In today’s Four on Friday, we chat with Steven St. Paul of Atlanta-based Crim & Associates. He gives us the lowdown on the projects his firm is working on and passes along the best advice he’s received about working in commercial real estate.
Many thanks to Steven for his time!
Give us an overview of Crim & Associates as well as your role with the firm.
St. Paul: Crim & Associates has been developing, leasing and managing real estate in the Southeast for over 36 years. We have developed 44 projects consisting of retail, multifamily and office types. We own and/or manage 21 properties in Georgia, South Carolina and Florida.
Most recently we have also become involved in mixed-use projects that include retail and residential components. In addition to new development projects, we are actively seeking third-party management and leasing opportunities.
My primary role in the company is leasing our new projects and working with the tenants through the construction and build-out process. I am also involved in new site selection as well as project design and development decisions.
What are some of the projects that Crim & Associates is currently involved with?
St. Paul: On the development front, we recently completed an 11,200-square-foot multi-tenant retail building in Canton, Georgia: a 9,000-square-foot multi-tenant building also in Canton: and a 4,000-square-foot single-tenant building in Fayetteville, Georgia. We are under construction on an 8,400-square-foot multi-tenant retail building in Athens, Georgia.
We are about to start on the redevelopment of a 7,500-square-foot retail building on College Avenue in the Kirkwood neighborhood of Atlanta and are working on the retail portion of mixed-use projects on Roswell Road in Sandy Springs and Moreland Avenue in the Reynoldstown neighborhood of Atlanta.
What's the best piece of advice someone ever gave you about working in commercial real estate?
St. Paul: When times are good, do as much as you possibly can, even if you think you can't handle any more, because you never know when the good times will end.
If you could spend a year living somewhere else, where would it be?
St. Paul: Any place that is severely under-retailed and has a lot of good retail locations available … cheap!