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 Completes Acquisition and Financing to Develop Offices at Mid-City Market in New Orleans
Stirling Properties is excited to announce the execution of development financing and construction commencement for the Offices at Mid-City Market, a 54,000 square foot, mixed-use complex in the burgeoning Mid-City neighborhood of New Orleans
The Offices at Mid-City Market will feature approximately 31,000 square feet of prime office space along with 9,000 square feet of retail and restaurant space. The building design will include parking, additional greenspace and water management. Prior to closing the construction loan the building was nearly 50% pre-leased.
Gallo Mechanical, LLC, a leading mechanical contracting company in the Gulf South, will be the first office tenant, encompassing 16,000 square feet. Gallo is relocating their corporate headquarters from Metairie to New Orleans. “We are excited to be moving our headquarters back to New Orleans as we celebrate our 70th anniversary this year!” stated David Gallo, President and CEO. Orangetheory Fitness, a fitness studio that specializes in hour-long group interval training workouts, will open their first Louisiana location at Offices at Mid-City Market comprising of 3,000 square feet.
“We are excited about the ability to continue the enhancement of the quality of life in Mid-City, one of New Orleans’ many unique and exciting neighborhoods,” stated Lewis Stirling, Executive Vice President for Stirling Properties.
Located adjacent to Stirling’s recently completed Mid-City Market development, this building encompassing an entire city block was originally constructed in 1954 and was most recently the home of Loubat Foodservice Equipment Company. Stirling Properties plans to maintain the historic integrity of the existing structure while renovating the interior into a combination of office and retail space and thus bringing a prominent neighborhood building back into commerce.
Fidelity Bank of New Orleans provided financing and Stirling will utilize the same architectural firm that designed Mid-City Market, VergesRome Architects. Ryan Gootee General Contractors will commence construction in April and the first tenants will take occupancy before the end of this year.
Stirling’s recent projects in New Orleans include: Magnolia Marketplace, a 106,000 square-foot shopping center located at the corner of S. Claiborne Avenue and Toledano Street; Mid-City Market, a 108,000 square-foot Winn-Dixie anchored shopping center located at North Carrollton Avenue and Bienville Street; as well as the full renovation of the former American Legion building located on Magazine Street into a new 13,000 square foot Walgreens Marquee Store. Since 2011, Stirling Properties has invested over $120 million in the City of New Orleans.
For more information and leasing opportunities, contact Mac Bauer at mbauer@stirlingprop.com or 504-620-8131.
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.
JCH Development and Stirling Properties Celebrate Grand Opening of Magnolia Marketplace
Today, Mayor Mitch Landrieu joined representatives from JCH Development and Stirling Properties to celebrate the Grand Opening of Magnolia Marketplace, a 106,000-square-foot shopping center located at the intersection of South Claiborne Avenue and Toledano Street in New Orleans’ Central City neighborhood. Councilwoman-At-Large Stacy Head, a representative from Councilwoman LaToya Cantrell’s office and other local officials were also in attendance.
“Magnolia Marketplace is further proof that New Orleans is building back better than before. This redevelopment is creating more jobs, strengthening our local economy and giving residents more retail options right here in the heart of New Orleans,” said Mayor Landrieu. “Magnolia Marketplace is also another example of a strong public-private partnership— celebrating the new way of doing business in New Orleans. The project will nicely complement the nearby Claiborne corridor and help spur activity and redevelopment across the city.”
The project was 100% pre-leased prior to the January 2014 groundbreaking. Open tenants at Magnolia Marketplace include: T.J.Maxx, Ross Dress For Less, PetSmart, Shoe Carnival, ULTA Beauty and Raising Cane’s. Michaels will open on March 20, 2015. The initial phase of Magnolia Marketplace included a 6,000-square-foot development located at the intersection of South Claiborne Avenue and Fourth Street that opened in 2014 and now houses Capital One Bank, Subway and T-Mobile.
“This grand opening is about creating jobs, attracting national retailers, improving quality of life, building economic momentum, and turning Claiborne into a regional commercial corridor,” said Councilmember LaToya Cantrell of District B. “I am excited to celebrate the grand opening of this venture and I believe that it is a sign of future development in this city.”
“This project is evidence of the resurgence of Central City and represents yet another important step in bringing additional retail to the city,” said Townsend Underhill, senior vice president of development for Stirling Properties. “We would like to thank the City of New Orleans and Mayor Landrieu’s Administration as well as the City Council, particularly councilmembers Latoya Cantrell and Stacy Head for being supportive in yet another project that signifies Stirling’s commitment to the City of New Orleans.”
During the ceremony, Tara Hernandez, president of JCH Development, unveiled the Toledano Art Wall, a mural painted by local artists Rontherin Ratliff and his team at YAYA Inc.; Brandan “Bmike” Odums; and, Ellen Macomber. It conveys a story of many historical elements and events from the Central City neighborhood to share some of the area’s proudest moments and accomplishments.
“We are proud to bring a dynamic new retail development to an underserved portion of the city,” said Hernandez.
Magnolia Marketplace is directly south of Harmony Oaks, a 460-unit, mixed-income residential development. The Marketplace will serve one of the city’s busiest corridors, with traffic counts exceeding 70,000 cars a day. Claiborne Avenue also provides a vital connection between Uptown New Orleans and the Central Business District.
These recent commercial projects are significant in light of a 2012 report by the New Orleans Business Alliance (NOLABA) that analyzed the retail spending of Orleans Parish residents. The report estimates that Orleans Parish loses $1.9 billion in retail sales to neighboring parishes and other U.S. cities each year. Since being founded in 2011, NOLABA has focused on attracting retail and development throughout New Orleans. In addition to facilitating smooth progression of the project, NOLABA performed an independent economic analysis on the development before it began.
“Our evaluation revealed that the Magnolia Marketplace development would benefit area residents, people who travel Claiborne Avenue and the City’s general fund through increased sales taxes, particularly because it attracted new national retailers to Orleans Parish,” said Melissa Ehlinger, interim president and CEO of NOLABA. “We always look for better than average returns on public investment, for impact that reaches New Orleanians at a variety of economic levels, and for projects that enhance the city’s attractiveness to future investment. Magnolia Marketplace serves up all of these.”
For more information about Magnolia Marketplace, contact Townsend Underhill at tunderhill@stirlingprop.com or 985-898-2022, or for leasing information contact Rhonda Sharkawy at rsharkawy@stirlingprop.com or 504-523-4481.
Stirling Properties Mobile Office Relocates to Larger Space
COVINGTON, LA – March 2, 2015– Stirling Properties is excited to announce the relocation of its Alabama office to One St. Louis Centre located in downtown Mobile. In addition to being a tenant, Stirling will also manage and lease the 97,514 square–foot professional office building.
New Contact Information:
Stirling Properties Mobile Office – 251-342-7229
One St. Louis Centre
1 St. Louis Street, Suite 4100
Mobile, Alabama 36602
First Steps for Property Services and Information Technology
We’ve received a lot of feedback from an earlier Stirling post (Property Management, Information Technology and the New Paradigm) about the amount of work required to update Information Technology Infrastructure for today’s world. A few people keyed in on the amount of work required when their Information Technology Projects had taken a back seat to other priorities in the last five years, ten years or forever.
Some had asked for a cheat sheet on what they should do first or what questions they should be asking their property services company about their Information Technology Systems. This list is far from comprehensive – merely first steps, but if Stirling had just taken over a new property or if I was starting from scratch, this would be my initial list of things to check or you can hit your Property Services company up to find out what they were doing in regards to Information Technology:
Do I have a next generation firewall at my offices?
Are my automation systems firewalled and segmented away from my office computers (i.e. postage machines, hvac systems, video directories, card access systems)?
Not very effective anymore, but still a first step, do all my computers have anti-virus protection?
If my computers haven’t been running anti-virus, who will format the hard drive and reset it back to the factory default image, then add anti-virus protection and load all my documents back?
Do we have, at the very least, basic spam filtering to try and eliminate the ZeroHour emails and do we have Sender Policy Framework (SPF) setup?
And finally, this really isn’t about security, but to offer up some lagniappe for the New Year, check into finally getting rid of your old analog telephone system to see what features you would gain and how much you would save with a Voice over IP (VoIP) System. Check into either a legitimate cloud provider or see if your property services company can add you to their system – adding your property to their system should be simple.
Obviously this is a very basic list, but whether your property is managed by Stirling or not, feel free to shoot me an email if you have questions and I’ll try to point you in the right direction. When it comes to Internet Security, we’re all in this together.
