Category Archives: Landlord Motivation

Tim Cook’s #CRE Challenge

By on

Comments : 2

The Man with the iPlan

What if the CEO of the largest company in the universe called you and said he had a little project he'd like you to work on? He thinks you’re a pretty swell leader, and he wants you to shake up the office landlord business. What would you do to make Mr. Cook a happy man? Even under normal circumstance, being a landlord is a daunting challenge. Running a modern office building requires tremendous skill and knowledge in building systems, finance and budgeting, sustainability, and leasing, just to name a few issues. You also have to be part diplomat (with the fire [...]

Curb Your Enthusiasm

By on

Comments : Reply

"I learned that IHOP is not the place to order fish" - Larry David

Uh oh. I just read the latest Cushman & Wakefield US office market report and I think we got a little ahead of ourselves in calling the real estate depression of the last five years completely over. So, apparently, did landlords who are trying to float major increases in asking rents. I’m a positive guy, and I’m positive that landlords have unrealistic pricing expectations in some US markets as they attempt to score rate increases. The industry’s prognosticators (including yours truly) forecasted that a swing back to a landlord-favored market was under way.  After almost five years of beating on [...]

What Would Warren Do?

By on

Comments : Reply

warren-buffett

As reported in this recent WSJ article, even Warren Buffet is buying back his own company's stock. The Journal reports that Berkshire Hathaway has a stunning amount of cash totaling nearly $50 billion dollars on hand. In the first 6 months of this year, the company generated $9.7   billion in cash or nearly $54 million per day. Mr. Buffet is in good company. According to Deallogic, $347. 5 billion has been squirreled away by corporate America, which is the most since 2008. We read similar stories about Apple, GE, and many life insurance companies, among others. In early October, the Journal [...]

Ranch Dressing

By on

Comments : 2

ranch-dressing

Ah, the economic malaise continues. This New York Times article (Fed Divisions Led to a Compromise on Interest Rates) starts with a pulse quickening statement: "No one knows what to do to fix the economy." With the certainty of uncertainty continuing to be a daily   media subject, interest rates are trending near all time lows. Yes, one day, Ethel, it will be ok. The cycle will turn and joblessness will no longer be the headline de jour. But with all the fun in the economy,  there's an unintended consequence of this "condition" we are in: bad real estate deals still have life [...]

Everywhere a Sign

By on

Comments : Reply

signs-floer-poer

It was a different time. In the early 1970’s the hippy movement was in full swing, and an unemployed 25 year old singer in a rock band in Ottawa, Canada sat down one day, mad at the world. The results of his youthful anger – the song “Signs” –   would become a powerful anthem for those who were changing our culture from a strict para-military rules following people to a new generation of free expression. The song debuted as the “B” side of  an unsuccessful single record in 1970, but without warning, Signs became a huge hit for The Five Man [...]

Git-R-Done; Time To Move Those Deals Forward

By on

Comments : Reply

cars

Disney's acclaimed Pixar unit recently released Cars 2 with “co-stars” race-car Lightning McQueen (voiced by Owen Wilson) and tow-truck Mater (voiced by Larry the Cable Guy). In the movie, the characters head to Europe and Japan to compete in the World Grand Prix, but of course get side tracked with all manner of problems, including international espionage. While the new movie is a hit, we like the original Cars movie better as it's seemingly innocent humor is classic and truly funny. Our favorite character, Mater, resembles an International Harvester mining "boom-truck" from the 1950’s. The vehicle that is the inspiration for his [...]

Nobody Loves Me But My Mother (And She Could Be Jiving Too)

By on

Comments : 1

bb-king

By Ken Ashley ATLANTA (April 4th, 2011) This great BB King song must be emblematic of how some down on their luck developers feel at this point in the market. Tenants are demanding rent reduction   and more services; the tax man wants to be paid; the lender is holding on the other line and oh, by the way, you need to cash a check to feed the kids. Developers take big risks and sometimes those risks don't pay off. We empathize with some landlord friends who are currently losing at the real estate game. The economy is recovering, but [...]

DeTERMination

By on

Comments : 1

By Ken Ashley (ATLANTA) March 7th, 2011 No matter what market conditions are, we frequently get questions about what is “fair” for a term or length of lease commitment. If corporate users could get landlords to commit to a scenario where they could unilaterally terminate every year, every month or even every day, then that would be just dandy. Wouldn’t that flexibility make the corporate real estate game easy? This would be the equivalent of writing in pencil; you could erase your mistakes and start over. As a corporate officer or real estate director, you know well that the more [...]