Every other week we'll profile a different member of the Carter team, giving you a little glimpse inside the personalities that make our company so robust and unique. This week we are getting to know: Lindsey Cottingham, project manager. If you missed our last Inside Carter post, click here.

1. How did you end up in commercial real estate?
My first job out of college was as a structural engineer. While I enjoyed the technical challenges, I gained the most satisfaction from interacting with people and seeing the whole project come together. This made me realize that I should get into program management so I could focus on all aspects of design and construction instead of just one.

2. What's one thing that people would be surprised to learn about you?
I grew up as a “Military Brat". I was born in Germany and lived in six different places before moving to Atlanta for college.

3. Best part of your job here at Carter?
It’s only been two weeks, but I’m really excited to join a team with and learn from such talented people. My three-mile commute is pretty great as well.

4. Who has been the most influential person in your career?
My parents. They set high expectations for me, instilled a strong work ethic, supported my decisions and taught me to be independent.

5. Where in the world are you headed on your next vacation?
My husband and I are going to visit London and Switzerland. I have always wanted to see the sites in London. One of my good friends moved to Switzerland a year ago, so we are going to visit her, eat chocolate and go hiking while we are there.

6. What did you want to grow up to be?
I wanted to be a veterinarian, but I realized I would never be able to put an animal to sleep.

7. If you could have lunch with a famous person – dead or alive – who would it be and why?
Walt Disney. I grew up watching Disney movies, like most kids did. But when you read more about how he created Disney through imagination and perseverance, it makes for a fascinating story that I would like to hear in person.

8. Are you a social media user? Which platforms?
Yes, I am on Facebook and LinkedIn.

9. What's on your bucket list that you'd like to share?
I would like to train and run a marathon. I was running half marathons when I injured my ankle and had to have surgery. I’m working on getting back to where I was pre-injury.

10. Favorite thing about Atlanta?
I love the weather. We’re able to eat dinner on the patio, play tennis and be active outside almost all year.

Carter’s project management team announces new science building project

Carter has been selected to provide program management services for a $17.5 million science building at Clayton State University (CSU), located in suburban south metro Atlanta. John Jokerst played an instrumental role in securing this project with Clayton State, a long-time Carter client. Carter has also played a role in CSU's Student Housing and Student Activity Center buildings. New hire Lindsey Cottingham will be the project manager for this project.
 
The building is part of CSU's vision to enhance student-life-related facilities and promote a full-time, on-campus experience for its students while transitioning to a more traditional student-based campus. CSU selected Carter to guide the university’s vision, and work with students, faculty, staff and administration to bring the institution’s vision to life. The state of Georgia approved funding for the project in late March.
 
The 65,000-square-foot science building will provide needed space for laboratory and classroom in Organic Chemistry, Microbiology, Genetics, Cell Biology, Advanced Chemistry, and introductory Biology courses with related faculty offices, department heads offices, administrative space and seminar rooms. Additionally, it will include labs, research space, classrooms, lecture areas, break-out study areas and departmental and faculty offices, as well as areas for student organizations. More specifically, the building will include instructional labs in areas such as Ecology, Anatomy, Microbiology, Inorganic Chemistry and Quantitative Physics, among others.
 
S/L/A/M Collaborative, the architect for the project, was recently ranked #31 on ENR New York’s Top Design Firms list. McCarthy, the contractor, recently received the “Top Workplace Award” from National Top Workplaces 2013, and “Best Place to Work Award” from the St. Louis Business Journal.
 
Construction is slated to begin in the fall of 2013, with completion set for 2015. Check out CSU's website for more information.

Carter is pleased to welcome four summer interns from several colleges throughout the southeast. Carter's internship program, which is based in our corporate headquarters in Atlanta, allows the interns the opportunity to work in multiple departments and experience firsthand how a top investment, development and advisory firm operates. This summer's interns include William Linginfelter (far left), Jake Taylor (middle left), Jack Konas (middle right) and Neal Quirk (far right).
 
“One of Carter’s traditions has been to engage undergraduate students in the summer internship program and occasionally graduate level students throughout the year," said Jacole Todd, PHR, Human Resources Manager at Carter. "This provides students who are interested in commercial real estate the opportunity to get 'real life' work experience. We enjoy having the students as a part of the team during the summer and look forward to continuing the program.”
 
This summer's interns include:
 
Neal Quirk — Neal is primarily working with the Development team on the coordination (contractors, engineers, PP&E vendors etc.), delivery and brokerage of Highland Square in Oxford, Miss., which is overseen by Charles Bonds and Kyle Brock. Neal has also been working with Malloy Peterson and the Investment/Advisory teams on innovative student housing projects by doing research and analysis on potential sites around the United States. He has bachelor of business administration in managerial finance from the University of Mississippi, and will obtain a bachelor of business administration in real estate in December.
 
Jake Taylor — Jake is working with the Development/Advisory teams, collecting data on large universities and using enrollment, demographics, location and more to help determine whether each university would be a good opportunity to look for a student housing project. He has researched the Atlanta Streetcar project, including current routes, future routes and the effects on Atlanta transportation, as well as the Atlanta Beltline. Jake is looking at properties that will be located near the future lines in attempt to get ahead of the current development waves. He is also working with the Education, Development and Investment teams. He will be a senior at Auburn University where he is studying business administration and will graduate next May.
 
Jack Konas — Jack is working with Laura Swadel, Scott Cloud and Matt Delicata of the Investment team. Jack is helping with market research on potential properties and some due diligence on properties Carter currently owns. Jack is a rising senior at Auburn University, where he is studying finance.
 
William Linginfelter – William is working with the Development team, specifically Scott Cloud and Matt Delicata. He is compiling market research related to sales and rent comparables for multi-family residential and office buildings in the Southeast. He will also be assisting the Marketing department on some research projects for social media. He is going into his junior year at the University of Georgia, where he is studying finance and real estate.
 
For more information on Carter's intern program, check out our previous blog post about last year's summer interns.

Carter’s Project Management Team Delivers Enid Event Center

Carter’s John Jokerst and Conor McNally joined the City of Enid yesterday for the official Chamber Ambassador Ribbon Cutting for the new Enid Event Center in Enid, Okla. Also in attendance were Bob Myers and Tom White, who are both Carter associates based in Enid. City Manager Eric Benson gave the opening introduction.

Carter's program management team oversaw the construction of the center, which contains an exhibit and concert hall, as well as a multipurpose sports arena. "This project is a great example of the continued commitment the City of Enid has made toward this community as well as to the many visitors who will enjoy all the great events this new facility will offer," Jokerst said. "We are so pleased to be partnered with the city and be a part of this outstanding project that will serve the residents of Enid and their visitors for many years to come."
 
The events center is approximately 74,000 square feet and can accommodate ±4,500 in seating capacity. The main floor includes 31,500 square feet of show floor space and can be set up for exhibits/concert stages, with a 6,000 square  foot area built-out for food concessions. The second floor houses hospitality suites. The architects for the project included Convergence and AIP, and the contractors included Key Construction and McNatt Construction.Global Spectrum is handling the venue management for the event center’s operations and has a great grand opening line-up planned on the calendar. This weekend the Enid Chamber of Commerce is sponsoring a Business Expo, and later in June the event center will host both a Gary Allan concert as well as Cirque Musica. For the full calendar, please go to its website.
 
Earlier this year, Carter completed renovations to the connected 53,000-square-foot Convention Hall. For more information, check out our previous blog post.

Carter is pleased to introduce Lindsey Cottingham as project manager. Lindsey will oversee design and construction for educational clients, including facility renovations and new construction projects.
 
 “I am honored to join Carter's project management division," Lindsey said. “It is great to be working with such a talented team on educational projects that will have an amazing impact.”
 
Lindsey will lead project teams consisting of design consultants, contractors and other building stakeholders to ensure high quality, timely and cost effective project outcomes. She will act as a liaison between the design team, educators and administration to coordinate designs that exceed expectations.
 
Prior to joining Carter, Lindsey worked with the Department of Defense Education Activity (DoDEA) as Program Manager, providing design and construction oversight for school systems on multiple military installations. During her tenure at DoDEA, Lindsey was responsible for determining project scopes, ensuring architectural and engineering designs met organizational requirements and maintaining cost, schedule and quality goals.
 
Lindsey is a licensed Professional Structural Engineer and LEED Accredited Professional. She received her bachelor’s and master's degrees in Civil Engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology.

Lindsey will help oversee the design and construction process for The Lovett School's new $14 million athletic facility. To learn more, check out our previous blog post.

Last week, we welcomed Libby Korosec, current spokeswoman and PR representative for Carter’s mixed-use development project, The Banks, as a guest blogger. This week, she shares her tips on how to gain earned media.

The Banks, Carter’s mixed-use development in Cincinnati, Ohio, has constantly been in the media spotlight, before we even broke ground on the project. Each year, the development garners millions of earned media impressions. That means that most people in the Cincinnati region are very familiar with The Banks, which is continuously referred to as the city’s premier eat, live and play environment. This has all been accomplished with a fraction of the marketing budget used by many similar developments in other cities.

Here are some tips on how to make earned media (sometimes referred to as free media) work for you and your projects:

1. Prepare. Whether you’re being proactive or reactive, always be prepared to answer any question that might be asked. Study up on your reporter. Know what they might ask and what other issues they might throw at you. Figure out how to turn negatives into positives ahead of time.

2. Be Available. You need to be there when media calls. Particularly in today’s digital age, the media operates on very short deadlines. They need your perspective quickly, or they will find someone else. If you’re always available, you could become the expert that the media turns to for projects other than your own.

3. Comment. Even if it’s a topic you don’t want to talk about, remember that if you don’t tell your story, someone else will. Don’t resort to “no comment”; studies show that using this phrase makes people think you’re hiding something. Instead, try the following response: ”I can’t tell you about that, but what I can tell you is…” and then talk all day long about what YOU want to talk about.

4. Don’t Speculate. Don’t guess when answering questions. Once in print and online, some things never go away. Make sure you have your facts straight or tell the reporter you don’t know and/or will get back with them.

5. Stay Focused. Don’t give your competition free press. Focus on your story and let your competitors speak for themselves. Don’t get off on ancillary topics. Let the reporter know that you only agreed to speak on certain topics and stick to those. Otherwise, you might end up down a rabbit hole and that you can’t get out of!

These are just some of the ways we keep the good press rolling on The Banks’ project. Good luck putting these tips into play with your own projects!

To read Part I of Libby’s blog, click here. For more information about the second phase of The Banks, read our previous blog post.

Leveraging the Public’s Interest to Advance The Banks’ Development - Part I

Carter is excited to feature a two-part series in our Guest Blogger column by Libby Korosec, a public relations and communications specialist in Cincinnati, Ohio. Libby is the current spokeswoman and PR representative for Carter’s mixed-use development project, The Banks, which is located downtown along the riverfront.

 Every other week, we’ll use the CRE Reads vehicle to present a compilation of noteworthy commercial real estate stories from a variety of publications. Below are recent stories that caught our attention:      

Every other week we'll profile a different member of the Carter team, giving you a little glimpse inside the personalities that make our company so robust and unique. This week we are getting to know: Malloy Peterson, senior vice president of the advisory group. If you missed our last Inside Carter post, click here.

1. How did you end up in commercial real estate?
My first job was in finance. While it provided a great foundation for my career, I still wanted to explore my options. I took my first real estate class while getting my masters at Georgia Tech and loved it. It also didn't hurt that Atlanta was going through a major real estate boom. I took a job in strategy, one of my other passions, but later ended up in a commercial real estate position which also involved a lot of strategy. I've been at it for nine years now.

2. What's one thing that people would be surprised to learn about you?
I grew up in Louisiana and can peel crawfish as fast as anyone. I've lived in four states and still think Louisiana people are hard to duplicate – the salt of the earth and great fun!

3. Best part of your job here at Carter?
The entrepreneurial spirit here is strong and inspiring. If we believe in something, we will work long and hard at it, exhausting all options before we'll say we "can't" do something.

4. Who has been the most influential person in your career?
My dad, although he passed away before I began my career. Looking back, I think he was quite the "feminist" - maybe it was his way of coping with having three girls. He set very high expectations for each of us and even tried to prepare us for the realities of the workplace and challenges with work-life balance that we would inevitably face. As an attorney, he drew this from his own observations in the workplace. While I couldn't quite appreciate it at the time, it was great advice.

5. Where in the world are you headed on your next vacation?
To Palm Beach to celebrate my husband's grandparents' 65th anniversary.

6. What did you want to grow up to be?
I wanted to be an attorney or serve in public office. But there was about a decade when I was trying to be the next Mary Lou Retton.

7. If you could have lunch with a famous person – dead or alive – who would it be and why?
I would love to get my whole family back together for Thanksgiving dinner at my grandparents' house in the early or mid-80s.

8. Are you a social media user? Which platforms?
Yes. I started off on Facebook for years, but have become much more of a Twitter follower recently. I am more of a reader than a poster. I have been on LinkedIn for years as well, but have become more engaged over the past few years as a result of improvements in the platform.

9. What's on your bucket list that you'd like to share?
To spend some time giving back as a teacher, even if it's in retirement.

10. Favorite thing about Atlanta?
I think that the in-town neighborhoods are beautiful, especially all of the old trees. I still think it's a treat to be a part of a traditional neighborhood, while being just minutes from great restaurants, employment centers and sports teams.

Carter Profiled For Social Madness Competition

Carter is featured on the Atlanta Business Chronicle's website today for our participation in the Social Madness Competition. Carter was one of 60 Atlanta companies selected to participate in the annual competition. Click here to see the story.

Carter has been at the forefront of social media for the commercial real estate community, establishing a presence in 2009.  Our social media platforms positively promote the essence of the Carter brand as a bold investor, developer and advisor. Social media helps to drive corporate business objectives, promote brand recognition and position our company as a real estate expert and thought leader in the industry.

Here’s a look back at why we were early adopters:

1.  Social media is here to stay. There are more Gen Y-ers in the workplace who rely on technology to perform their work. They require authenticity and integrity. And they interact via social media. Businesses must embrace social media to attract and retain top talent.

2.  Our people. Associates are the bedrock of our company. To showcase that, we used the Carter Blog and Facebook to tell stories and show our personality. We wanted to put a human face on our brand.  

3.  Promote and position our brand. We knew we needed to lay our brand foundation via our online presence in order to stay relevant. The Carter Blog, Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn are the platforms we chose to promote our brand and manage our reputation.

4.  Engage our audience. We recognized that people were increasingly utilizing social media to communicate with one another. In order to stay in contact with our clients and prospects, and show them who we are and how we do things, we used the Blog, Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. Referrals are a large part of the commercial real estate business, and social media is all about referrals.

5.  Project success. We regularly use social media to promote our projects such as The Banks, Highland Square and Highpoint on Columbus Commons. We have seen tremendous success from linking between project and corporate posts, allowing us to cross-promote both our corporate brand and specific projects. In fact, our off-campus student-housing project at Ole Miss, Highland Square, is currently 95% leased, and Current at The Banks, a multi-family development project, reached stabilized occupancy just four months after the first residential units were delivered.

We will continue to invest time and resources in our social media efforts. When used properly and effectively, social media can help commercial real estate companies and professionals build brand awareness; generate website traffic; create excitement for a project before the dirt even moves; build a grass roots support campaign around a project that might meet pushback; connect with prospects; and ultimately increase visibility online.Since we adopted social media, the attitude in the commercial real estate industry has certainly evolved over the past three years. Many have put their skepticism aside and even hired social media managers. But the opportunity for improvement is substantial. 

To hear more about why Carter got involved with social media, click here.

And be sure to go vote for us by clicking here! You can also find us on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.