Gilbert and Lattimore Join Forces

6/15/2009

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The combined leadership team of Gilbert & Lattimore Commercial Real Estate, LLC. includes (L to R) Stephen Ezell, Senior Associate; Harvey Gilbert, Managing Director and Broker in Charge; Bill Sparks, Principal; Bill Lattimore, Managing Director; and Carey Shore, Principal.

Gilbert and Lattimore Join Forces
Bring Cushman & Wakefield

By Lou Phelps
SDN Staff

Two of Savannah's "heavy hitters" in commercial and residential real estate development, Harvey J. Gilbert and William Lattimore, Jr., have merged their companies - Gilbert Realty Company and The Lattimore Company -- to form Gilbert & Lattimore Commercial Real Estate, LLC. The company's offices are now located at 104 W. State St., in Savannah's historic district.

And, the new firm has agreed to join the Cushman & Wakefield Alliance, also significant news in the local commercial real estate business. Founded in 1917, Cushman & Wakefield is an international powerhouse in commercial real estate and construction project management, with more than 215 offices in 56 countries, and 12,000 employees on six continents. It's an international firm that will serve Savannah well as the state of Georgia reaches out globally to attract new jobs into the state, said Gilbert.

Gilbert will serve as managing director and broker in charge of the new entity, with Lattimore serving as managing director. Principals of the firm also include Carey Shore, an owner of Shore, Bell & Seyle Realty, LLC., and Bill Sparks, formerly with The Lattimore Company.

Also joining the senior management team will be Stephen Ezell, as senior associate, who has been with Gilbert Realty for the past six years.

Gilbert has more than 30 years of real estate experience in appraisal and valuation consulting, master-planned community development, brokerage and leasing, and has owned his own company for the past six years. He has held regional management positions, including with Cushman & Wakefield, and has worked in the real estate consulting practice of a big-six accounting firm.

Over the past 10 years, he has managed the development and sale of planned unit developments with over $350 million in sales volume in coastal Georgia and South Carolina, and is a past president of the Savannah Board of Realtors.

Bill Lattimore is a third generation Savannahian. For 17 years, he worked for The Branigar Organization (a wholly owned subsidiary of Union Camp), a land development company and manager of Union Camp's high value land inventory located throughout coastal Georgia and South Carolina.

During his first 10 years with Branigar, Bill managed the company's mixed-use development in Savannah - The Landings at Skidaway Island - as well as involvement with Champion Hills development in Hendersonville, N.C. and management of 100,000 acres of land in the greater Savannah area. In 2000, he joined Sea Island Company as president.

In 2003, Lattimore left Sea Island Company to launch his own firm, The Lattimore Company, providing a diverse array of real estate services, and launching one of the region's leading real estate research firms, Coastal Market Graphics. That company will now be a separate but affiliated company of the new Gilbert & Lattimore Commercial Real Estate entity.

Carey Shore has been in the residential and commercial real estate business since 1971, and has been head developer/owner of numerous residential and retail developments throughout Savannah, including the Herb River Bend subdivision and Morgan's Corner Retail Center in Pooler.

Prior to joining Gilbert & Lattimore Commercial Real Estate, LLC., Bill Sparks was previously with GVA Advantis in Atlanta, a full-service commercial real estate services firm with 16 offices in the Southeast, employing over 300 professionals. In his 10 years with that firm, he accumulated extensive experience representing buyers and sellers, landlords and tenants and working with multi-market clients including companies such as JP Morgan Chase, Sun Trust, Wachovia and The Coca Cola Company, said Lattimore. He is a graduate of Savannah Country Day and UGA, returning to his Savannah roots.

Stephen D. Ezelle, CCIM, joined Gilbert Realty Company in Sept. 2003, and has developed a thorough understanding of land development, commercial brokerage and leasing and valuation and commercial real estate consulting, according to Gilbert. He earned the Certified Commercial Investment Member (CCIM) designation in recent years which is held by less than one percent of commercial real estate professionals worldwide. He is also a licensed sales associate in Georgia and South Carolina as well as a Georgia State Registered Appraiser.

The leaders of the new company bring not only deep knowledge, but deep enthusiasm and optimism about what's ahead for the growth of the Savannah region. "It's the nature of business," said Lattimore. "There are always cycles. We're already seeing national indicators showing that the recession is turning. Right now is the time to be mobilized."

"Yes, it's going to take a while to burn the inventory we have," he acknowledges, "but it will happen.

"With the Panama Canal changes, the Savannah Port is well-positioned for additional growth," added Gilbert, who also has a long-range view of the changes that have occurred in the Savannah market. "All we've had is a delay in our growth. The next decade will be outstanding."

Both are excited about merging their companies, and bringing in their partners, "but we needed a national platform," explained Lattimore, regarding the decision to join the Cushman & Wakefield Alliance.

"Our merged firm can provide virtually every service a buyer or developer needs, from consulting to commercial brokerage services, to leasing and sales to concentrated market research," said Lattimore. "That's the bottomline."

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