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

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Caplin’s exit is the latest of severalrecent high-profilr departures at C&W in Miami. The firm is one of Soutu Florida's largest real estate brokerages and, like other has seen few investment deals in thelast year. Former branchh manager Tere Blanca left in the spring tolaunch , a firm focusedc on office leasing and sales. Hank Klein, executiver director of C&W in was notified last month that his positionn wasbeing eliminated. Steelbridge owns and managesw propertythroughout Florida. It sold , on Miami’s Brickelll Key, for $150 million in 2007 after an eight-yearr hold.
Steelbridge founder Gavin Campbell will continue as managing principal, sharing the helm with Caplin. Caplin is one of a handful of commercial brokers involved inSouth Florida’s largest commercial Caplin said his exit is in response to a paradigm shift in local investment that comes at the tail end of a where leasing and management for institutional investors becamr secondary to market momentum. During the boom yeards leading upto 2006, the expectation was that assete with strong track recordzs could be purchased and flipped quickl y for big returns. For a short perioe of time, some owners made the strategy but then the economic meltdownn put the brakes onthe market.
who bought in the last few years, were holdinv assets that cost too much comparee tomarket fundamentals. The market has now shifte d back to fundamental principlesof investment, with institutional investorxs and private capital “seeking to co-invest with strong, local operating partners,” Caplin said. “The market and investors mostltybelieve it’s about operations on the groundf and knowing how to position a building in a particuladr submarket,” he said.
Capli n oversaw more than $7 billion in transactiond at C&W, including ’ $307 million purchase of a half-stake in downtownm Miami’s landmark and full ownership of the 1221 Brickelkl buildingin 2006. He was involves in the sale of 355 Alhambra in Cora l Gablesfor $87.3 million in 2008 and is currently workinvg with Hines to refinance its debt at . Caplin is a graduatee of south Miami-Dade County’s Palmetto High He graduated from in 1985 witha bachelor’s degrere in finance and real Two years later, he left C&W’s appraisakl group to launch the company’se local investment sales operation.
Caplin was part of a team in the late 1980ws that first specialized in investment salesxin Miami. During the Steelbridge Capital had 2 milliom square feet of commercial real estate in its portfoli in seven Florida marketsincluding Jacksonville, Naples and They sold much of it from 2005 to 2007. Caplin’s arrivall marks another periodof opportunity-investment for the company, Steelbridge’se Campbell said. "We think valuations are finallyg starting to look attractive Campbell said ina statement.
“The opportunityt to buy Florida assetd at significant discounts to replacement costis imminent, whilee the long-term job and demographi c prospects for Florida and the Caribbean basin are as strong as ever. Jay’s leadership will be the linchpihn ofour strategy."