The Real Estate Espresso Podcast

Amazon has made a few headlines with the opening of bricks and mortar stores. Amazon is getting retail real estate. The move by Amazon has been seen as a vindication for traditional retailers who are saying “You see, retail is not dead”. Even online Amazon is coming back to retail. Some people are confused by Amazon and what makes them so successful. It’s not that they’re an online store. They won’t be successful because they have a retail channel. That didn’t do it either. The thing to remember is that Amazon is a digital startup company. Amazon still behaves like a startup despite its massive size. Amazon is a software company that is not constrained by the history. It’s competitive advantage is that they’re willing to make data driven decisions. ------------- Host: Victor Menasce email: podcast@victorjm.com

Economic downturns put entrenched players with market share on the defensive. They experience a drop in revenue and are doing everything they can to hang on financially. Those who can go on the offensive can acquire great business opportunities. Everything seems to be on sale. That’s what it was like in the wake of 2008. The pandemic however, did not create those conditions in a broad sense. On today’s show we’re talking about the economic impact at an airport. --------------- Host: Victor Menasce email: podcast@victorjm.com

Even though the pandemic is coming to an end, many restaurant owners are having a hard time hanging on. On today's show, we're taking a look at whether restaurants are a worthwhile venture.  ----------------------- Host: Victor Menasce email: podcast@victorjm.com

Neal Bawa is the CEO of Grocapitus Investments. On today's show we're talking about the moves in the industry to make real estate more liquid. While the pieces are not all in place yet, Neal makes a compelling argument for where the industry is headed. To learn more about Neal, simply search for his name and you'll find numerous videos and webinars. You can also connect through his investment firm grocapitus.com ----------------- Host: Victor Menasce email: podcast@victorjm.com

Today's show is a live talk from Dallas on a specific case study of a recently completed assisted living project. This talk is viewed through the lens of product design. We often think we are constructing a building. In truth, we're designing a product. This is a subtle but important distinction. -------------------- Host: Victor Menasce email: podcast@victorjm.com 

On today’s show we’re talking about the connection between energy prices and construction decisions. We typically make design decisions for new construction based on an economic break even analysis. In an environment when gas prices have doubled in the past year, and energy prices in Europe have increased 40% in the past two weeks, there can be a significant impact on the time to break even. If you cut the time to break even in half, maybe it changes the conclusion. -------------------- Host: Victor Menasce email: podcast@victorjm.com

On today’s show we’re talking about global economic warfare. I’m here to tell you that interest rates are being artificially held down, but that we will see an end to that in a matter of weeks. The tools that governments use to stimulate the economy are becoming less and less effective. In essence, central banks and governments are out of ammo when it comes to influencing the economy. --------------------- Host: Victor Menasce email: podcast@victorjm.com

What's it like to invest in China? There are plenty of risks investing in the US. But China has a special breed of risks. 

Canada held a Federal Election yesterday. Real Estate issues were front and center. But none of the parties seemed to be truly addressing the root cause issues. This was dog whistle politics at its best. Create a diversion that makes for good press coverage without actually doing anything.  ------------------- Host: Victor Menasce email: podcast@victorjm.com

On today’s show we are talking about peril of thinking small. To be fair, the thinking is that the path to growing big was to start small and grow from there.  This past weekend I was at a conference in Dallas where I heard a similar question over and over again. --------------------- Host: Victor Menasce email: podcast@victorjm.com