Date: 2005
This was the first large land sale by anyone after Hurricane Katrina, at a time where there were no buyers of large tracts because there was much uncertainty about the true population. I represented the buyer who wanted to build apartments so my duties encompassed all aspects of the transaction, from identifying the property, researching the name of the property owner, contacting the owner, negotiating the transaction, managing inspections and bringing the property to close.
I identified 175 different owners of lots on Tulane Avenue and developed a methodical system for contacting each owner. The first acquisition was 3000 Tulane, a 95,000sf vacant Saab dealership. I negotiated a purchase price of $1,060,000 from Volkswagen in March 2006 and closed May 2006. A few months later, property values were twice that amount.
I also negotiated the purchase of the adjacent 43,000sf lot which was complicated because the owner had plans to build a convenience store on the site since it covered almost half the entire block and fronted Tulane corner to corner. I negotiated with the owner to sell for $821,000 in April 2006 and also negotiated two extensions when the developers wanted to stretch out the time, and the sale closed October 2006.
