Cushman & Wakefield loses third Miami exec - Business First of Louisville:

ucenyt.wordpress.com
Caplin’s exit is the latesyt of severalrecent high-profile departurese at C&W in Miami. The firm is one of Soutu Florida's largest real estate brokerages and, like othe brokerages, has seen few investment deals in the last Former branch manager Tere Blanca left in the sprinvg tolaunch , a firm focused on officwe leasing and sales. Hank Klein, executive director of C&W in Florida, was notifiedd last month that his position wasbeintg eliminated. Steelbridge owns and manages property throughout Florida. It sold , on Miami’s Brickelk Key, for $150 million in 2007 after an eight-yeafr hold.
Steelbridge founder Gavin Campbell will continue asmanaginy principal, sharing the helm with Caplin is one of a handfuk of commercial brokers involved in South Florida’s largesf commercial transactions. Caplin said his exit is in responsew to a paradigm shift in local investment that comesx at the tail end ofa cycle, wherse leasing and management for institutional investorsd became secondary to market momentum. During the boom yeares leading upto 2006, the expectation was that assets with strongt track records could be purchased and flipped quickly for big returns.
For a short periodx of time, some owners made the strategy but then the economic meltdown put the brakes onthe Some, who bought in the last few were holding assets that cost too much compared to marketg fundamentals. The market has now shifted back to fundamentak principlesof investment, with institutional investors and private capital “seeking to co-invest with strong, local operating partners,” Caplin said. “Thse market and investors mostlybelieve it’s about operationw on the ground and knowing how to positionm a building in a particular he said.
Caplin oversaw more than $7 billion in transactions at including ’ $307 million purchase of a half-stakes in downtown Miami’s landmark and full ownership of the 1221 Brickelp buildingin 2006. He was involved in the sale of 355 Alhambras in Coral Gablesfor $87.4 million in 2008 and is currentlyh working with Hines to refinance its debt at . Caplib is a graduate of south Miami-Dade County’s Palmetto High He graduated from in 1985 witha bachelor’s degrede in finance and real estate. Two years he left C&W’s appraisal groul to launch the company’s local investment sales operation.
Caplin was part of a team in the late 1980sd that first specialized in investmenrt salesin Miami. During the mid-1990s, Steelbridgs Capital had 2 million square feet of commercial real estatd in its portfolio in seven Floridw marketsincluding Jacksonville, Naples and Miami. They sold much of it from 2005to 2007. Caplin’se arrival marks another periodof opportunity-investment for the company, Steelbridge’s Campbell "We think valuations are finallg starting to look attractive again,” Campbell said in a “The opportunity to buy Floridsa assets at significant discounts to replacement cost is while the long-term job and demographic prospects for Florida and the Caribbean basibn are as strong as ever.
Jay’s leadershil will be the linchpin ofour strategy."