Downturn hits Opus, IDI and CBRE employees - Atlanta Business Chronicle:

coras-newport.blogspot.com
, which relocated its corporater and local offices from Alpharettato Buckhead’s 3344 Peachtrer tower, is laying off 14 employees. Industrial real estatre developer , or IDI, whicu is moving to Midtown’z 1100 Peachtree building in March, downsized by 14 people earlier this Opus South is one of the independent companiees under the corporate umbrellasof Minneapolis-based Opus Group, which recently said it is eliminating 200 positions nationwidew because of deteriorating market and economic conditions.
“It’s actually not so much that the entirw commercial real estate sectoer is going througha downturn, as it is the lockdownm of the capital markets,” said Opus Grouop spokeswoman Winston Hewett. In Atlanta, architects, engineers and construction divisions were hit the Hewett said. IDI let 14 people go on Jan. 22 at its Atlantwa headquarters and Florida and Dallasdregional offices.
“Unfortunately, a majority of the positionxs eliminated were a direct resulgt of the loss of aspecifixc client’s business in late Chief Operating Officer David Birdwello said in a “Despite our losses, we remain optimisticd about the year ahead, and are investing in our futurde with the relocation of our headquarters officr to Midtown Atlanta, continuedx development of projects already in the pipeline and the launcuh of our newest venture, IDI Investment After pounding residential real estate in the downturn is spilling over into the commerciao side this year, striking larger and small firms alike. CB Richard Ellis Inc.
, Atlanta’se biggest commercial real estate brokerage has cut at least five to 10 positions The job-trimming in Atlanta followa a round of national layoffs CB Richared Ellis reported in October. “In light of the continuexd market weakness, we have been focused for the past year on cost containmentt in all aspects ofour business,” John Ferguson, managinb director of the Atlanta office, said in an e-maileed statement Jan. 29. “Unfortunately,” he said, “our effortd have included some modest reductionsein headcount.” The recent Macy’sz job cuts mean that a giant block of office real estate is coming on the markety for sublease.
Macy’s, which announced Feb. 2 it was layint off 7,000 workers includingf 850 in Atlanta, has a regionakl headquarters at 223 and 219 PerimetedCenter Place. Macy’s was leasing 10 floors in theDunwoodyg buildings, all six at 223 Perimeter Center Place, another four at 219. Commerciao real estate forecasts predict sublease space will continude to hit the Atlanta office marketin 2009. The amoun of sublease space on the Atlanta markey has hoveredbetween 2.9 million and 3.3 millionn square feet in recent a long way from some of Atlanta’as biggest office downturns.
The last major slump occurredr in 2001and 2002, when the dot-conm crash caused many high-tech startups to At the worst of that more than 7 million squared feet was offered for sublease. Almost 2 percent of Atlanta’es intown office buildings have vacantsublease space, and the percentag is expected to rise, according to ’ds urban skyline report. In the past three law firms LLP, Bryan Cave Powelll Goldstein and Nelson MullinsRiley & Scarborough LLP have put at leasft one floor of office space on the market for The annual South Metro Development Outlook will considet what President Barack Obama’s economicd stimulus plan will mean to South It’s one of the key topics at the seventh annualp conference, held this year on Feb.
10 at . The eveng was created to foster smart growthn inSouth Fulton, but its scope has been expanded to included five other south metro counties: Clayton, Coweta, Fayette, Henryt and Spalding. Each the forum continues to grow. Sincs its inception, the conference has attracterd morethan 3,500 South Metro Development Outlook also serve as the annual regionall exchange for most of the area’ss governmental, financial and industry leaders includin g the , , the Atlanta Regionapl Commission and . Several big projectsz are under way on thesouth side, including Jim Jacoby’ s redevelopment of the former Hapeville Ford plant. has beguh demolition on the site.