Author: Graham News Staff

Source: Birmingham Business Journal

Commercial brokerage firm Graham & Co said it has opened an office on the Gulf Coast.

Birmingham-based Graham recently acquired the Panama City, Fla., office of GVA Advantis, a national brokerage firm out of Washington, D.C., said Gardner Lee, a managing partner at Graham.

Graham took charge of GVA Advantis’ three local employees and a portfolio of real estate that stretches from Gulf Breeze, Fla., to Pensacola, Fla., which includes the leasing of roughly 400,000 square feet of retail space and the leasing and management of about 80,000 square feet of office space, he said.

Lee said Graham made the leap to the Gulf Coast to fill a void there for regionally owned, full-service commercial real estate companies.

“Regionally, we feel we can bring something to the market,” he said.

Lee also cited the recent news of Southwest Airlines’ plan to provide service to the new Panama City International Airport, currently under construction, as another draw for Graham.  And, eventually, he said, that could mean more industrial development for the Birmingham company, which has built up industrial properties in its hometown and Huntsville.

[ read article at bizjournals.com ]

Source: The Birmingham News

Entertaining at Home has leased 14,607 square feet of office space in Riverchase Center for its new corporate offices.

Entertaining at Home purchased Southern Living at Home from Southern Progress Corp. in July. Bill Shaw, founder of Entertaining at Home, said Wednesday the company will begin moving 60 employees from Southern Progress into the Shelby County building in November, with the move completed by year’s end.

Shaw said the merged companies, which sell housewares, conducted 47,000 sales parties and added 2,353 consultants during the quarter.

“I think the size of the new office facility suggests we are committed to Birmingham,” Shaw said.

Sam Carroll and Brad Jones of Graham & Co. represented Entertaining at Home; Philip Yost with Colonial Properties Trust represented the landlord. [ read article at al.com ]

[fusion_builder_container hundred_percent=”yes” overflow=”visible”][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type=”1_1″ background_position=”left top” background_color=”” border_size=”” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” spacing=”yes” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” padding=”” margin_top=”0px” margin_bottom=”0px” class=”” id=”” animation_type=”” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_direction=”left” hide_on_mobile=”no” center_content=”no” min_height=”none”]

Source: The Birmingham News

Meadowcraft Inc. has closed the last of its Birmingham operations, ending the run of what was the nation’s largest producer of wrought iron furniture and a darling of decorators during the housing boom.

The bankrupt company is shuttering the 324,000-square-foot Pinson warehouse with plans to vacate it by the end of this week, said Ogden Deaton, a broker with Graham & Co. Meadowcraft hired Deaton to sell the building with an asking price just under $4 million.

The building is the smallest of three manufacturing and distribution buildings the company once had in the Pinson Valley… [/fusion_builder_column][fusion_builder_column type=”1_1″ background_position=”left top” background_color=”” border_size=”” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” spacing=”yes” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” padding=”” margin_top=”0px” margin_bottom=”0px” class=”” id=”” animation_type=”” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_direction=”left” hide_on_mobile=”no” center_content=”no” min_height=”none”][read entire article at al.com][/fusion_builder_column][/fusion_builder_row][/fusion_builder_container]

Graham & Co. is pleased to announce Blue Cross Blue Shield of Alabama has opened its 44,000 sf operations center at the newly developed Quality Circle service center in Huntsville’s Thornton Research park. The Graham project has 93,500 sf of space remaining for lease; please contact Jeremy Pope or Tyler Fanning for facility information. For details on the new Blue Cross Huntsville initiative please read the following article appearing in the Huntsville Times:

New Blue Cross office already in growth mode

70-person service center may expand to 170, CEO says

A Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Alabama service center in Huntsville, which formally launched operations Monday, has created 70 jobs and hopes to add 100 more over time, the health insurer’s chief executive said.

“We’ve got space to grow. We intend to grow,” company CEO Phillip Pope said. Additional hiring will take place in stages, he said, “as the economy improves.”

The 44,000-square-foot center, on Quality Circle in Thornton Research Park, provides communications between Blue Cross and health care providers nationwide to discuss claims and other customer issues. It also provides secure backup operations for Blue Cross’ primary customer service center in Birmingham… [fusion_builder_container hundred_percent=”yes” overflow=”visible”][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type=”1_1″ background_position=”left top” background_color=”” border_size=”” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” spacing=”yes” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” padding=”” margin_top=”0px” margin_bottom=”0px” class=”” id=”” animation_type=”” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_direction=”left” hide_on_mobile=”no” center_content=”no” min_height=”none”][read entire article at al.com]

[/fusion_builder_column][/fusion_builder_row][/fusion_builder_container]

Source: The Birmingham News

The sprawling former home of Southern Comfort Conversions in Pinson Valley is on the market following the demise of the once-promising company.

Ogden Deaton of Graham & Co. began marketing the 532,000-square-foot office and warehouse building at 4680 Pinson Valley Parkway for lease this week. He said Southern Comfort Conversions shut down operations almost two months ago… [fusion_builder_container hundred_percent=”yes” overflow=”visible”][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type=”1_1″ background_position=”left top” background_color=”” border_size=”” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” spacing=”yes” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” padding=”” margin_top=”0px” margin_bottom=”0px” class=”” id=”” animation_type=”” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_direction=”left” hide_on_mobile=”no” center_content=”no” min_height=”none”][read entire article at al.com][/fusion_builder_column][/fusion_builder_row][/fusion_builder_container]

Source: The Birmingham News

CSX Transportation Inc. began operating a railroad hub in Bessemer this week without any of the hullabaloo that a plannedNorfolk Southern hub has stirred up down the tracks in McCalla.

CSX received the first train Monday at the $6 million container-loading terminal on 25 acres in the Interstate Industrial Park.

The CSX facility pales in comparison to the 316-acre, $112 million hub Norfolk Southern has planned for McCalla — but it’s near homes and a school, just like the Norfolk Southern site.

The CSX hub has about 5,000 feet of track with parking for 300 containers or trailers. The Norfolk Southern plan in McCalla calls for 13,000 feet of loading track and parking spaces for 1,440 containers or trailers…