed in 1954 and was most recently the home of Loubat Foodservice Equipment Company. Throughout the course of this development, Stirling Properties has maintained the historic integrity of the existing structure while renovating the interior into a combination of office and retail space and consequently brought a prominent neighborhood building back into commerce.
For more information and leasing opportunities for Offices at Mid-City Market, contact Joe Gardner at jgardner@stirlingprop.com or 504-620-8140.
