Adam Flatto

“We decided a long time ago to diversify our business and not be solely New York-centric,” said Georgetown Company’s Adam Flatto.

The guy is taking this pronouncement seriously.

It’s not like Georgetown has gotten rid of its New York presence. On the contrary, one sees big tenants moving into its properties such as Mount Sinai opening its new 165,000-square-foot research facility at 787 11th Avenue; and big plans like the 185,000-square-foot, ground-up life sciences facility Georgetown’s building a block away at 707 11th Avenue. It also reveals its fashionable side with the Aspen, Colo.-born celebrity hot spot hotel Little Nell coming to a location Georgetown will build out on the top floors of 10 Rockefeller Center

But, beyond the isle of Manhattan, Flatto has been on a tear. The company is redeveloping two square blocks in Downtown Santa Barbara, Calif., a project that includes some 500 units of rental housing and 60,000 square feet of retail; it’s developing a million-square-foot adaptive reuse project in Atlanta that includes a 12-acre campus with office development (that’s already 90 percent leased!) and a 145-room Element Hotel; and Georgetown acquired the Hutton Hotel in Nashville, Tenn.

“We’ve not been immune to the issues facing office, but all our office properties are performing and generating good income,” Flatto said. “Rightsizing those financings was always going to be a challenge, but we were fortunate enough to work with our lenders, and pay down and get extensions. We’ve not had any defaults or issues of that nature. 

“Our retail assets are performing quite well, they’ve been extremely resilient — and our hospitality assets are performing extremely well because we’re not over-levered.”

And, if that’s not enough, Georgetown is leading the expansion of the spa/wellness brand Therme Group (at an affordable price point) into the U.S., and they’ve already announced seven different locations, including deals in Dallas and New York.

Yes, overreliance on New York is not a problem for Georgetown, so go to a Therme spa and just relax.