Stirling Properties Welcomes Julie Watson to its Mobile, AL Team
Stirling Properties is pleased to announce the addition of Julie Watson to the Commercial Brokerage Division as Sales and Leasing Executive. Julie will work from the company’s Mobile, Alabama office located at 1110 Montlimar Drive, Suite 830.
Prior to joining Stirling Properties, Ms. Watson was with Keller Williams in Mobile, Alabama where she served as the firm’s sole commercial practitioner. Prior to that she served as an Agent with Hodges Commercial Real Estate in Montgomery and Hansen Realty where she sought business development opportunities throughout Alabama and the Chicago area.
Ms. Watson is a licensed Real Estate Broker in Alabama and can be reached at 251-375-2484 or via email at jwatson@stirlingprop.com.
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.
President’s Message: Celebrating 40 Years
As we begin 2015, I am excited to announce that Stirling Properties will be celebrating the 40th Anniversary of its founding. As I reflect on this significant milestone, I take pride in all we have overcome and accomplished and I am thankful for all of our dedicated team throughout the years that led us to this point.
In 1975 (before some of our current employees were even born), Jimmy Maurin and Roger Ogden started a real estate company focused on developing shopping centers. The following year, Chip Songy joined them. It was their vision and spirit of entrepreneurship that established such a solid foundation from which we have built the Stirling Properties of today – a full-service commercial real estate company focused on the Gulf South. It is their legacy that we carry forward and continue to grow. To them, we will always be grateful.
While so much has changed in the world, in our markets, and in our company over the years, the culture and values at Stirling Properties remain firmly rooted in integrity, professionalism, teamwork and commitment to our industry and the communities we serve. Through ups and downs in the market, hurricane recovery and economic uncertainty, putting our clients first continues to be our top priority. As we grow, these values will always guide us.
And none of this would be possible without the dedication and hard work of the Stirling Team. It is because of the Stirling Team that we are able to accomplish so much each and every year and I am thrilled Stirling Properties has such an incredible group of professionals. As we embark on our 40th year, I look forward to a year full of progress and success, built upon the foundation developed over the last 40 years.
Whole Foods Market coming to Stirling Properties’ Premier Centre in Mandeville, La.
First Whole Foods Market location for Northshore New Orleans
Stirling Properties announces the addition of Whole Foods Market® to the tenant lineup at Premier Centre, a 273,000-square-foot shopping center near the intersection of U.S. Highway 190 and North Causeway Boulevard in Mandeville, Louisiana.
The approximately 40,000-square-foot Whole Foods Market store, the first for Northshore of New Orleans, will offer customers a large selection of natural and organic products with features tailored to the local Louisiana community.
“We are excited to bring such an in-demand, high-caliber retailer to the Northshore community,” said Donna Taylor, Stirling Properties’ Senior Vice President of Asset Management and New Business. “Whole Foods Market is a welcome addition to Premier Centre and will be a regional draw for the city of Mandeville.”
“On behalf of the city of Mandeville, we welcome the announcement that Whole Foods will be locating in Mandeville,” Mandeville Mayor Donald Villere said. “As mayor I have had requests for years to get Whole Foods to become a part of the city. I believe their opening will be the start of a long lasting relationship with the citizens of Mandeville.”
Whole Foods Market, projected to open in the first quarter of 2016, will be located in a portion of the space currently occupied by Albertsons. Twenty thousand square feet of adjacent space is available for lease. Premier Centre is situated in the heart of the Mandeville community on the Northshore of Lake Pontchartrain in St. Tammany Parish. This center has maintained 100 percent occupancy since opening in 1998, and sales per square foot are well above average for the national tenants in the center. Whole Foods Market joins Stein Mart, Bed Bath & Beyond, T.J.Maxx, Barnes & Noble, Old Navy and many other national retailers.
For more information, email dtaylor@stirlingprop.com or call (985) 898-2022.
For information about the adjacent 20,000 square feet available for lease email rsharkawy@stirlingprop.com or call (985) 898-2022.
Stirling Properties and CBL & Associates Properties, Inc. to Commence Construction on Ambassador Town Center in Lafayette, Louisiana
Development over 90% Leased Prior to Construction Start
Stirling Properties and CBL & Associates Properties, Inc. (NYSE: CBL) announced today a joint venture to develop Ambassador Town Center in Lafayette, Louisiana. The approximately 58-acre site is located at the corner of Ambassador Caffery Parkway and Kaliste Saloom Road. The retail center will be built in one phase and will be approximately 425,000 square feet with major retailers including Costco Wholesale, Dick’s Sporting Goods, Field & Stream, Marshalls, HomeGoods, Nordstrom Rack, Off Broadway Shoes, Chuy’s, Panera Bread and Freddy’s Frozen Custard & Steakburgers. The majority of the retailers committed to the project are either first-time locations within Lafayette or Louisiana, or both. Construction is set to begin this month, with a projected opening of March 2016.
“Stirling Properties is excited about our partnership with CBL to develop Ambassador Town Center and believes that this joint venture brings the best possible team together to build this project,” said Stirling Properties’ Senior Vice President of Development Townsend Underhill. “We know this site to be an excellent location for a retail development in this market and we are happy to continue our long and successful development history in the City of Lafayette.”
“Ambassador Town Center is well-located and is well leased with an outstanding retail line-up,” said Michael Lebovitz, CBL’s Executive Vice President – Development and Administration. “We are pleased to partner with Stirling Properties on this project and are looking forward to announcing additional retailers as the development progresses.”
Ambassador Town Center is expected to create approximately 2,200 construction jobs, 1,000 permanent jobs and generate nearly $9 million annually in sales taxes for the City of Lafayette.
“This project is a sign of Lafayette’s strong economy and our willingness to work with the private sector for needed infrastructure in our community,” stated Joey Durel, Lafayette City-Parish President. “Retailers like those that have committed will be a regional draw for Lafayette, and the public infrastructure that will be built with this project, providing a route parallel to Ambassador Caffery, is necessary for one of the fastest growing areas in the state of Louisiana. Companies make decisions on where to locate based on long-term projections. This decision says that they have confidence in the future of our area.”
Public infrastructure improvements are being funded through a payment in lieu of tax arrangement (PILOT), which includes a new connection between Frem Boustany Road and Kaliste Saloom Road and multiple improvements to the existing road system. Under the arrangement, The Industrial Development Board for Lafayette Parish has agreed to allocate a significant portion of the property taxes that will be created by the development of this project, for a period of up to 12 years, to build the public infrastructure.
For leasing information, please contact: Ryan Pecot, 337.572.0246 or rpecot@stirlingprop.com, or Rodney Gordon, 423.553.8704 or rodney_gordon@cblproperties.com.
Stirling Properties Welcomes Mike Bucher to the Development Team
Stirling Properties is pleased to announce the addition of Mike Bucher as Development Director.
As Development Director, Mr. Bucher will lead new and on-going development projects, including ground-up development, redevelopment and joint ventures. Based in the Covington office, he will plan, coordinate and direct personnel relating to Development and Redevelopment.
“Mike’s extensive background in Development will play a significant role in Stirling Properties’ continued expansion of our services across the Gulf South. We are ecstatic to be able to bring someone of Mike’s caliber onboard,” stated Townsend Underhill, Senior Vice President of Development.
Mr. Bucher was previously with Federal Realty Investment Trust in Boston, MA, where he worked as a Development Associate and previously as a Development Financial Analyst.
Mike Bucher can be reached at 985-898-2022.
As we begin the process of reentry into our offices […]
Renovations & exterior updates planned for the office/retail space. Stirling […]
