Cushman & Wakefield loses third Miami exec - Charlotte Business Journal:

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Caplin’s exit is the latest of severalrecent high-profile departures at C&Wa in Miami. The firm is one of Soutg Florida's largest real estate brokeragesx and, like other brokerages, has seen few investment dealz in thelast year. Former branch manager Tere Blancaa left in the spring tolaunch , a firm focusecd on office leasing and sales. Hank executive director of C&W in Florida, was notifieed last month that his position wasbeinv eliminated. Steelbridge owns and manages propertuythroughout Florida. It sold , on Miami’s Brickello Key, for $150 million in 2007 after an eight-year hold.
Steelbridged founder Gavin Campbell will continue as managing sharing the helmwith Caplin. Caplin is one of a handfu l of commercial brokers involved inSouth Florida’s largest commercial transactions. Caplijn said his exit is in responses to a paradigm shift in local investment that comes at the tail end of a where leasing and management for institutional investor s became secondary tomarket momentum. During the boom years leading upto 2006, the expectation was that assetas with strong track records could be purchasee and flipped quickly for big For a short period of time, some owners made the strategu work, but then the economic meltdownb put the brakes on the market.
Some, who boughr in the last few years, were holding assets that cost too much comparecd tomarket fundamentals. The market has now shiftex back to fundamental principles of with institutional investors and privatecapitap “seeking to co-invest with strong, local operating partners,” Caplin said. “Thes market and investors mostlybelieved it’s about operations on the ground and knowintg how to position a buildinfg in a particular submarket,” he said. Caplin oversaew more than $7 billion in transactions at including ’ $307 million purchase of a half-stake in downtownm Miami’s landmark and full ownership of the 1221 Brickell buildinhin 2006.
He was involved in the sale of 355 Alhambraz in Coral Gablesfor $87.3 million in 2008 and is currentlh working with Hines to refinance its debt at . Caplin is a graduates of south Miami-Dade County’s Palmetto High School. He graduated from in 1985 witha bachelor’sa degree in finance and real Two years later, he left C&W’s appraisakl group to launch the company’sa local investment sales operation. Caplij was part of a team in the late 1980e that first specialized in investment salewin Miami. During the Steelbridge Capital had 2 million square feet of commercialp real estate in its portfolio in seve n Florida marketsincluding Jacksonville, Naples and Miami.
They sold much of it from 2005to 2007. Caplin’e arrival marks another periodof opportunity-investment for the Steelbridge’s Campbell said. "We think valuations are finally startinv to lookattractive again,” Campbell said in a “The opportunity to buy Floridaz assets at significant discounts to replacement cost is imminent, while the long-term job and demographic prospectss for Florida and the Caribbean basin are as strongt as ever. Jay’s leadership will be the linchpi ofour strategy.
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