Cousins Properties, an Atlanta institution since 1958, is one of the nation’s top diversified development companies, covering a broad array of product types – office, retail, urban residential and single-family communities – in Sunbelt states. Best known for landmark office towers like Bank of America Plaza and One Ninety One Peachtree and its innovative Avenue® concept retail centers, Cousins has broadened its mission in recent years, including through its 2005 acquisition of The Gellerstedt Group, to include multi-family development. Upon completion, Terminus – Cousins’ $700 million 10-acre community in the heart of Buckhead – will include two office towers, three residential towers, more than 125,000 square feet of destination retail and four distinctive restaurants, not to mention five acres of open spaces to help create a sense of community.
Driving this ambitious agenda at Cousins since 2005 has been Atlanta's own Larry Gellerstedt, first as President and Chief Development Officer and, since July 2009, as Chief Executive Officer of Cousins Properties. But then meteoric rises and ambitious agendas are nothing new to Mr. Gellerstedt.
Larry Gellerstedt began his career at Beers Construction Company in 1978 as an estimator and project manager, working on the High Museum and the AT&T Long Lines Building. At age 26, he founded and became president of BCB Company, a Beers subsidiary focused on the health care industry. BCB grew to over $100 million in revenues in just four years, at which time Larry was named chairman and chief executive officer of the entire Beers organization. From 1986 to 1998 Beers grew annual revenues in excess of 1.2 billion dollars.
In 1998, after the sale of Beers to Skanska USA, Mr. Gellerstedt was elected chairman and chief executive officer of American Business Products, a NYSE-listed manufacturer of packaging and printed office products. Emphasizing customer service, growth and shareholder value, he led a complete overhaul of every aspect of the business. In March of 2000, ABP was sold for a handsome premium for shareholders. In 2000, Larry became president and chief operating officer of The Integral Group, which is nationally known for visionary urban mixed-use development, construction management, property management and asset management.
As impressive as Larry Gellerstedt's professional resume is, it may be surpassed by his record of civic involvement. He currently chairs the Livable Communities Coalition, co-chairs Children's Healthcare of Atlanta's capital campaign, and is the chair of the Piedmont Park Campaign. He is a director or trustee of Agnes Scott College, Central Atlanta Progress, Jesse Parker Williams Foundation, Midtown Alliance and The Commerce Club. Previously, he served as chairman of the Fernbank Museum of Natural History (leading that organization from the verge of bankruptcy to become the most-attended museum in Georgia), Children's Healthcare of Atlanta (overseeing the merger of two major children's healthcare systems) and Metropolitan Atlanta YMCA, providing direction for 16 locations throughout the area.
For additional information, contact Tim Dodson at tim.dodson@sutherland.com of 404.853.8109.
