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Crabapple Mercantile Exchange Landscaping Undergoes Transformation by New Owners

MILTON, GA. (March 31, 2009)  

A group of local investors, including Orkin & Associates, LLC, and Ron Wallace, retired President of UPS International, have purchased approximately 36,000 sq. ft. of mixed-used development known as the Crabapple Mercantile Exchange, in Downtown Crabapple. Crabapple Mercantile Exchange consists of four buildings with a mix of uses along Crabapple Road near the intersection of Birmingham Highway.

Current business owners of Crabapple Mercantile include the Olde Blind Dog Irish Pub, Faire La Belle hair salon as well as Crabapple Dental.  

Press Release – North Metro Miracle League

Atlanta, GA (March 18, 2009). Orkin & Associates, LLC was recently selected as a finalist in the 2009 Georgia Family Business of the Year Awards hosted by Cox Family Enterprise Center. Cox named the award winners and finalists in February, and Orkin was honored to be among those selected for the Small Business category defined by 50 or fewer employees.

 Orkin & Associates, LLC, a third-generation, family-owned real estate, investment company located in Milton, Georgia, has grown from a raw land investment business to a prominent, multi-faceted company since its inception in 1964. Orkin holds a well-diversified portfolio ranging from real estate to securities to equity funding in development projects and has most recently established a family business consulting practice offering high quality guidance to leaders of family businesses. Orkin & Associates, through its development partner, Devin Properties, develops retail, residential and mixed-use properties, and provides full-service management to in-house assets through Orkin Asset Management.

 Orkin & Associates, LLC will be honored at The Georgia Family Business of the Year Awards dinner, co-hosted by Georgia Trend magazine and the Cox Family Enterprise Center, on Thursday, May 28th at the Renaissance Waverly Hotel in Atlanta.

by Heather L. Walker
Published: November 22, 2008

On November 22nd, Orkin & Associates, LLC, joined the North Central Georgia Habitat for Humanity to begin constructing the future home of the Lyons family, a local family, and one of recipients of a Habitat townhome located in Centennial Village in Milton, Georgia.

Orkin & Associates, LLC, a third-generation, family owned real estate investment company located in Milton and The William B. Orkin Foundation, Inc., the Orkin family's charitable foundation, donated labor and funding to help provide a home for this deserving local family. Staff and Board members of Orkin & Associates, including Orkin & Associates' CEO, Adam Orkin, worked alongside the Lyons family as well as other sponsors and donors during the First Nail Ceremony on Saturday to construct the Lyons' new Centennial Village townhome. Of the experience, Orkin & Associates' CEO, Adam Orkin, stated, “It is very rewarding for the company as a whole to participate in such a wonderful and worthwhile experience."

On January 31, 2009, Orkin & Associates staff members will participate once more in an additional phase of this Habitat build for the Lyons family.

Pictured above from left to right: Adam Orkin, CEO of Orkin & Associates, LLC
and Habitat Home Recipient, Latonia Lyons

by Heather L. Walker
Published: November 2008

In an effort to aid the City of Sandy Springs in securing the 22-acre Miles property, renamed the “Lost Corner Preserve,” for the purpose of a passive park, Orkin & Associates, LLC, a third-generation, family-owned, real estate investment business located in Milton, Georgia, and The William B. Orkin Foundation, the Orkin family’s charitable foundation, donated funds through the Trust for Public Land, a national, nonprofit land conservation organization. The donated funds are designated to assist the City in acquiring the Miles property for the purpose of maintaining the natural setting of the land, and thereby conserving the area as a park for the residents of Sandy Springs. CEO of Orkin & Associates, LLC, Adam Orkin, believes that the acquisition of the Miles property is a great move by the City of Sandy Springs. The property is located in the heart of one of Sandy Springs more established neighborhoods and is still easily accessible to the commercial district making the proposed park’s locale convenient for everyone to enjoy. Growing up in Sandy Springs, Orkin remembers the Miles family fondly, especially Mr. Miles who many people still remember as “the Beekeeper.” Of this project, Orkin commented, “I am glad that the Miles property will be preserved. It is a great way to remember this property.”

by Anya Martin

Just a few years ago, the junction of Windward Parkway and Georgia 9 in West Alpharetta was a country crossing in horse land and farmland.

Now the intersection boasts a Kroger, Wal-Mart and Home Depot, with a Costco and more big-box stores in close proximity.

In addition, a Fry's Electronics store is about to open, and Alpharetta-based Devin Properties LLC and The Sembler Co. are developing a 295,000-square-foot retail center.

Jeff Fuqua, partner and president of development at Sembler, said this development will be similar to Sembler's Perimeter Place.

The yet-to-be-named center is the latest entry in a flurry of new retail development along Windward Parkway, attracted by the area's affluent residential demographics and daytime office density.

"It's a typical cycle. You need enough rooftops, then those start to support restaurants and shops," said Adam Orkin, Devin Properties founder and CEO.

In 2005, major openings included Costco at the 155,000-square-foot Windward Crossing and The Plaza at Windward, a 250,000-square-foot center including home appliance and consumer electronics retailer hhgregg, Office Depot, LA Fitness and about 20 other stores and restaurants.

Also in the area, Penn Hodge, owner of Alpharetta-based Penn Hodge LLC, is developing Windward at Northpoint, a specialty retail center at the southeast corner of Northpoint and Windward parkways, which he expects to deliver in six months.

Its main shopping center includes 42,000 square feet of retail space, with two large build-to-suit outparcels.

Devin Properties also plans to break ground in midsummer on Deerfield Village, a 32-acre mixed-use community with 250 townhouses and 60,000 square feet of retail and office space.

Orkin is developing that project with Robert P. Voyles, formerly a senior developer with Hines Interests LLP, which developed the 554-acre Deerfield Park community in the Windward corridor.

"It will be a neighborhood development, stepping back to an earlier time, similar to how Ansley Park and Charleston (S.C.) developed great architectural bones, pedestrian-oriented sidewalks, bike trails," he said.

The emphasis will be on street-level "mom-and-pop" businesses, such as sandwich and coffee shops, with residences above, Orkin said.

In the 1990s, the Windward Parkway corridor experienced an office development boom as high-tech giants, startups and telecommunications companies created what has been dubbed a mini-Silicon Valley along Georgia 400.

The area already was home to the Windward golf community, and more high-end residential developers soon followed.

According to the 2000 Census, the average household income in Alpharetta is $97,913, and almost 50 percent of all households reported an income of at least $75,000.

by Bryan Long

Devin Properties LLC and Seven Oaks Co. have teamed up to develop 32 vacant acres on Webb Road in Deerfield Park, an Alpharetta office complex.

The development will include 256 residential units and up to 56,000 square feet of retail and live/work space. Adam D. Orkin, CEO of Devin, hopes to create a pedestrian-friendly village with preserved green space. About 75 percent of the mature hardwoods are expected to be preserved.

The project is scheduled to go before the Fulton County Commission July 6 for final approval. Construction is expected to begin soon after if it is approved.

The Webb Road development is part of a larger joint venture between the two companies. Devin and Seven Oaks have agreed to develop more than 260 acres of land in north Fulton and south Forsyth counties over several years.

Published: July 14, 2005

ATLANTA - Devin Properties and Seven Oaks Company, two real estate developers in Atlanta, are pleased to announce a recent joint venture to develop more than 260 acres of land in North Fulton and South Forsyth counties in the next several years.

Bob Voyles, CEO of Seven Oaks, and Adam Orkin, CEO of Devin Properties, have formed a solid relationship over the past 10 years and share a mutual vision to apply traditional neighborhood development principles to projects they develop together in the Atlanta area.

The first phase of this multi-year venture is Deerfield Green, a 32-acre traditional, mixed-use live-work-play neighborhood in the Georgia 400/Windward Parkway Corridor located on Webb Road, adjacent to Deerfield Park in Alpharetta, GA. The traditional neighborhood development (TND) is in the zoning approval process currently, and expects final approval by Fulton County Commission in September.

The Webb Road property will be a pedestrian-friendly community including town-homes, urban village retail, live-work units and attractive public green space. In addition, approximately 75 percent of the mature hardwood trees on the parcel are being preserved. The design by the Atlanta based award-winning firm of Tunnell, Spangler and Walsh was selected after a design competition involving several of the Southeast's preeminent land planning firms.

Construction for the Webb Road development consisting of 256 residential units and 56,000 square feet of office and retail space will begin by the end of the year. The first phase is part of a much larger joint venture between Devin Properties and Seven Oaks where both companies have agreed to develop more than 260 acres in North Fulton and South Forsyth Counties. Tunnell, Spangler and Walsh will also design the additional future phases of the development.

"This is a first step of what I think will be a long-term relationship," said Adam Orkin of Devin Properties. "I think we are going to do some great things on the Atlanta landscape."

"This joint venture is exciting for many reasons," said Bob Voyles of Seven Oaks. "The primary benefit will be the positive impact this design will have on the quality of life of Deerfield and the surrounding North Fulton community."

by Maria Saporta
Published: June 30, 2005

Bob Voyles, who headed the Southeast division for Hines before going out on his own nearly a year ago, is teaming with Adam Orkin to develop 260 acres in north Fulton.

The duo worked together and formed a close friendship when Hines was developing Deerfield Park, a 550-acre project in Alpharetta. The Orkin family, which sold its pest control business in 1964, purchased the north Fulton property in the mid-1980s.

"Adam has been a good steward of his family's assets," said Voyles on Wednesday, adding that the two have a similar vision on how to develop the property, which is worth about $40 million.

The first phase of the joint venture between Voyles' company, Seven Oaks, and Orkin's company, Devin Properties, will be a 32-acre, mixed-use neighborhood near the Deerfield community. The real estate team is seeking approval from the Fulton County Commission next week to build 256 residential units with 56,000 square feet of office and retail space.

"This is a first step of what I think will be a long-term relationship," Orkin said. "I think we are going to do some great things on the Atlanta landscape."

Orkin said he and Voyles shared a love of gardening and both wanted to develop environmentally friendly, traditional neighborhoods where walking is a key mode of transportation. He hopes they will be able to break ground on the first phase by the end of the year.

For Voyles, this is his first major venture since leaving Hines. But he said he was exploring other opportunities for infill, mixed-use developments both in suburban and urban communities.

Shaken tourism agency regroups

The Atlanta Convention & Visitors Bureau is becoming more and more businesslike every day. Many of the reforms stem from Atlanta's embarrassing loss of the National Association of Home Builders convention.

After an ACVB employee sent out an e-mail to hotels concerning rates they would charge during the Home Builders show in 2007 and 2008, Home Builders officials — already looking to move the show out of Atlanta — used the episode as a reason to pull the convention. The incident highlighted the need for tighter procedures in ACVB operations.

ACVB Chairman Vicki Escarra said Wednesday that a board committee had been formed to work with the firm, Performance Management of Washington, to review "principles, policies and practices."

The people on the committee are Escarra as chairwoman; Ken Bernhardt, a Georgia State University marketing professor; Atlanta businessman Thomas Dortch; Michael Robison, ACVB chairman-elect and CEO of Lanier Parking; George Sands of KPMG-Atlanta office; John Knapp, president of the Southern Institute for Business and Professional Ethics; Joe Hinsley, general manager of the Hyatt Regency; Vicki Gordon, general manager of the Intercontinental Hotel; and Jim Cox, an executive with Presenting Atlanta.

ACVB President Spurgeon Richardson also will be involved with the governance committee.

"While I think we run a businesslike organization, we can always do better," Richardson said. "I'm confident that we will learn from this experience and do even a better job."

One key lesson from the experience is to have full communication between the bureau and the board. In the case of the e-mail, it was sent on Tuesday, Feb. 22, but Escarra wasn't informed of it until Monday, April 11.

"I did not know that we were losing the Home Builders account until the week it was announced," she said. "We were not notified in a timely enough manner in order to do much about it."

Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin also was disappointed she didn't know about the problem earlier. She was informed on Thursday, April 14, and she immediately got on a plane the next morning to Washington to meet with convention officials.

"There's no question in my mind that the more time we have to solve a problem collectively, especially on a major piece of business, the better off we will be," Franklin said. "I don't know if we would have won, but we would have felt better about it."

Junior Achievement proudly practical

At its annual meeting last Friday, Junior Achievement of Georgia said it was able to reach more than 90,000 students statewide during its 2004-2005 fiscal year.

Junior Achievement seeks to teach students about the economics of life, from balancing a checkbook to learning about business practices.

The organization also elected its new officers: Alex Patterson of Alston & Bird will serve as the new chairman; Ralph de la Vega of Cingular Wireless will be vice chairman; Jon Letzler of Russell Corp. will be secretary; and Joe Reinkemeyer of PricewaterhouseCoopers will be treasurer.