Bass, Berry & Sims Law Firm Profiles Universal Commercial President in 2011 Momentum Magazine

Nashville-Based Bass, Berry & Sims, PLC recently profiled Darrell Cobbins in its annual publication that is distributed to its clients and associates, celebrating their clients' successes and achievements. Many thanks to Gil Uhlhorn, of the Bass Berry Memphis office, for recommending this profile.

Urban Land Institute-Memphis 2011 Real Estate Outlook for the Mid-South

2011 Real Estate Outlook for the Mid-South

Wednesday - Dec. 8, 2010
Schedule (a.m.)
7:30 - Registration and Networking Breakfast
8:30 - Program
11:00 - Conclude

The University of Memphis - Holiday Inn
3700 Central Avenue

2.25 CEUs Pending Approval!

ULI Memphis presents its annual real estate trends and forecast meeting featuring insights from national and regional experts. The event will feature a presentation of Emerging Trends in Real Estate 2011 report--a publication from PricewaterhouseCoopers and ULI--and a session on the outlook for the Mid-South region from our speaker and panel of leading area real estate experts.

Emerging Trends Guest Speaker
Dean Schwanke
Senior Vice President - ULI
Ex. Director - ULI Center for Capital Markets and Real Estate

2011 Regional Outlook Guest Speaker
Dr. John Gnuschke
Director - Sparks Bureau of Business and Economic Research
Co-director - Center for Real Estate Research
The University of Memphis

Local Panel
Earl Blankenship - SouthernSun Asset Management
Scott Barton - Cb Richard Ellis Memphis Retail Services
Darrell Cobbins - Universal Commercial Real Estate, LLC
Kemp Conrad - Commercial Advisors, Inc.
Alan Swafford - First Tennessee Bank

For more information, call or email ULI Customer Service (1-800-321-5011 or customerservice@uli.org)and mention meeting code 8154-1108.

Register ONLINE Today (https://netforum.uli.org/eweb/DynamicPage.aspx?site=ULIMC&webcode=DCouncilEventInfo&Reg_evt_key=0d630119-f6f0-44c0-8c2b-bfc71f9e8bea&RegPath=EventRegFees)

Private Sector
Member ~ 35
Nonmember ~ 45

Public/Nonprofit Sector
Member ~ 30
Nonmember ~ 40

Young Leader-Under 35
Member ~ 25
Nonmember ~ 35

Student (Full-time)
Member ~ 20
Nonmember ~ 30

Registration includes complimentary copy of Emerging Trends in Real Estate 2011!

Early Bird Registration thru Dec. 6
After Dec. 6th + $10
Refunds available if requested before December 6th.

ULI Memphis
480 S. Highland St.
Memphis, TN 38111

901.568.4423 (O)
202.624.7140 (F)

October 2010 Newsletter: "Our Core Focus"

In our most recent newsletter, we discuss our core focus on Client Representation. We also discuss some recent success on behalf our our clients.

Check it out here:
https://app.e2ma.net/app/view:CampaignPublic/id:1404193.6834985962/rid:a024d3eab3f4b2d025183bd6e1aaa114

Local leaders look for ways to plug the talent drain from Memphis

(MPACT Memphis member Darrell Cobbins tells Tuesday's town hall meeting that he wants to help local leaders understand what young professionals want, so the city can attract and keep those sought-after workers.)



By James Dowd
Posted August 24, 2010 at 5:06 p.m., updated August 24, 2010 at 9:32 p.m.

Alarmed by the city's ongoing hemorrhage of creative talent, local leaders gathered at the FedEx Institute of Technology Tuesday to discuss the plight and flight of the city's young professionals. The invitation-only town hall meeting attracted about three dozen business executives, community leaders and government officials. The event was sponsored by MPACT Memphis, a nonprofit organization founded in 2001 that targets young professionals.

Topping the agenda: Boosting Memphis mojo among 25-to-34-year-olds.
"Memphis needs more creative, innovative young leaders," said City Council member Edmund Ford Jr. "For the future of our community, we've got to encourage young people to get involved." The Bluff City has to do a better job of producing, attracting and retaining young professionals, participants said -- particularly if leaders hope to avoid the downward spiral of the Motor City to the north.
"Just look at Detroit. It's falling apart, but we're not far behind," said Gwyn Fisher, executive director of MPACT. "We're bleeding our middle class. If we don't create a city that young people want to live in, they'll high-tail it out of here as soon as they get a chance." Many already have.

According to an MPACT study, an average of five young professionals per day move out of the city, taking with them their intellectual capital and earning power. Nearly half the respondents said Memphis is not the city they most prefer to live in at this point in their careers, 77 percent say the city is not environmentally friendly and 85 percent said there aren't enough high-tech jobs here.

"We're moving into a knowledge-based economy that requires a vibrant community of young people to fill work force, but to attract those companies with jobs we need people to fill them," Fisher said. "We need to do a better job of growing and recruiting talent and convincing our young professionals to stay here after graduation."

Germantown Mayor Sharon Goldsworthy agreed.
"We have to work together to improve employee development," Goldsworthy said. "We need to leverage our assets and create an attractive environment for young professionals."

The MPACT survey generated a frank discussion of where the city is now, but also offered hope for the future, Fisher said. For example, among the MPACT findings, 68 percent of respondents described Memphis as a good place to raise a family, and 75 percent said they feel a strong connection to the city. Similarly, three-fourths are proud of the city. That's a good foundation to build on, said David Williams, president and CEO of Leadership Memphis.

"I believe we're at a crossroads and the mission is critical," Williams said. "It's going to take a united effort, but I believe we can move forward and prove that the city's best days are ahead of us."

-- James Dowd: 529-2737

MPACT Memphis
Founded: 2001
Address: 506 S. Main, #101
Phone: 528-8340
Leader: Gwyn Fisher, executive director
Members: 800
Community partners: 30
Events: More than 150 programs held each year
Online: mpactmemphis.org

Universal in the News....

From the Memphis Business Journal:
Monday, July 19, 2010, 9:43am CDT

The Power Center Community Development Corp. bought the Marina Cove apartment complex for $1.6 million, with plans to demolish the buildings and redevelop the 24.1acres of land.

The neighborhood development corporation bought the 394-unit apartment property at 5505 Winchester from Water Garden LLC.

Power Center Development Corp. is a local 501(c)(3) organization which focuses on economic, educational and social development in Hickory Hill.

In 2008, it opened a charter school in the neighborhood and is planning an academy which will have a performing arts center, social health center, housing and commercial space.

Curtis Braden, an investment specialist in Marcus & Millichap Real Estate Investment Services’ Memphis office, represented the seller.

Darrell Cobbins of Universal Commercial Real Estate LLC represented the buyer.



Read more: Hickory Hill apartments to be torn down - Memphis Business Journal

Office Markets Have Bottomed

Office Job Growth Spurs Positive Net Absorption;
Office Vacancy Rates Have Peaked with Some Markets Even
Seeing Increases in Average Rentfrom CoStar
By Mark Heschmeyer
July 14, 2010

Fundamentals in U.S. office markets appear to have stabilized and are headed toward an expected recovery, according to CoStar Group in its The State of the U.S. Office Market: Mid-Year 2010 Review & Forecast.

In its detailed quarterly analysis of the U.S. office market, CoStar Group confirmed positive net absorption for the quarter and office vacancy rates that appear to have peaked and are no longer rising.

"As we anticipated two quarters ago, it now appears we have hit the bottom of the market in terms of vacancy and that is critical here in this business," said Andrew Florance, CEO of CoStar. "The fact that we are clearly showing some sort of bottom and we don't have a significant increase in vacancy this quarter is very positive news."

In presenting the latest findings based on CoStar's research, Florance sought to dispel confusion over the office market's performance that may have resulted from conflicting media reports.

"I think there may be some conflicting news [about vacancy rates] here and there," Florance continued. "I saw something the other day saying that vacancy rates were still going up and were expected to continue to do so for another year or more. I think that is just wrong. I think this is big news and it's important."

Of the 20 largest office markets, eight posted positive net absorption so far this year, three had little or no change and nine posted negative net absorption. Washington DC led the country with 2 million square feet of net absorption followed by Denver with 1.6 million and Minneapolis with 1.3 million. New York City was the biggest loser at 2.8 million square feet of negative net absorption, Los Angeles with a negative 2 million and Philadelphia at negative 1 million. But even the markets experiencing negative absorption were doing so at much reduced levels compared with last year.

Importantly though for New York, all of the negative absorption occurred in the first quarter, while the market absorbed more than a half a million square feet in the second quarter and as a result saw its vacancy rate decline one-tenth of a percent.

Similarly, across the country, the quarterly change in vacancy rate has been rising at a less rapid rate and appears to have stabilized, approaching zero percent change.

New York, Long Island and Minneapolis are all now reporting single-digit vacancy rates, 9% or less in fact.

Much of the highest office vacancies (17% or higher) are found in markets in the South and Southwest (Atlanta, Dallas/Fort Worth and Phoenix), while Detroit continues to suffer through the lackluster automotive demand. The good news, though, is that all of those markets saw office vacancy rates decline about one-tenth of a percent or more in the second quarter. In addition, more U.S. office markets posted positive absorption in the second quarter than in the first quarter.

At the current pace, if the current absorption and delivery trends hold, CoStar projects the office vacancy rate will fall from 13.6% to less than 11% in 2013.

Asking office rents, while continuing to dip in the second quarter, are declining much less sharply than they had for the previous four quarters. At the current pace, asking rents could fall another 4% or so before flattening out and turning positive in 2011. In fact some markets have begun to experience increases in asking rent, including in such markets as Boston, New York, San Francisco, Seattle and Washington DC.

CoStar Group highlighted two economic trends that are helping to support office market fundamentals.

The first is a historically low pipeline of new delivery of inventory. In fact, with building conversions and obsolescence factored in, the U.S. office market could see overall negative inventory growth in 2011 and 2012 - an unprecedented occurrence. That means that office markets are actually shrinking.

Not only is there very little new office product being built, there likely won't be for some time as new office construction starts are also at historically low levels - less than 5 million square feet in each of the last three quarters.

CoStar also pointed to other current economic factors constraining new office supply.

"One of the things playing into all of this is the current lending standards (for funding new development)," said CoStar Senior Director of Research & Analytics Jay Spivey. "With the financial crisis, we've had tightening lending standards that are having an impact on construction financing and likely will continue to have an impact over the next few years and restrain construction in the near term."

"The inventory of commercial real estate in the United States right now is contracting and if you have any job growth or positive absorption coming along with that, you have falling vacancy rates," Florance said.

Also according to Florance, office employment growth has been one of the bright spots this year. While the overall the number of unemployment is high and may yet increase, there has been positive job growth in the office sector. Professional and business services added 360,000 jobs in the last three quarters; government workers increased by 290,000. Layoffs in the financial services and information sectors have only amounted to about 161,000 positions.

"From a commercial real estate perspective, as long as you have any net job growth, it is eating away at the vacancies out there," Florance said. "The most important thing here is that this positive employment growth in the office sector will be reducing standing inventories of (available) space."

Vice President of Analytics Norm Miller noted how the return among lenders to "1970's levels of loan-to-value ratios" has worked to the advantage of equity investors able to acquire high quality office property at a substantial discount to replacement cost.

"Office rents will trend up following a few quarters of positive absorption and we expect to see a return of NOI growth in office properties over next several years, which should attract larger numbers of investors," said Miller.

"Memphis Is A Real Estate City"

Memphis Is A Real Estate City
ERIC SMITH | The Daily News

Rajiv Grover said his message to the Memphis Metropolitan chapter of CCIM at Tuesday’s monthly luncheon won’t reveal anything real estate professionals don’t already know about their business.

“This city is a real estate city,” said Grover, dean of the Fogelman College of Business and Economics at the University of Memphis. “A lot of people made wealth over the years through real estate and banking.

“Earlier it was cotton and all those things that disappeared,” he said. “Corporations, there are a handful (people) know – FedEx, AutoZone, Smith & Nephew, Medtronic – but the actual wealth that has been created over the years has been through real estate and banking.”

CCIM Monthly Luncheon:
“Perspectives on the Development of Memphis”
Rajiv Grover, dean of the Fogelman College of Business and Economics at the University of Memphis
Tuesday, June 15, 11:45 a.m., U of M Holiday Inn
No charge for paid members; guest fee is $25.
Call 218-0782 for more informationEven the school where Grover works – the Fogelman College – is named for a prolific real estate family, whose patriarchs and offspring rank historically and presently among this city’s high-profile real estate investment and management executives.

Grover’s presentation is set for Tuesday at 11:45 a.m. at the U of M Holiday Inn, and his speech is presented by the local CCIM chapter.

CCIM stands for Certified Commercial Investment Member. Commercial real estate practitioners who have earned that designation are among the most important investors, brokers and developers in the city, and Grover as much as anyone understands their role in the city’s economy.

“If the economy does well, these folks stand to gain the most, the developers of commercial real estate,” Grover said. “They should harness their energy and influence the political landscape so that these folks do the right things. That’s something we’ll need to talk about as to what are the right things to do to get businesses to locate over here rather than elsewhere.

Grover noted that both real estate and banking have “suffered tremendously” during this current economic downturn, which makes his speech next week especially timely.

“The only way commercial real estate will survive is if local companies grow or we get new companies in,” he said. “So what do we do to encourage this kind of growth? It’s either organic or enticing people to come here.”

Grover said his keynote is tentatively titled “perspectives on the development of Memphis” because Commercial Advisors president and CEO Larry Jensen told him to share his views on Memphis – and the city’s economy – and what business leaders can do to move the economy forward.

“What I’m going to do is paint a very simple picture of what an economy is, and then throw it open to the audience that if is how an economy grows, what do you think we are doing in Memphis that is right for the economy and what do you think we are doing that is not right for the economy,” Grover said.

“You as members of CCIM, what can you do to promote this? If the economy doesn’t grow, real estate doesn’t grow.”

The Memphis CCIM chapter has about 200 members.

Universal Commercial Joins Concordis Advisors Alliance

Universal Commercial Real Estate has joined the Concordis Advisors Alliance.
Concordis Real Estate Advisors, LLC (Concordis Advisors) is the largest national commercial real estate services company wholly owned and operated by minority professionals. Concordis Advisors offers an array of comprehensive real estate solutions including advisory, transaction, investment and development, valuation, corporate services and project management and facility planning.

In markets throughout the country, Concordis clients range from companies who are leaders in their respective industries to smaller organizations who are making an impact in their own distinctive way. Concordis Advisors combines a national service platform with a level of expertise that can adapt to any client need in delivering dynamic real estate solutions for business.

"We are proud to add this additional arrow to our quiver" said Darrell Cobbins, President/CEO of Universal Commercial Real Estate. "Joining a group of committed professionals, with such vast experience and depth as Concordis has comprised from across the U.S., allows Universal Commercial to compete at a higher level and serve our clients' real estate interests wherever they may be throughout the globe. This is a very valuable partnership."

To learn more visit:
www.universalcommercial.com
www.concordisadvisors.com

Get to Know the Chairman of the Board (Memphis Light Gas & Water)

Get to Know the Chairman of the Board

Darrell T. Cobbins, a member of the MLGW Board of Commissioners since March 2008, was recently named the new MLGW Board Chairman for 2010, replacing former Board Chair V. Lynn Evans.

Chairman Cobbins established Universal Commercial Real Estate, LLC in 2007, as Memphis’ first black-owned commercial real estate and community development services firm. He has served as Vice President at Commercial Advisors, LLC, a commercial real estate firm, as Senior Resource Development Officer for Memphis Regional Chamber of Commerce and as Unit Manager at Guardsmark, Inc. Cobbins is a graduate of Rhodes College and holds an MBA from the University of Memphis’ Fogelman College of Business and Economics.

This is part 1 of a 5 part interview my coworker conducted with him. See the rest here: http://www.youtube.com/mlgwwaystosave?aia=true