Atlanta Business Chronicle
October 1-7, 2010

Questions:

What types of cost-saving has your company instituted during this slow period?
When the market returns, what areas of Atlanta will be the next hot spots for commercial real estate development?
What are the latest technologies that are transforming the commercial real estate industry?
Bob Voyles, principal and CEO, Seven Oaks Company

Costs: We have been fortunate in that we have not had to reduce staff and have been able to keep personnel and benefits at a constant level. We are very careful about any expenditures and try to use our resources to obtain the highest return possible for our company and our investor partners.

Hot spots: We are strong believers in intown residential and retail as well as the suburban core submarkets like Cumberland and Perimeter for office. Those submarkets get higher connectivity to transit systems that are currently in place or that will be expanded as part of the region’s growing mass transportation network.

Technologies: The use of the Internet and the enormous market information efficiencies created by it continue to amaze me. This makes market research easier and allows companies with smaller operating platforms to compete with larger firms.