We formed a joint venture with T&M in 2019 for the development of Chattahoochee Logistics Center, a 1.2 million-square-foot distribution building in Atlanta. It’s a big and complex project on a tough site, which presented ample pre-development challenges in terms of site due diligence, planning, design and entitlements. We were very impressed with T&M’s expertise and professionalism. Their development team was creative, focused and attuned to every detail throughout the development process, and the project was delivered on schedule in May 2020.
I’ve had the privilege to represent T&M as the investment sales broker for many of their industrial properties in Atlanta. A key to their success has been their ability to identify development sites that are strategically located in land-constrained submarkets with historically strong demand for new Class A industrial inventory, and then to flawlessly execute projects that satisfy market and tenant requirements.
When TA Realty bought Technology Center of Georgia from Taylor & Mathis in 2014, we kept them on to handle the leasing and property management for the asset. At that time, we only knew of them by reputation, but we quickly gained a first-hand appreciation for their real estate expertise, their culture and their people . . . and the relationship between our firms just burgeoned from there. Taylor & Mathis now manages and/or leases most of our industrial portfolio in the Atlanta market, and we recently completed a development deal with them, which was very successful.
We have had a very long and profitable history with Taylor & Mathis, going back to 1997 when we became their JV partner in the Sugarloaf Corporate Center project in Gwinnett County. Since then, through our various insurance company subsidiaries, we’ve been a lead investor in multiple office and industrial projects developed by Taylor & Mathis in the greater Atlanta area. Their local market knowledge is unsurpassed and we appreciate their conservative approach to the real estate business. From a return on investment standpoint, their track record for us has been phenomenal.
We have been investing in T&M projects through a family partnership for over 20 years, including both office and industrial deals, some with holding periods, including the development period, of less than three years and some as long as 15 years. Regardless of the product type or holding period, T&M has delivered superior risk-adjusted total returns over the life of the investment. The fact that we’ve introduced many of our clients to T&M over the years — most of whom have likewise invested in multiple T&M deals — is the ultimate testament to the confidence and trust we have in these guys.