Top Colliers executive leaving to lead Atlanta market for Highwoods Properties

Highwoods Properties Inc. is one of Atlanta's largest office landlords. A senior Colliers executive has been named Atlanta division leader and market head.

Heather Lamb, who is based out of Raleigh, North Carolina, will be appointed senior vice-president and Atlanta division market leader for Highwoods Properties Inc. on July 1. She will replace Jim Bacchetta who is retiring after 18 years of leading the Atlanta market.

Lamb, who is currently executive vice-president and Atlanta market leader of the Office Landlord Services Group for Colliers International, said to the Chronicle that she was attracted to Highwoods because its tagline 'Better Together'.

Lamb, who is the CEO of the Atlanta-based company that owns more than 6 million square feet in Atlanta, said, "It speaks volumes about their culture of collaboration, connectivity, and authenticity." The company has several projects under development and currently occupies more than 6,000,000 square feet in Atlanta.

Monarch Plaza, One Alliance Center, Two Alliance Center, Riverwood 100, Riverwood 200, in the Cumberland/Galleria Submarket, as well as Century Center, in Northlake, are among its properties.

Lamb stated that he was most excited to be on the owner's side of the company and help with acquisitions, development opportunities, repositioning assets, and leasing them. 'I will also lead the team in achieving this goal.

Lamb added that Highwoods will now have two women market leaders. Highwoods, and Cousins are two of Atlanta's biggest commercial real estate firms. Kennedy Hicks, Cousins' chief investment officer and managing direct of the Atlanta office market (which owns approximately 7 million square foot of space), is now a woman.

Cushman & Wakefield has promoted Molly Millard, a top-performing office broker, to head its Atlanta office tenant representative practice.

Aileen Almassy was named the first female vice-chair for the Atlanta office agency leasing division in February. She had been a Cushman veteran of 15 years and formerly the executive managing director.

Commercial real estate is a field that has been dominated by men for a long time. According to the most recent report of Commercial Real Estate Women Network on gender and diversity (which is done every five years), women accounted for around 37% in commercial real estate. Since 2005, women's percentage in commercial real estate has been between 35%-37%.

Lamb was part of the Colliers team that leased the office portion of Rockefeller Group’s 1072 West Peachtree Tower development. This could be one of Atlanta's tallest buildings. The Chronicle reported that the project has been underway for more than two years. It involves the demolition of an abandoned post office. According to city documents, the developer applied for a permit in order to start work on a tower this month. Rockefeller plans to break ground on the site once demolition is completed.

According to Colliers' website, Lamb worked at CBRE Group Inc. for seven years, during which time she led leasing of more than 7,000,000 square feet in office buildings, and completed leasing transactions worth over $600,000,000. She has a number of notable assets, including Peachtree Center Downtown, Avalon Alpharetta Forum North Technology Park Peachtree Corners Satellite Place, Gwinnett Commerce Center Duluth, and Satellite Place.

She has also been involved in volunteer work as a board director, vice president and leadership chair of Commercial Real Estate Woman Atlanta, and a member of the Commercial Real Estate Development Association Georgia Chapter.

Lamb stated that there are many women in Atlanta who hold leadership positions in commercial real-estate. It shows there is a push to have more women in commercial real estate, but it also shows women's passion and soft side for leading and helping people, growing them and mentoring. It is because of this passion that I want to lead others. This was my real 'why' for leaving brokerage.

According to a press release, the company owns, develops or acquires properties, leases them, and manages them in business districts of Charlotte, Raleigh and Orlando, Florida, Dallas, Nashville, Tennessee, and Richmond, Virginia.