Community Engagement Makes Communities Stronger, like the Food That Rocks event at City Springs in Sandy Springs

The Importance of Community Engagement

By Stan Sonenshine in Atlanta's edge cities

7 months ago

7 months ago 0 1 335

Community Engagement Makes Lives Better Community is defined as a group of people living in the same place or having a particular characteristic in common. But I think it goes beyond that. Whether denoting a physical or religious connection or a bond through common interests, community engagement makes our lives better. Three years ago, in the blog “Atlanta’s Edge Cities Develop New City Centers,” I focused on the development of City Centers and their impacts. In subsequent blogs, I consider how these initiatives impact communities beyond just their physical existence. When you engage in actions or organizations that support the community in which you live, you improve the quality of life in that community. When you connect with people face-to-face in real time, you grow the fabric of your community. Community Engagement = Stronger Community Community Assistance Center As a Sandy Springs resident, I offer the Community Assistance Center (CAC)

Investing in a CRE asset without due diligence or market analysis is just not smart.

Avoid the Sins of CRE Investment

By Stan Sonenshine in Real Estate Investment Strategies

8 months ago

8 months ago 0 0 223

A recent Globe St.com article “The Seven Deadly Sins of CRE Investment” argues, “Buying a CRE asset above its value or at a low cap rate is rarely a route to a successful transaction.” I couldn’t agree more. While situations exist where it is acceptable to pay up, such as the need to acquire a key piece in an assembly, I never advocate buying investment property without proper due diligence or market analysis. Unfortunately, vigorous deal competition coupled with the need to invest idle capital, particularly funds with time limits, inevitably leads investors to commit some of these sins mentioned in the article. After all, what is one or two bad deals in a large portfolio if the other deals are good, right? I disagree. Also, often individual investors invest foolishly because they are driven by the desire to avoid taxes on the gains resulting from a sale. So, they overpay to

The Worth of WeWork?

By Stan Sonenshine in WeWork

9 months ago

9 months ago 0 0 293

Business Insider posted a recent article entitled, “NYU professor calls WeWork ‘WeWTF,’ says any Wall Street analyst who believes it’s worth over $10 billion is ‘lying, stupid, or both’.” Here’s my take on this article: WeWork looks like any other office landlord, just wearing a different suit. Outside of being cool, WeWork owns nothing proprietary, and as I have argued before, there is no barrier to competition from real landlords. If it were such a great concept, office property owners and developers would be providing more flexible space options. But they wouldn’t be able to obtain financing because debt service relies on a steady and reliable income stream—which this concept certainly is not. WeWork might pull off this IPO because of the current market euphoria, but they won’t be getting any of MY money.

Family Offices: Do Your Due Diligence

By Stan Sonenshine in Atlanta Real Estate Investment

9 months ago

9 months ago 0 0 284

I recently read the National Real Estate Investor article “Survey Shows Family Offices Falling Short on Due Diligence for CRE Deals.” This article is 100% on point. Investors not familiar with the nuances of private real estate investments do not consider the elevated risks often posed by real estate, which result from its illiquidity, debt, lack of transparency, and reliance on a sponsor. Family-office professional DJ Van Keuren’s questions that family offices should ask during due diligence (modified below from the article) hit the mark. What is the sponsor’s track record? How long has the sponsor been in business? How much of its own money is the sponsor investing in the deal? What are some examples of deals that went south? How did you handle those situations? What is the market demand for this type of property? How many similar projects are in the local development pipeline? Has the sponsor run the numbers

Atlanta Office Market: Hot or Not?

By Stan Sonenshine in Atlanta Office Market

10 months ago

10 months ago 0 0 323

Think back to the office market in 1985. People were saying, “Nothing can go wrong. People are still coming.” Those same people were soon singing the blues because surprise, surprise, something went wrong. Is Atlanta’s office market as hot as it seems? BizNow’s recent article The Fastest-Growing Office Rents in the U.S. Are in Atlanta touts Atlanta’s office market success, but, in my opinion, fails to give a full picture. I see it more as a tale of two cities—the institutional office market and the local office market. Midtown + Buckhead: Hot Atlanta Office Markets Media likes to focus on the hot markets, like Midtown and Buckhead, and rightfully so, according to these stats: “Rents at premier office spaces in Midtown and Buckhead have risen 14.2% since last year, breaking the $50/SF ceiling for the first time.” Plus, 2.2M SF of new prime office space is underway with “Selig Enterprises

In the Development Market Phase of the real estate cycle

Development Market Phase: How Long Will It Last?

By Stan Sonenshine in Real Estate Cycle Phases, Real Estate Development, Real Estate Investment Strategies

11 months ago

11 months ago 0 0 348

The business cycle is “long in the tooth,” and the real estate cycle is also very, very mature. Last year, in Timing the Real Estate Cycle, I focused on real estate cycle phases, which included Recession, Distressed Selling, Value Creation (Stage 1 + Stage 2), Mature Investment Market, Development Market and Overdevelopment + Bust. Right now, we are in the Development Market phase. Here’s how I previously described it; see if it rings true. Rents and values are up. Vacancies are down. New construction accelerates. Investors…are flush with cash. Lenders are aggressive. Values of existing properties are peaking. There is simply more capital chasing deals than there are opportunities. The downside risk is increasing. The “nothing can go wrong” mentality is taking over. New project announcements are appearing almost daily. Development Market Phase: Alive and Well Here’s what I see now: Transaction volume on the sale/investment side of business has

Mentoring as an Investment in Our Young People and the Future

Mentoring: An Investment in the Future

By Stan Sonenshine in Mentoring

1 year ago

1 year ago 0 2 505

My Dad was tough around the edges, but he was a kind and generous man. Whether it was family, friends, acquaintances or strangers in need, Dad always tried to help them get back on their feet. While I respected him as a businessman, my greatest admiration was due to his willingness to help others. A Legacy of Giving One way I choose to continue my father’s legacy of giving is by mentoring students and early career adults. A few years back, I wrote a series on mentoring. The first blog of the series offered industry professionals mentoring tips. The second blog advised how mentors can help young professionals in the CRE industry. And the final blog examined mentoring benefits. I am a mentoring advocate, whether you participate in a formal program, act informally as an advisor or assist a young colleague. I currently advise ten individuals. Formal Mentoring I participate

Crowdfunding Becomes More Popular, But Skeptics Remain

Crowdfunding: A Viable Option?

By Stan Sonenshine in Real Estate Investing, Real Estate Investment Strategies

1 year ago

1 year ago 0 0 459

National Real Estate Investor recently published an article titled Real Estate Crowdfunding Firms Push Further into the Mainstream, in which the writer argues that although first questioned, crowdfunding continues to gain a base of active sponsors and investors. One sponsor, using the CrowdStreet platform, says “it serves as a consistent, recurring source of equity, as well as a capital source that is accessible for smaller dollar amounts, under $3 million.” Crowdfunding: Who’s in the Crowd? Here’s what I think about crowdfunding: I like to enter a deal with the fewest, financially-qualified partners as possible. Either directly and indirectly having a large number of unknown partners pretty much scares me. I assume this approach works well when the market is good and properties are performing well. But I am always thinking ahead. What happens in a market slowdown, and a property funded by crowdfunding gets into trouble? The results could be very

Many Co-Working and Incubator Models Exist

The Sharing Economy: Co-Working and Incubator Models

By Stan Sonenshine in Atlanta Real Estate Development, Co-working office space, WeWork

1 year ago

1 year ago 0 2 583

I recently asked the question, Does WeWork Work? And answered the question with a “We’ll see…” But there’s other co-working/incubator models out there worthy of discussion. Co-Working and Incubator Models On a recent panel at GSU’s Views From the Top was a Roam Innovative Workspace representative. Like WeWork, Roam is an alternative office model, but currently boasts only five locations. There are also Incubator tech business models out there. One such model is the Atlanta Tech Village. One model is not necessarily better than the other, but what is certain is they all disrupt the office market. Quick Thoughts on WeWork I dove deep into WeWork previously and questioned how the concept can compete with traditional landlords, REGUS and CBRE’s Hana concept, which can easily adapt to the changing market. Essentially, WeWork acts as a landlord, but offers more flexible leasing options. It is very much a real estate-based model, with

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The Importance of Community Engagement

Avoid the Sins of CRE Investment

The Worth of WeWork?

Family Offices: Do Your Due Diligence

Atlanta Office Market: Hot or Not?

Development Market Phase: How Long Will It Last?

Mentoring: An Investment in the Future

Crowdfunding: A Viable Option?

The Sharing Economy: Co-Working and Incubator Models

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