Here is a great article written by Shawn Massey in regards to what higher education and certifications mean within the Commercial Real Estate field. (Click here to read the full article.)
“What do all those letters after my brokers name really mean to me as a commercial property owner or tenant?”
Early in my college career and really beforehand I thought I would end up in some type of real estate profession. I have always liked to build things and deal with tangible products that create both value and wealth.
What I learned shortly after I graduated from both my bachelor and master’s program (with a degree in real estate) is that all that is needed for a real estate associate broker to get a license was simply a high school degree and 60 hours of classes (it was actually only 30 hours when I graduated) from a local real estate school which could be accomplished in as little as two weeks time. The irony in this after one sits for a very easy test people can then entrust probably their most valuable asset (their house) to someone who may have a little as two weeks of post secondary education. The requirements for a commercial real estate broker are EXACTLY the same and an owner may allow the broker to handle assets way into the millions of dollars. The required continuing education requirements are a joke to those who are dedicated to our great profession.
Frank Dyer III, principal broker with Loeb Realty Group LLC, has done quite a few leases in the first half of the year with more in the pipeline.
“The areas you’d expect to be strong, the Poplar corridor and Germantown, continue to be strong, but we still see softness along the Winchester corridor and to some degree on the Germantown corridor,” Dyer says.
Excerpt 2:
Midtown could also see some retail development.
“I think there remains some demand in the Midtown/Downtown area,” Dyer says. “Overton Square is promising. There are a couple of other larger projects being discussed and I feel like there remains some pent-up demand in that area.”
The Germantown corridor is at capacity and the Winchester corridor has too much capacity, he says, so there will probably not be much new development there.
“I think in the next couple of years we’ll start to see some retail development on the 385 corridor,” Dyer says.
Teach for America Inc. is growing its Downtown office to help support its growing teacher base in Memphis.
The nonprofit organization is moving into a 6,836-square-foot office at Toyota Center, absorbing sublease space from Extra Space Storage Inc.
This third-floor space more than doubles the 3,200-square-foot office it currently has in One Commerce Square.
Exceprt 2:
Frank Dyer III, principal broker with Loeb Realty Group LLC, represented Teach for America in lease negotiations while Chris Brown, senior vice president with Grubb & Ellis-Memphis, represented Extra Space Storage.
DD’s Discounts has opened its first Tennessee store here in Memphis. They are leasing 32,000 square feet at Austin Peay Plaza.
Excerpt from the Memphis Business Journal:
Austin Peay Plaza is a 145,827-square-foot shopping center at Austin Peay and Coleman Road. It consists of two inline buildings on 11.8 acres.
Frank Dyer III, principal broker with Loeb Realty Group LLC, represented the landlord, Merchants Walk at Austin Peay LLC, in lease negotiations.
The lease could also help draw other retailers, Dyer says.
Austin Peay Plaza has a 50,000-square-foot space next to the DD’s Discounts which formerly housed Hobby Lobby.
“We’re working with a number of national and local retailers to re-lease that space,” Dyer says. “We’re working with the landlord to maximize the optimal layout and rent structure.”
Austin Peay Plaza is in the North submarket, which consists of 5.9 million square feet of retail space.
Dyer and affiliate broker Allen Israel represent properties across the entire Memphis market.
“We’re seeing quite a bit of activity across our whole portfolio now,” Dyer says. “There seems to be a lot of people calling and we’re getting deals done.”
Commercial real estate brokers and their clients are warming up to the trend of using the iPad as an everyday tool for conducting business.
Since its debut this past March, the iPad 2 – Apple Inc.’s ubiquitous tablet computer – is quickly gaining a foothold as a standard tool for many in the industry.
“The mapping capabilities on the iPad 2 are amazing,” said Frank Dyer, principal broker with Loeb Realty Group. “I’ve been able to take business lists and construct .kml files in Windows and Google Earth, and literally drive into a town and have the retailers that I’m interested in plotted on the map. That’s been a fantastic thing. And it’s nice to be able to receive documents on the road.”
Dyer cited the ability to pull up color-coded maps breaking down an area’s commercial space into office, retail, industrial, etc.
Some other favorite apps for Dyer include PDF Expert, DropBox, SiteMap, LoopNet and CoStar.
Loeb Realty Group recently signed several deals in the Memphis retail commercial real estate market. Find the Memphis Daily News article here.
David J. and Melissa A. Pippin, owners of Three Guys Pizza Pies, have signed a 3,050-square-foot lease in the Shops of DeSoto Center, 1046 Church Road.
Frank Dyer III and Allen Israel, brokers with Loeb Properties Inc.’ third party representation affiliate, Loeb Realty Group, represented the landlord in the deal. The tenant was unrepresented.
The Pippins opened their first Three Guys restaurant off U.S. 64 in July 2010. The menu features salads, oven-baked subs and a variety of pizzas with creative names such as “The Angry Hawaiian Guy” and “Vampire Killer.”
