The Real Estate Espresso Podcast

Matt Pestronk is based in Philadelphia and specializes in redeveloping office assets in the North Eastern states. On today's show we are talking about the subtleties of office conversion projects. You can connect with Matt at postcre.com ----------------- Host: Victor Menasce email: podcast@victorjm.com

Michael Flight is based in Oak Brook, Illinois and has been investing in shopping centers since the 1980's. On today's show we are talking about the changing nature of retail and how the retail apocalypse is not upon us. Michael has been doing some innovative work in the realm of combining blockchain technology with commercial real estate. To learn more about this get a copy of his blockchain paper at investonmain.com or visit his investment company at libertyfund.io. -------------- Host: Victor Menasce email: podcast@victorjm.com

On today’s show we are talking about the process of getting approvals for even simple projects.  We are talking about a project that recently received full approval to move forward with construction. Even in cases where the zoning is not changing and no new buildings are being built, it is possible that the site plan application results in a review of similar scope as a major planned used development. Some areas are more difficult to develop than others due to the simple physical attributes of the site. The property in question is in Winterhaven Florida. This is the site of our next industrial outdoor storage project. I’m pleased to report that this project has reached full approval to move into construction. Winterhaven, like much of central Florida has a lot of lakes. I mean a lot of lakes. On today's show we are talking about some of the complexity of designing in an area with a high water table. As many of you know, our development company at Y Street Capital is very active in the world of storage among other things.  I’d like to invite you to an educational session where we are going to do a deep dive on this subsegment of the storage asset class called industrial outdoor storage. The webinar is going to be on Tuesday May 16 and there are a few time slots to choose from.  If you’d like to attend the webinar to learn more about IOS, click on the link in the show notes where you will have the opportunity to register for the information  session.  This will be a relatively short webinar focused primarily on education you on the various factors, metrics and requirements of the industrial outdoor storage segment.  To register, click on the LINK ------------- Host: Victor Menasce email: podcast@victorjm.com

On today’s show we are going to look at an asset class that continues to attract attention from both individual investors and institutional players. That asset class is storage. Storage is seen as a recession resistant asset class. There are clearly many signs that the global economy has entered recession, even if there have not been any official announcements to that effect.  But saying storage alone is too simplistic. The asset class segments further into many types of storage, each with their own specific needs and customer base.  As many of you know, our development company at Y Street Capital is very active in the world of storage among other things.  I’d like to invite you to an educational session where we are going to do a deep dive on this subsegment of the storage asset class called Industrial Outdoor Storage. The webinar is going to be on Tuesday May 16 and there are a few time slots to choose from.  If you’d like to attend the webinar to learn more about IOS, click on the link in the show notes where you will have the opportunity to register for the information  session.  https://event.webinarjam.com/register/2/5yq61fn ------------------ Host: Victor Menasce email: podcast@victorjm.com

 On today show we’re talking about housing needs in manufacturing corridors. Yesterday I attended a meeting involving politicians and city staff from five different communities along the St. Lawrence River seaway. Many of these communities have experienced a resurgence in Manufacturing as North American companies have expanded domestic manufacturing capacity. During the pandemic these communities experienced a huge influx of population from people seeking a lower density lifestyle with incredible outdoor amenities and still remain within an hour of a major city.  The problem is that many of these communities are experiencing a severe shortage of housing. That is a combination of new housing, affordable, housing, or merely available housing at any price. Several themes stood out from the conversations involving politicians, city, staff, and major employers. The employers are struggling to attract new workers because of the lack of available housing. So instead they are just poaching from each other instead of growing the pool of employees.  --------------- Host: Victor Menasce email: podcast@victorjm.com

On today’s show we are talking about one of the most overlooked line items in a property budget. This is the dreaded repairs and maintenance line.  Operating budgets make reasonable assumptions about the natural timeframe for equipment replacement, and the lifetime for windows, roofs, caulking, and so on.  Where it gets difficult is when big ticket items hit all at once due to supposed one-time events. It seems like no property owner is immune.  ---------- Host: Victor Menasce email: podcast@victorjm.com

On today’s show we are looking at the underlying data that is being used as central in the narrative about the health of our economy and the flight against inflation.  The message out of the White House and the Fed is that the economy is strong, too strong even. Look at all the strong employment numbers.  Each month we keep hearing how we have a hot jobs market.  Interest rates have to go up to fight inflation and the number of people entering the job market is indicative of a hot economy.  The fact is, if you look through the history of jobs reports you see that there is a consistently large discrepancy between the headline number that is reported and the subsequently revised numbers.  The headline number catches the headlines and that’s what sticks in people’s memory. Additionally, we see policy makers like the Federal Reserve setting interest rate policy based on those headline statistics.  But then those numbers get revised which means they were wrong. Decisions are getting made based on bad data.  How wrong do you ask?  Well, the March 2023 headline report was for 236,000 jobs created in the month of March. That was later revised down by 71,000 jobs. In February, the report was for 326,000 jobs. That was later revised down by 78,000 jobs to 248,000 jobs. The January number was revised down by 45,000 jobs.  I don’t want to mislead you. The corrections are not always downward revisions. The bureau of labor and statistics has been wrong in both directions. During the pandemic, they mis-reported the numbers of job losses by hundreds of thousands.  The problem is that interest rate policy is being set on the basis of a flawed model of inflation. 

Andrew Crebar is the CEO of Honey Bricks, a platform for enabling young, newly accredited investors to invest in private placement real estate projects. On today's show we are talking about this specific high income earning demographic and how they are looking for alternative investments with top notch operators. To connect with Andy Crebar, visit honeybricks.com ------------- Host: Victor Menasce email: podcast@victorjm.com

Todd Sulzinger is based in Redwood City California. He spent much of his career in finance roles in the tech industry before moving into the world of real estate investing. On today's show we are talking about the Silicon Valley Bank failure, mobile home park investing, and fund management. To connect with Todd, visit blueelminvesments.com --------------- Host: Victor Menasce email: podcast@victorjm.com

On today’s show we are looking at how AI can be a useful research tool for real estate investors.  A lot of emphasis for AI tools has been for mining the universe for information and writing new material such as blog posts. No doubt, there is some utility there. But the quality of writing is low in my estimation.  The real power of these AI tools is as a better research tool. There are many tasks that have traditionally been the subject of very tedious activity. Legions of virtual assistants have earned a living half a world away performing these low skill tasks.  Recent advances in AI have made some types of information searches extremely powerful. For example, you can ask an AI tool like Chat GPT for information about precedent setting court cases in a particular jurisdiction on specific regulations.  For example, I asked ChatGPT to list the precedent setting zoning cases in the Province of Ontario involving R4 zoning.  Within seconds, I had a list of three precedent setting cases in the Province of Ontario regarding zoning in R4 zones. I then asked for more examples. Instantly, the tool produced four more examples. By contrast, a Google search simply took me to a legal scholar site as a portal, but offered no direct reference to any cases.  As developers, we are often making risk assessments when it comes to asking for variances from the planning committee and ultimately city council. Understanding the case law can help provide developers with the perspective of where the appeals process has concluded in favour of the developer and when they have upheld the city’s decision. ------------- Host: Victor Menasce email: podcast@victorjm.com