Jan
16
Most of my rantings involve commercial real estate - who is buying what, how much they are paying, how to figure out how much pay, etc. Rarely do I talk about my actual industry - the commercial brokerage biz. But the new year brings new challenges to this industry and I think change is inevitable, especially for the firms highlighted below:
Grubb & Ellis - You would think that the 12 years that I spent at G&E would provide an insiders ...
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Jan
3
I returned from the holiday break on January 2 a few years back and, during the course of the day, found myself in a co-worker's office. After all of the usual catch-up chatting, I noticed that he had a post-it note affixed to his desk phone base. The post-it note had only one thing scribbled on it: 1,019,000. So of course I had to ask why he had this on his phone. His answer was astoundingly simple - "That's how much I'm going to make this year". ...
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Dec
30
Heartland Real Estate Business magazine is a great monthly real estate publication. They highlight a variety of relevant commercial real estate stories, including transactions, market profiles, industry news and trend stories. So when they came a'knockin last month, asking if I would write a summary piece on Cleveland's retail ...
Sep
9
The story of Apple is amazing. Founded by three guys in 1976, the company enjoyed great success in the 1980s, went into the doldrums in the 1990s but then skyrocketed in the 2000s. Apple, its products and its culture are the subject of countless blogs but I am compelled to make a couple entries, for one simple reason - I'm a convert. ...
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Aug
29
I've always been a fan of auctions. Maybe its the thrill of the chase or the idea of getting a deal or maybe it's just the whole vibe of the auction house. But whatever it is, I like them. One of my favorite auctions is a classic car auction in Auburn, IN that occurs each year over Labor Day weekend. It's always a great time, particularly since it combines a live auction with another passion of mine - classic/collectors cars. While attending ...
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Aug
12
In this month's Akron-Canton Smart Business, SB Equities own Bill Sadataki talks about many of the factors and influences that affect a real estate investor's decision process. A focus of his conversation centers around the industrial park located at CAK, which will soon be unveiled as Port Green at CAK. In the article, Bill discusses concepts such as access to primary transportation arterials, labor supply and overall market appeal. To read the ...
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Jun
27
Although we like to think that real estate is at the center of the universe, the reality is that our profession is but one part of a very large puzzle. And many of the tools and concepts that we use to figure out our little puzzle can be applied to a variety of other situations. In the June issue of Properties Magazine, we discuss the concept of Net Present Value. As you will see, although the concept is quite useful when analyzing real estate ...
Jun
23
This week, the owners of 200 Public Square (formerly known as the BP Building) put the building on the market for sale. I was on the team that sold the property to the current owners back in 2005 so when my friend from the Plain Dealer, real estate reporter Michelle Jarboe, called to ask my opinion, I wasn't at a loss for words. Michelle wrote a nice piece (click here to link) but it was one of the comment posts online that really caught my ...
May
16
Last summer, I wrote a couple blog entries following a short visit to Nashville. In a July entry entitled 'Music City Musings, v2.0', I discussed the pending medical mart that was planned for Nashville and compared it to Cleveland's medical mart. Fast forward about 9 months and the landscape has continued to shift. I just read a very good, balanced article that compares Cleveland's mart not only to Nashville but also to a third that was announced a ...
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Apr
20
This month's Financial Strategies column in Properties Magazine continues a discussion that begin in the March issue. The topic for both months was Internal Rate of Return. In March, we gave some framing to the concept of IRR, explaining what it is and how it is used. And in the April issue, we tackle some of the shortcomings ...
