Friday, October 22, 2010

Get your company's associates to help with cash, even though they DON'T have direct cash responsibilty! My great mentor and former boss, Red Scott, very cogently observed that "cash ain't cash unless it's cash." What he always meant is that a promise to be paid or a check or a banker's promise or any other substitute is not really cash. You can run out of cash too easily by relying on those assumed, supposed, or "promised" cash sources.

As a result, we need to get EVERYONE around us to turn their actions, activities and thoughts toward real cash! Get your operations, marketing, sales, support, and service people to re-evaluate what they do and it's impact on cash. Get them to understand whether what they do and spend really contributes, or doesn't, to cash; are those things really necessary? Do they contribute more cash than they use? Talk frequently to your associates about this.

Do let them know we're okay, but need to focus on cash due to the long-delayed recovery. Get them to FORECAST where they're going, and how it impacts cash. Get your people to forecast more accurately, and to begin forecasting if they haven't in the past. This alone can change your cash situation. Get them to look at the "Forecaster" and "Cash Manager" tools at www.ceotools.com (scroll down through New Tools Catalog to those tools).

By simply creating cash awareness, your cash will improve! Pretty simple concept: just get your people and associates (including employees, suppliers and supporters) to think a bit more about how what they do affects cash!

It's now clear we're facing a very long, cash-crunching delay in the world economic recovery, so please prepare now for cash improvement through your associates' actions.

With very best regards,
Kraig Kramers
President & CEO -- CEO Tools, Inc. www.ceotools.com
info@ceotools.com www.ceotools.com/blog
Copyright © 2010 Corporate Partners Inc.

Wednesday, October 6, 2010

Industrial Real Estate Market News 2nd Qtr 2010 - Tick Tock

Atlanta Industrial Real Estate Market Trends 2nd Quarter 2010 The Atlanta distribution market now sits with 21 percent of its 512 million square foot inventory available for lease or for sale. Since the official onset of this latest recession in December of 2007, 30 million square feet have been added to the availability column. The current 107 million square feet available represents a 38% increase over the available square footage before the recession began.

Take into consideration that spec construction accounts for a mere three million square
feet of that shift in availability and we’re looking at 27 million square feet returned to the market in the 10 quarter period since the recession began. The slow down in spec construction has reduced the percentage of new space to only eight percent – significantly down from the 19.4 percent seen at the end of 2007.

It’s also interesting to note that approximately 10 percent of all available space is on the market as a sublease opportunity. We are likely to see rates being held artificially low as long as this level of sublease space remains on the market.

Although, in a statement released in April, the National Bureau of Economic Research
agreed that most economic indicators had turned up, they thought it premature to announce an end to the recession. Our analysis of the Atlanta industrial market also shows signs of hope as the downward trend appears to be slowing.

In looking at the 10 quarters endured during this recession, net absorption has averaged –2,833,792 square feet. Second quarter 2010 net absorption came in at –1,829,349 square feet; negative, but better than the average we have seen. Activity held steady at 8,575,662 square feet this quarter; right in line with the 8,892,958 square foot average during this recession. With activity holding and net absorption improving, it is a sign that the upheaval in tenant stability may be subsiding.

The trends appear to show a beginning of the end of this difficult cycle. Historically,
the industrial real estate market recovers 18 months after the end of a recession. The bottom line is that tenants and buyers continue to have many opportunities . . . but the clock is ticking.

Submarket trends and summaries can be downloaded instantly here

Wednesday, April 28, 2010

Industrial Real Estate Market News 1st Qtr 2010 - When will the recovery begin?

Atlanta Industrial Real Estate Market Trends 1st Quarter 2010

The good news is that 48 percent of U.S. metro areas are on the rebound. According to the Adversity Index compiled by msnbc.com and Moody’s economy.com, 183 of the 384 metro areas tracked in the US have begun to recover from the current recession. The bad news is that Atlanta was not among that fortunate group. The activity and net absorption results for this first quarter of 2010 can’t dispute those findings.

After a better than expected end to 2009, the Atlanta industrial market lost momentum in the first quarter. Activity slipped to 8,842,437 square feet – down slightly from the fourth quarter 2009 performance, but not as low as the previous quarters in 2009. Deals are definitely being made. In fact, more deals were inked in this first quarter than in the closing quarter of 2009. Proof positive that tenants are coming and going – the “going” side is out-pacing the “coming” side. Net absorption of –3,293,614 square feet was the end result in the distribution sector for the first quarter 2010.

Full article with submarket overviews: here

Monday, April 5, 2010

2010 Million Dollar Club Awards

Congratulations!

Atlanta Commercial Board of Realtors 2010 Million Dollar Club Awards

Top 10 Producer Industrial Tenant -- #4 - Sim F. Doughtie, CCIM, SIOR, MCR

Phoenix Award - Sally Tennant - 10 years of membership in The Million Dollar Club

Production over $15 million: Sim F. Doughtie, CCIM, SIOR, MCR
Production 10-15 million: William D. Johnston, SIOR
Production 3-10 million: Robert Aaron, III, Greg Dickerson, SIOR, Jason McCart, Sally Tennant

Monday, March 1, 2010

Industrial Real Estate Market News 4th Qtr 2009 - False Start or Starting Block?

False Start or Starting Block?

There were clearly no winners in 2009. Net absorption broke negative records, activity faltered and availability topped the 20 percent mark. At the close of the fourth quarter, however, it appears market conditions may be improving and the weather may be clearing for the 2010 season.

While net absorption in the fourth quarter remained negative, at –377,952 square feet it was a vast improvement over the previous four quarters. Of the 12 metro Atlanta submarkets, four closed the quarter with positive net absorption. The Fulton Industrial District was the clear winner for the fourth quarter, thanks to a massive build-to-suit for Kraft Foods. Net absorption in this submarket reached 942,095 square feet – a clear reversal of its third quarter performance of -1.7 million in net absorption. After recording a second consecutive quarter of positive net absorption, Area 60 (city of Atlanta South of I-20) even posted positive net absorption for the year.

Activity hit new lows during the first part of 2009, but in the closing quarter of the year, it bested the previous four quarters coming in at 9,488,628 square feet. What’s more, of the 497 deals reported, only 18 were in excess of 100,000 square feet. The I-85 North corridor, the beneficiary of six of those large deals, outpaced all other metro submarkets with 1,843,189 square feet of activity.

The vacancy rate climbed for four consecutive quarters, finally breaking the 20 percent level in the third quarter stopping at 20.2 percent. Although the fourth quarter saw an increase to 20.3 percent, that increase was a meager one-tenth of a percent – far less than the one percent average increase seen the four previous quarters. Spec construction wasn’t a contender in 2009; a whopping 79.5 percent of the 2.5 million square feet added to inventory in 2009 was build-to-suit.

In comparison to the rest of 2009, the fourth quarter seemed to gain momentum. An improvement in net absorption, a modest increase in activity and stabilization of the availability rate are all indications of a comeback. The question now . . . was the fourth quarter a false start or are we on the starting block? We’re hoping for the latter and pacing ourselves for the marathon ahead. Here’s to a New Year and a new playing field.


Sim F. Doughtie, CCIM, SIOR, MCR
President