We might be in the midst of finally seeing some movement in the economy in a somewhat positive direction. These moves, which are small and almost certainly will not prevent further job losses in 2009, are, however, at least some indication that maybe the economic downturn will come to an end in 2009.
The first bit of positive news comes in the form of the residential market not doing as bad as expected in October. Yes, we have gotten to the point where good news is things aren’t as bad as predicted, but at least that’s better than being worse than predicted which has happened all too often this year.
James Fleming, Cousins Properties’ executive vice president and chief financial officer, made some interesting comments in a recent AJC article. He gives some insights on where they see the current market and the future in Atlanta.
Fleming said, “We’re starting to see some broken retail deals. We think we may see some office deals that are broken, too. Those could be pretty interesting. We’re going to take a hard look at those things.
“We’ve got two of our people doing nothing but looking at acquisitions.”
Only “compelling” residential projects would interest Cousins, and so far they haven’t presented themselves, he said.
But Cousins could end up doing a joint venture with a home builder, Fleming said.
“If you believe the demographics, at some point that’s going to turn around,” Fleming said of the depressed residential market.
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Emory Point, a mixed-use joint venture with Gables Residential, is on hold, but Fleming said “that still looks to be a very favorable project. That’s an infill location with a lot of demand and really no competition.”Overall, however, “I don’t think we’re going to see large-scale development opportunities in the next 12 to 18 months,” he said.
An interesting story from Boston outlines how the Mayor intends to extend $40 million in loans to restart projects like office towers and retail developments. Like President-elect Obama’s desire, Boston’s Mayor wants to extend these federally backed loans to projects that can begin immediately.
In a similar vein, Georgia Governor Sonny Perdue intends to use the state’s high bond rating to attempt to stimulate growth.
