Archive for January, 2012
NAI Savannah arranges SCAD purchase of MLK Boulevard building
Jan 26th
The Savannah College of Art and Design recently purchased its sixth property on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, adding the building that’s long housed the college’s media and performing arts school to its portfolio of downtown properties.
SCAD paid $2.6 million for the building commonly known as Crites Hall and located at 217 MLK just south of Oglethorpe Avenue. The college had leased the property since 2000 and has made more than $2 million in improvements, according to Chatham County property records.
The building, built in 1906, is valued at $4.2 million
SCAD’s executive director for design and new construction, Martin Smith, could not be reached for comment.
The college utilizes close to 50 buildings in the Historic District and owns many of those. SCAD has had a Martin Luther King Boulevard presence since the 1980s, and the centerpiece, the SCAD Museum of Art, opened in November. The $26 million project was built from the historic ruins of the Central of Georgia Railroad Depot.
SCAD bought Crites Hall from lender GE Capital, which foreclosed on the property earlier this
year. The building was previously owned by developer Jeff Notrica.
Crites Hall measures 39,000 square feet and includes classrooms, lecture halls, dance studios, a set design shop, offices, conference rooms and a 150-seat theater spread over four floors plus a finished basement.
NAI Savannah was the sole brokerage in the the deal led by agents Rex Benton and Dicky Mopper and represented GE Capital.
Savannah’s Mopper-Stapen, Realtors separates commerical arm, NAI Savannah, and auction services
Jan 25th
by Adan Van Brimmer, Savannahnow.com
Mopper-Stapen Realtors made its name as a residential brokerage, capitalizing on the historic district’s renaissance over the last 31 years.
The firm was founded to serve the commercial sector, however, and has always been a player in the retail, office and industrial markets as well as in housing.
To better market all the services the company offers, Dicky Mopper has broken the firm he and partner Mike Stapen started into three parts: Mopper-Stapen, Realtors on the residential side; NAI Savannah for commercial real estate; and Value Auction Company, which handles both property and estate sales.
“We’ve gotten to the point where we felt like our commercial side wasn’t getting the play it deserves,” Mopper said. “It’s hard to be both a residential and commercial brokerage because if people know you mainly as one thing they question your expertise in the other. So it’s important to differentiate and end the confusion.”
Mopper and Rex Benton head NAI Savannah, with Benton managing the day-to-day operations of the commercial brokerage. Benton is a Savannah native who returned to his hometown four years ago after working 15 years in Atlanta.
Benton helped Mopper affiliate with NAI, an international network of commercial real estate firms with 375-plus offices in 55 countries. Mopper rebranded the firm’s commercial arm as
NAI Savannah in February 2010 with the intention of spinning it off.
The NAI membership gives Mopper, Benton and their five-person team of agents access to NAI’s resources
and contacts.
“Savannah is an international city with the port, and the world has changed with technology,” Benton said. “Before you had pocket listings, where you didn’t need a name that could be recognized beyond your local market behind you. Now everything is global.”
read entire story here: NAI SAVANNAH COMMERCIAL REAL ESTATE
