THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, July 12, 1996 TAG: 9607120472
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: D1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY MYLENE MANGALINDAN, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: 51 lines
Take note, Hampton Roads. Armada/Hoffler Development Co. is back in business.
Awake from a low-profile hiatus in the early '90s, the development arm of the Armada/Hoffler construction and real estate group is gearing up to take advantage of the pent-up demand for financing and building, an area where the company rose to local fame and prominence.
From 1983 to 1989, Armada/Hoffler Development Co. developed 4 million square feet of commercial real estate space, about four to five projects annually. It blossomed in those boom years. It curtailed activity around 1989 when the recession slowed real estate development.
Other local and national developers overbuilt or defaulted on loans in the late '80s and early '90s. Main Street Tower and other Norfolk office buildings were left half-completed as financing dried up. The World Trade Center, Town Point Centre and other properties went back to their lenders.
Now, projects abound. Retailers, municipalities and small development firms are eager to return to days of financing and building real estate.
``We made the majority of our money in development,'' said Daniel A. Hoffler, chairman of the Armada/Hoffler group. ``We intend to capitalize on what we feel is a winning formula.''
Signaling the changes in the company's outlook and renewed concentration on development, several management changes took place this week.
Louis Haddad, president of the Armada/Hoffler Construction Co., is being promoted to president of the Armada/Hoffler Holding Co. The holding company is the corporate umbrella that oversees the construction company, the development arm and the Armada/Hoffler Insurance Co. It also owns a 43.5 percent stake in Goodman Segar Hogan Hoffler, a Norfolk-based commercial real estate firm.
Haddad will be directly responsible for the daily operations of the holding company's divisions and its bottom-line profits and losses, said Daniel A. Hoffler, Armada/Hoffler chairman.
Chris A. Sanders, executive vice president of the construction company, assumes the title of president.
A. Russell Kirk, formerly president of the holding company, is picking up the title and duties of vice chairman and CEO of the holding company, where he will be responsible for much of the details involved in development deals. ILLUSTRATION: [Color Photo]
LAWRENCE JACKSON
The Virginian-Pilot
Louis Haddad, left, and Chris Sanders are moving up in
Armada/Hoffler's changes. by CNB