News
Shelby Report of the Southeast: Louisiana Real Estate Opportunities Lead to New New Orleans Office
March 01, 2010
Retail Specialists, Inc. (RSI), a commercial real estate company based in Birmingham, Ala., has partnered with Louisiana commercial real estate professionals Joe Mann Jr. and John Moss to open an office in New Orleans. This expansion for Mann and Moss with RSI comes at a key time, with much of the firm's activity centered on the rebuilding of New Orleans, south Louisiana and the Gulf Coast. RSI, founded in 2005, focuses solely on the retail segment of commercial real estate, providing clients with specialized commercial real estate solutions.
BBJ: Will the other shoe come down in 2010?
January 22, 2010
At Retail Specialists, President Robert Jolly points to a vacancy rate of 11.5 percent among local retail properties, a direct result of the sluggish economy. "Tenant bankruptcies are largely the problem in our market,", he said. Primarily, brokers are busy renegotiating leases, pushing down rates and angling for other advantageous terms. If nothing new is coming up out of the ground, the real estate community can at least remain active in its efforts to keep existing space occupied, Jolly said. "I think that is going to be the way of the world for a while."
Growing With The Market: Retail Specialists is growing by helping its clients work smarter.
January 01, 2010
Retail Specialists has grown into its business within the Gulf South market. The three original principals of the Birmingham, Alabama-based company all started out in retail leasing working for full-service firms in the Birmingham area. As they gained experience, and valued market knowledge, they realized that there was an opportunity for a firm concentrated solely on retail in the Gulf States region. The result was Retail Specialists, Inc. "We felt the need to separate from the full-service firms and create a specialty boutique real estate company, focused only on retail," says Robert Jolly, president of Retail Specialists. Today, the company is primarily a third-party tenant representation and project leasing firm. The company has 14 employees in Birmingham and three producers in its New Orleans office.
Leasing agent: Lane Parke project in Mountain Brook ready to go
November 17, 2009
The leasing company for the proposed $200 million Lane Parke development in Mountain Brook Village said if rezoning for the project is approved next week, his team is ready to hit the ground running. Robert Jolly, head of Retail Specialists, Inc., said Tuesday the firm's leasing strategy to attract national luxury brands to the hotly debated project has taken a different direction to include one-to three-store boutiques and restaurants looking to expand and that won't compete with existing retailers. "If it's approved, we'll hit the ground running and start leasing," said Jolly at a gathering of the Birmingham chapter of Commercial Real Estate Women. "The idea has gained traction (from retailers in) New Orleans and Dallas."
Lane Parke hearings to target concerns
October 26, 2009
Decision time is near for Mountain Brook on the proposed Lane Parke at Mountain Brook Village development. The City Council has scheduled two public hearings, tonight and Nov. 9, to consider whether to grant planned unit zoning to the development. While some public comments about the development at a series of public hearings have been positive, other residents say they oppose the scope of the project. At the development's web site, www.laneparke.com, the owners of the property this month posted "Straight Answers," a series of video answers to 21 questions and written answers to 13 questions. "There's a perception out there, we think, that we've only been working on this for about six months," said Robert Jolly, a retail consultant with the project. "The truth is we've been working on this for more than two years."
Deerfoot shops get 2 new tenants
September 15, 2009
Munoz Mexican Restaurant and Cosmopoli-Tan have leased space at The Shoppes at Deerfoot in Trussville. The restaurant is leasing 4,200 square feet, while the tanning salon is in a 2,800 square foot space. Brooks Corr of Retail Specialists, Inc. represented the landlord in the deals.
Retail vacancies rise in Mountain Brook Village
September 15, 2009
Vacancies are rare in Mountain Brook Village and could point to a sign of the changing times in retail development outside the city, said Robert Jolly, whose Retail Specialists, Inc. lists property in the area and is handling retail leasing for the proposed $200 million Lane Parke development. "The real reason, in my opinion, a lot of these retailers are struggling is there's not a real anchor (tenant) in the village," he said. "The traffic count is the highest, but people are not stopping for anything. Other than Western (Supermarket), there's not a retailer over 10,000 square feet in Mountain Brook Village to create traffic from outside the city." Jolly said about 70 percent of retail dollars in Mountain Brook are spent outside the municipality and very few outside dollars are coming in.
Winn Dixie Covington, Louisiana Groundbreaking
August 04, 2009
Commercial real estate takes pounding: Birmingham brokers say some recovery signs are apparent
July 31, 2009
Signs of life are beginning to show in Birmingham's commercial real estate market, but local brokers say the future is still uncertain. Through the course of the recession, retail property has taken a beating from large and small retailers closing doors. But by mid year, vacancy rates apprear to be hovering in the high single digits in the Birmingham area, which isn't bad, said Bill Clements, a broker at Retail Specialists, Inc. That's because retailers in a position to lease space and move forward are doing so and taking advantage of a soft market, where landlord concessions abound, he said.
Developer: Homewood's Hallman Hill still on track
June 26, 2009
The 10,000-square-foot retail portion [of Hallman Hill], slated for completion in July, has about 70 percent "sincere interest," including two letters of intent from restaurants for the two main corners of the project, said Bill Clements, a broker with Retail Specialists, Inc.
