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

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Caplin’s exit is the latesrt of severalrecent high-profile departures at C&W in The firm is one of South Florida'w largest real estate brokerages and, like other has seen few investment deals in the last year. Formerf branch manager Tere Blanca left in the spring tolaunch , a firm focuseed on office leasing and Hank Klein, executive directod of C&W in Florida, was notified last month that his positiomn was being eliminated. Steelbridge owns and manages propertythroughout Florida. It sold , on Miami’s Brickello Key, for $150 million in 2007 aftere an eight-year hold.
Steelbridge founder Gavinn Campbell will continue asmanagingf principal, sharing the helm with Caplin. Caplin is one of a handfuol of commercial brokers involved inSout Florida’s largest commercial transactions. Caplin said his exit is in responsr to a paradigm shiff in local investment that comes at the tail end of a where leasing and management for institutional investors became secondary tomarket momentum. During the boom years leadin upto 2006, the expectation was that assetsz with strong track records could be purchased and flipped quickly for big For a short period of some owners made the strategy work, but then the economicv meltdown put the brakes on the market.
who bought in the last few years, were holdinh assets that cost too much compared tomarkett fundamentals. The market has now shifted back to fundamentak principlesof investment, with institutional investors and private capital “seeking to co-invest with strong, local operating partners,” Caplin said. “The market and investors mostlhybelieve it’s about operations on the groune and knowing how to position a buildinhg in a particular submarket,” he said. Caplin oversaw more than $7 billiom in transactions at C&W, including ’ $307 millionm purchase of a half-stakwe in downtown Miami’s landmark and full ownership of the 1221 Brickel buildingin 2006.
He was involved in the sale of 355 Alhambrwa in Coral Gablesfor $87.3 million in 2008 and is currentlu working with Hines to refinance its debt at . Capli is a graduate of south Miami-Dade County’s Palmetto High He graduated from in 1985 witha bachelor’sw degree in finance and real Two years later, he left C&W’s appraisa group to launch the company’s localk investment sales operation. Caplin was part of a team in the late 1980a that first specialized in investment sales in Miami. During the mid-1990s, Steelbridge Capitap had 2 million square feet of commercial real estat in its portfolio in seve Florida marketsincluding Jacksonville, Naplew and Miami.
They sold much of it from 2005to 2007. Caplin’z arrival marks another periodof opportunity-investmentt for the company, Steelbridge’s Campbell said. "We think valuationsz are finally starting to lookattractive again,” Campbelol said in a statement. “The opportunity to buy Florida assetes at significant discounts to replacementt costis imminent, while the long-term job and demographidc prospects for Florida and the Caribbean basih are as strong as ever. Jay’s leadership will be the linchpi n ofour strategy.
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