ATLANTA — Floor & Decor, a specialty retailer of hard surface flooring and related accessories, plans to relocate and expand its headquarters to Cobb County from Atlanta. The company’s expansion will create 500 jobs, including administrative and customer service positions, over five years, according to Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal. Additionally, the company will receive a $500,000 grant to help establish the new headquarters and could be eligible for more than $3 million in state tax breaks for five if it creates 500 qualifying new jobs, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Floor & Decor was founded in Atlanta in 2000 and currently operates 95 warehouse-format stores in 26 states, including seven in Georgia. In February, the company opened a 1.4 million-square-foot distribution center, which employs more than 100 people, outside of Savannah.
BIRMINGHAM, ALA. — Hunt Real Estate Capital has hired Chad Thomas Hagwood as senior managing director and Southeast regional manager. Formerly with Capital One Multifamily Finance, Hagwood will be based in Hunt’s Birmingham office. In this role, Hagwood will be actively involved in the origination of multifamily and manufactured home community debt throughout the nation, with a focus on loan originations through Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, CMBS and FHA programs. Additionally, Hagwood will oversee the firm’s Southeast Region and the Manufactured Home Community production nationally. Over the course of his career, Hagwood has closed in excess of $8 billion in commercial real estate transactions throughout the United States, and he is annually ranked as one of the industry’s leading loan originators.
DALLAS AND HOUSTON — The boards of not-for-profit health systems Baylor Scott & White Health and Memorial Hermann Health System have signed a letter of intent to merge operations. Together the two health systems own or have a stake in 68 hospitals and 1,100 care delivery sites in 30 Texas counties. The systems also record nearly 10 million annual “patient encounters” and employ approximately 73,000 people, including 14,000 physicians. According to The Wall Street Journal, the combined health system would be among the largest in the U.S. by number of hospitals and would generate more than $14 billion in annual revenue. As per the merger agreement, the board of the combined company will comprise an equal number of appointees from both organizations. Jim Hinton, CEO of Baylor Scott & White, will be the CEO of the proposed combined system and will be joined in the proposed office of the CEO by Chuck Stokes, president and CEO of Memorial Hermann, and Pete McCanna, president of Baylor Scott & White. “This is about two mission-driven organizations — both committed to making safe, high-quality healthcare more convenient and affordable — building something transformative together,” says Hinton. “Through this combined system, we have a …
ATLANTA — Atlanta-based REIT Cousins Properties Inc. (NYSE: CUZ) has named Colin Connolly CEO, effective Jan. 1, 2019. Larry Gellerstedt, the company’s current chairman and CEO, will transition to executive chairman. “Colin’s promotion is part of a deliberate and planned succession effort that will allow Cousins Properties to benefit from his ideas, energy and strategic leadership skills, while continuing its evolution into a larger, highly focused company,” said Gellerstedt. Since joining Cousins Properties in 2011, Connolly, 42, has held the roles of senior vice president, chief investment officer, executive vice president and chief operating officer. Last year, he was named president of the company, a title he will retain in addition to his role as CEO. “Growing up in Atlanta, I have a deep appreciation for Cousins Properties and its importance to this community,” said Connolly. “The opportunity to work side by side with Larry and our outstanding team for more than seven years has been tremendous, and I have total confidence that our top-quality Sunbelt portfolio and strong balance sheet leave us well positioned to maintain our position as one of the top urban [REITs] in the marketplace.” Cousins Properties’ stock price closed at $9.08 per share on Tuesday, Sept.18, …
DALLAS — NorthMarq Capital has added six multifamily investment sales specialists to its Dallas branch, which is the Minneapolis-based financial intermediary’s top-producing debt and equity advisory office. Joining the Dallas team is Taylor Snoddy, the top overall producer for Transwestern over the last two years, along with former Transwestern associates James Roberts and Philip Wiegand. Over the past two years, Snoddy, Roberts and Wiegand have closed more than $2.5 billion in multifamily sales and are on pace to exceed $1 billion in sales in 2018. Also joining NorthMarq’s Dallas office from Transwestern are Eric Stockley, Devin Etzold and Charles Hubbard, who will provide financial analysis, client service and transaction coordination.
BOSTON — CBRE Group has acquired CB Richard Ellis-N.E. Partners LP (CBRE/New England), a long-standing joint venture with Whittier Partners Group. The acquisition price was not disclosed. The CBRE/New England leadership team and professionals will join CBRE immediately with the CBRE/New England brand remaining through the end of the year. “We felt the timing was right for this transition to better serve our clients and our employees,” says Andy Hoar, president and co-managing partner at CBRE/New England. “Joining forces with CBRE and our new colleagues will ensure CBRE’s market leadership in the New England market for the foreseeable future.” CBRE/New England has seven offices throughout New England including Boston, Hartford, New Haven, Providence, Portsmouth, Manchester and Portland.
NEW YORK CITY — Moody’s Corp. (NYSE: MCO) has agreed to acquire all outstanding shares of Reis Inc. (NASDAQ: REIS) in an all-cash transaction valued at approximately $278 million. Reis is a provider of commercial real estate (CRE) data. The acquisition expands Moody’s Analytics’ network of data and analytics providers in the CRE space, including recent investments in start-ups that apply innovative approaches and new technologies to source data and deliver tools to the market. Under the terms of the merger agreement, Moody’s will commence a tender offer to acquire all issued and outstanding shares of Reis common stock for $23 per share in cash. The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory approvals. Moody’s expects to complete the acquisition in the fourth quarter of 2018.
NEW YORK CITY — Two former Eastern Consolidated principals have launched a commercial division at Compass in the firm’s New York metropolitan region. Adelaide Polsinelli and Ronda Rogovin will help the residential brokerage firm build an investment sales team, following Eastern’s closure in July. Compass Commercial will focus on providing technology, marketing and support to help agents grow their business in the commercial real estate sector. The team also includes agents Mitchell Goldstick and Trystan Polsinelli.
MOORESVILLE, N.C. — Lowe’s Cos. Inc. (NYSE: LOW) has announced it will close all 99 of its Orchard Supply Hardware stores by Feb. 1. Founded in San Jose, Calif., in 1931 and acquired by Lowe’s in 2013, Orchard Supply Hardware operates locations in California, Oregon and Florida. Lowe’s is closing the stores to focus on its core home improvement business. “Our strategic reassessment is ongoing as we evaluate the productivity of our real estate portfolio and non-retail business investments,” said Marvin Ellison, president and CEO of Lowe’s, in an earnings statement. “While it was a necessary business decision to exit Orchard Supply Hardware, decisions that impact our people are never easy.” In addition to shuttering Orchard Supply stores, Lowe’s said it plans to “aggressively” tighten its store inventory, reducing lower-performing stock and increasing the depth of high-selling items. Mooresville-based Lowe’s increased sales 7.1 percent, year-over-year, in the second quarter of 2018. However, the company adjusted its full-year earnings and profits forecast to account for closing costs. The Orchard Supply closure is expected to cost the company between $390 million and $475 million. The company lowered the forecast for its full-year increase in sales from 5 percent to 4.5 percent. Store …
HUTTO, TEXAS — Paradigm Metals, a provider of precision machining and sheet metal fabrication, will relocate its headquarters from Pflugerville to Hutto, a northern suburb of Austin. Paradigm Metals expects to invest about $10 million to acquire and develop a new facility within Innovation Business Park, a 72-acre development that broke ground in 2017. Construction of the new facility, which will initially house 250 employees, is slated to begin later this year. Paradigm Metals plans to begin relocating to the new facility in 2019.