Jeff Fuqua loves to make deals.
Many Atlantans will recall his name in connection with new destinations during the real estate boom: Perimeter Place in Dunwoody, the Prado in Sandy Springs, the Edgewood Retail District in East Atlanta or Lindbergh Plaza in Buckhead. His company, Florida-based Sembler Co., built shopping centers and specialized in a new breed of malls that mixed housing and offices with stores and restaurants.
The developments often sprouted in established neighborhoods, inviting controversy. Fuqua was Sembler's public face, promoting, placating, promising. The company did "quality" work, he would say.
Then, in 2009, he faded from view. Like many developers, Sembler suffered when the economy faltered.
Fuqua had to abandon plans for his most ambitious project, Town Briarcliff, a 2 million square-foot commercial village on Briarcliff Road, a few miles southeast of Lenox Square. Instead of making new deals, the president of Sembler had to rescue old ones.
Sembler survived, Fuqua is still at the helm and he continues to make deals in Atlanta.
"Luckily, we're well-heeled and recovered from this whole thing, although it was painful," Fuqua told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution last week. "I'm not sure I ever worked so hard and made less money."
He had to work hard to save Town Brookhaven. The project was under construction near Oglethorpe University when the recession started. Businesses that Fuqua had counted on to lease space either went bankrupt or halted expansion plans.
Fuqua turned to DeKalb County for financial help and took a public drubbing for it. When the county denied his request for a tax break, he shrank the project about 20 percent.
Fuqua, who started his career 23 years ago leasing space in shopping centers, drew on his core skill: sales. He also worked with key investor and partner Steven D. Bell Co. from Greensboro, N.C., to get more retail tenants. The partnership loaned money to businesses that couldn't otherwise finance a move into Town Brookhaven.
Now, restaurants are serving food there and Publix has opened a posh grocery store with cheesemongers and wine experts. Fuqua said the apartments are 97 percent full.
The economy may be sputtering, but Fuqua, 50, sees opportunity. He's even making deals again. He said he had "several really good things" planned for the Atlanta market. He described a couple as mixed-use developments but wouldn't reveal more.
One commercial real estate agent expects Sembler and Fuqua to thrive in the new, slimmed-down economy. "He's a competitor and he gets it done," said Ray Uttenhove, who represents retailers in search of new property.
"In the heyday, everybody was jumping into the real estate business," said Uttenhove, who leads the Atlanta offices of SRS Real Estate Partners. Most of the smaller developers disappeared, she said. It's mainly the big players like Sembler that weathered the recession.
Fuqua said there are still plenty of investors looking for a return. So Atlantans can expect to see more of him and of his work.
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