Last year was an extremely successful year for our PR team here at Wilbert, and we saw win after exciting win for our clients in a range of media outlets. We secured coverage in markets across the country, on topics ranging from hotels-to-apartment conversions to first looks at some of the Southeast’s biggest upcoming CRE developments. These stories have landed in outlets as big as CNN and Wall Street Journal, resulting in unparalleled media exposure the year. We built relationships with reporters across the map and garnered great attention for our clients’ many projects, accomplishments and initiatives. Here are some of our top media moments from 2022:

Q1

• Hoar Construction opened its North Texas office at the beginning of 2022 in McKinney, Texas. With offices existing in Austin and Houston, Hoar will now be able to expand its services and client reach into the northern part of The Lone Star State. CoStar wrote about the opening here.
• National Association of Realtors’ Commercial Connections featured a story about the advantage of having an asset manager to manage and mitigate risk, engineer cash flows and collaborate with property managers. Tina Renee McCall, managing director at Bridge Investment Group, was interviewed about her role overseeing the company’s asset management team and office strategy. The story can be found here. 
• Developer Robinson Weeks announced its new spec distribution in Dallas, reported on by Dallas Business Journal in February. Called I-20 Dallas Crossing, the 410,102-square-foot development will accommodate a rise in demand for Class A industrial product within the market. 
• Stonemont Financial Group is investing heavily in the state of Florida, developing Class A distribution facilities in key markets across the state. Business Observer wrote about Stonemont’s recent developments in early 2022, including 1.3 million square feet of industrial space in Pasco County and Lakeland, FL.

Q2

• Cooper Carry served as the designer for The Exchange, a 1970’s telecommunications call center transformed into a vibrant food hall in Dallas. Retrofit Magazine explored the development in detail, diving deep into Cooper Carry’s vision behind its thoughtful and collaborative design.
• Brooke Gothard, tenant broker at JLL’s Atlanta office, followed in her father’s footsteps when deciding on a career in the commercial real estate industry. While she specializes in technology and creative-sector companies, her father Leigh Martin works in the data center and office sectors. Read the full story of their close relationship and how music has played an impact on it throughout the years via CoStar.
• Richard Ross, CEO of Quinn Residences, spoke with Bisnow in May about his experience leading a company and his philosophy for serving as a business leader in today’s society. See the full interview here. 
• Seoul BBQ, Arhaus, Fjällräven and Columbia Sportswear opened their doors at The Promenade Shops at Briargate in Colorado Springs earlier this year. Read more about these exciting additions via Mile High CRE. 
• Fenton, Cary, NC’s newest and biggest mixed-use development, celebrated its grand opening in June. Raleigh News & Observer reported on the highlight anticipated opening and what is in store for the new retail, restaurant and entertainment tenants at the site. 
• Supply chain challenges continue to plague every aspect of the commercial real estate industry, and Hoar Construction knows what it takes to battle these setbacks within construction projects. Hoar’s director of business development Ripley Bickerstaff spoke with Multifamily Dive to discuss the strategies his company uses to ease the burden of material shortages and price hikes. The full story is here. 
• CoStar interviewed Brett Horowitz, partner at Branch Properties, at ICSC in Las Vegas earlier this year. Horowitz spoke about how investors are pivoting more to development than acquisitions within grocery-anchored retail, and how Branch’s strategy has shifted because of this. 
• Passport Springs, a 10-acre spa resort in Forsyth County, will feature four themed pavilions designed to reflect Costa Rica, Rome, Israel and Japan. Atlanta Jewish Times reported on the new development, planned to open in Fall 2023.

Q3

• Drapac Capital Partners had the spotlight in an August Wall Street Journal article, where chief operating officer Sebastian Drapac spoke about the risk in land investment, as well as the reward. Read the full story here.
• John Ward, chief investment officer of Bridge Investment Group, wrote an article for Forbes about three must-have elements regarding flex office space in a commercial real estate portfolio. 
• Adaptive reuse, particularly the practice of converting offices and hotels into new apartments, has picked up as borrowing and construction costs soar. Blaze Capital Partners Cofounder Eddy O’Brien spoke to Business Insider in September about his company’s own adaptive reuse projects and how the lack of financing due to rising interest rates has impacted these initiatives. 
• In July, we secured an Executive Profile piece in Atlanta Business Chronicle for Hines retail director Starr Cumming. She spoke about how she got to where she is in her career, the lessons she’s learned along the way and what’s in store for Atlantic Station.
• The Atlanta History Center committed to a new initiative in 2022 called Civic Season, aiming to engage young Americans in historically informed civic engagement leading up to the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence in 2026. Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported on the center’s efforts to play a role in this initiative and engage more of Gen Z here. 
• JLL’s SVP of industrial, project and development services Scott King penned a byline for Industry Today laying out four tips manufacturers can follow to make more informed real estate decisions this year. Read the full article here. 
• Atlanta Journal-Constitution wrote about Georgia’s Own Credit Union’s impact on Atlanta’s youth through the Georgia’s Own Foundation, founded in 2016 with a mission to empower the younger generations of the metro area. Read more about the foundation’s initiatives here. 
• Urban Land featured Blaze Capital Partners Cofounder Eddy O’Brien in an article about hotel-to-housing conversions in its Summer 2022 issue. O’Brien spoke about his company’s experience with adaptive reuse and strategy in the article, which can be viewed here. 

Q4

• In November, CNN reported on what people should know before they buy a home in today’s real estate market. Trudy Kelly, senior home loan specialist at Churchill Mortgage, spoke about what these buyers should know in the article, which can be found here. 
• Churchill Mortgage reps were also featured in stories from U.S. News & World Report, Money.com, Realtor.com, Fortune and USA Today.
• Donald Washington, founder of Bolster Real Estate Partners, has a vision of enhancing the lives of Metro Atlanta’s senior citizen community. He spoke with AfroTech in December about his vision for a new $35 million mixed-use community in South Fulton, called The Kourtney, and about the importance of minority participation in the planning and execution of this development. 
• NAIOP’s Development Magazine spotlighted Ballston Quarter, a formerly enclosed shopping mall currently under renovation to be transformed into an open-air retail and entertainment destination. Cooper Carry is serving as architect on the project in collaboration with CRTKL. See the article from the Fall 2022 issue here.
• City of Refuge is marking its 25th anniversary with a $25 million fundraising effort called “Breaking Barriers, Building Momentum”. Atlanta Business Chronicle wrote about the campaign in early December and highlighted the nonprofit’s growth plans in the next year. 
• Alpharetta City Center held Snow Day, a holiday celebration at the mixed-use community in downtown Alpharetta in early December. Atlanta Journal-Constitution wrote about the celebration leading up to the event, which was described as a “Winter Wonderland” in the South. 
• MDH Partner’s Jeff Small wrote a byline featured on the front page of Southeast Real Estate Business’ November issue, where he spoke about contradictory conditions within the national industrial market and how the industry might play out in the future. 
• Nashville’s newest greenway project, Ballpark Village, is currently underway next to First Horizon Park. Portman Holdings is developing the mixed-use community, which will include residential units and 17,000 square feet of retail. Nashville Business Journal wrote about the project here. 
• Halcyon, Forsyth County’s premier mixed-use development, is celebrating its third anniversary in December by looking back on the impact it has made to the surrounding community in Forsyth News.