Cousins' challenge is to secure a strong tenant base before, during and after the overhaul, says William T. Deyo Jr., principal of the Atlanta-headquartered Goddard. Cousins won the 1111 Bagby St. assignments partly because its Atlanta parent, Cousins Properties Inc., and Goddard had a longstanding business relationship. "We're always talking about the market and about opportunities," Deyo says. "By virtue of that relationship, this came on the table and led to formal discussions, where we made it happen."
When Goddard Investment acquired the 70-year-old building in July 2005July 2005 for $114 million, Dallas-based Lincoln Property Co. was in charge of leasing while ING Clarion Partners from New York City was overseeing asset management. Deyo stresses both companies did a wonderful job in their respective roles. "But we thought the opportunity to team up with Cousins in this case was too good to pass up," he tells GlobeSt.com.
While boosting occupancy to a stabilized level is a goal for Goddard, Deyo says it's also important that tenants are the right fit for the property. "We're not being lackadaisical here or anything, but we want to make sure we get the right tenants into the building," he says.
"We think we have a great asset here in Houston and we're trying to make it better with our capital expenditure," Deyo says. "A first-class asset like Heritage, which we're totally renovating and taking to the next level, deserves an organization like Cousins to provide the service component."
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