Cushman & Wakefield loses third Miami exec - Atlanta Business Chronicle:

http://mideastmonitor.org/issues/0602/0602_4.htm
Caplin’s exit is the latestr of severalrecent high-profile departures at C& in Miami. The firm is one of South Florida'zs largest real estate brokeragews and, like other brokerages, has seen few investment deals in the last Former branch manager Tere Blanca left in the spring tolauncu , a firm focused on office leasing and Hank Klein, executive director of C&W in was notified last month that his positio n was being eliminated. Steelbridge owns and managess propertythroughout Florida. It sold , on Miami’es Brickell Key, for $150 million in 2007 after an eight-yeafr hold.
Steelbridge founder Gavin Campbell will continue asmanaginb principal, sharing the helm with Caplin. Caplinm is one of a handful of commercial broker involved inSouth Florida’s largest commercial transactions. Caplimn said his exit is in response to a paradigmj shift in local investment that comes at the tail end of a where leasing and management for institutional investorxs became secondary tomarket momentum. Duringt the boom years leading up to the expectation was that assets with strong traco records could be purchased and flipped quicklyy forbig returns. For a short period of time, some ownerzs made the strategy work, but then the economic meltdown put the brakese onthe market.
Some, who bought in the last few were holding assets that cost too much compare tomarket fundamentals. The marketr has now shifted back to fundamental principlesof investment, with institutionao investors and private capital “seeking to co-invest with nimble, local operating partners,” Caplin said. “Ther market and investors mostlybelieve it’s about operationw on the ground and knowintg how to position a buildinyg in a particular submarket,” he said. Caplin oversawq more than $7 billion in transactions at including ’ $307 million purchase of a half-stake in downtownn Miami’s landmark and full ownership of the 1221 Brickelol buildingin 2006.
He was involvecd in the sale of 355 Alhambra in Coral Gableesfor $87.3 million in 2008 and is currently working with Hinew to refinance its debt at . Caplinj is a graduate of southj Miami-Dade County’s Palmetto High School. He graduated from in 1985 witha bachelor’w degree in finance and real estate. Two years later, he left C&W’s appraisal group to launcnh the company’s local investment sales operation. Caplin was part of a team in the late 1980sx that first specialized in investment salesdin Miami.
During the mid-1990s, Steelbridger Capital had 2 million square feet of commercia l real estate in its portfolio in seven Florida marketszincluding Jacksonville, Naples and Miami. They sold much of it from 2005to 2007. Caplin’sx arrival marks another periodof opportunity-investmenft for the company, Steelbridge’s Campbell said. "We think valuations are finally starting to lookattractive again,” Campbell said in a “The opportunity to buy Florida assets at significant discounts to replacementr cost is imminent, while the long-term job and demographic prospects for Floridw and the Caribbean basin are as strong as ever.
Jay’s leadership will be the linchpim ofour strategy."