My New Blog

The quick summary below compares last year (2011) to this year (2012) during the first quarter.

For commercial/industrial days on market went down by 22% which means those property types are selling quicker. The average sales price is up over 2011!  While not significantly up at least it' sale prices are heading in the right direction.

Plus total sales volume from last year to this year is nearly double. Of course any quarter compared to first quarter 2011 would show an improved market. 

The market is seeing activity now we just have to wait to snag the buyer/lessee that's in the market.  

I want to thank those of you who have shown faith in me and for allowing Prudential Commercial Real Estate and myself to be your commercial real estate Broker. If you should have any questions or concerns please do not hesitate to call me 386-846-4135.  Thanks Again!

Land just "ain't" been moving.  So it is refreshing that there was a closing at Dunalwton and Taylor Rd in Port Orange. 

Golden Coral was just issued a building permit to start construction of a new restaurant.  The building will be 12,500 sq ft and should be open by late summer.  It will join the new CVS, LA Fitness and BJ's Wholesale club.

The purchase price was $1,400,000 for 2.3 acres.  That's $13.97 a square foot or $608,695 per acre.

I have an outparcel that fronts the I-95 off ramp on Taylor just across the road from the development.  Check it out at www.BusinessLocationsOnLine.com/taylor.  It comes in at $9.50 a square foot or $414,000 per acre.  It's bank owned!   :)

It's an excess of commercial space.  An opinion article in the Tuesday News Journal stated that the Federal Government has over 14,000 empty properties that are sitting idle with another 55,000 under utiliized.  Many of the spaces 50,000 square feet and over.  Putting that space on the market and getting it back to the private sector would be a way to ease some of the budget concerns. Or a wild and crazy idea.  What if we were to earmark the proceeds specifically to education?

Daytona has it's own over supply of office space.  Demand is picking up but the inventory remains stubbornly high.  If you're thinking of upsizing or downsizing now is definately the time.  Don't break an existing lease but if you're up for renewal definately shop around.  Your choices range anywhere from a 150 sq ft office suite to close to 30,000 sq ft with a prime location and parking.  Go to my home page and check out the office properties.

The Daytona Pier was once again in the paper today.  Don't know about you but I'm starting to get excited about what's happening.  I'm a long time Daytona (well ok, Port Orange) resident and I can never remember having any feeling for that area being something other than, why would anyone want to go there.  Well, I can tell you, with all that's happening I can honestly now say I'm looking forward to a visit. 

Joes Crab Shack is the big draw and the fact the area will be "cleaned up" is a good part of the excitement. It would be exciting to see the Space Needle up and running again and the Sling Shot renewed. 

When driving A1A take note of Daytona 2000, just a few blocks North of ISB on A1A and also the corner of A1A and Seabreeze. Daytona 2000 is a Nascar themed business officially licensed by Nascar and resides in a 6000 sq ft building.  Both the building and business are for sale.  At A1A and Seabreeze take not of Cruzin. A 6,500 sq ft Gift shop.  The business and real estate are for sale along with a parking lot and the Walgreens.  Owner's ready to sell!

Yesterday I received a call from an attorney’s wife asking about the possibility of moving into one of the spaces we have available. When I talk with a customer like this one of the first things I ask is “what is your time frame”? In this case, the customer had to be out of their current location the first of June.

This is a customer in a bad situation because there are two types of inventory out there. Older inventory that is built out and ready to move into and new inventory in shell condition needing the interior to be built out.

If the space interior needs to be built out from scratch it can take at least 30 to 45 days just to have the plans completed and approved by the building department. The job then must be bid out. Once the contractor is selected the actual build out will be another 60 days if all goes well. Even if the space is built out it usually needs change to fit the new tenant and again, it will take 30-90 days.

The message here is if your business lease is expiring and you anticipate a move call me six months prior to the expiration. That will not be too soon. Don’t forget, added to that time frame is finding the right location.

LEASING TIPS

In previous blogs I’ve talked about items you should consider when thinking of buying or leasing space for your business. I was going to give you quick quiz but instead I’ll remind you.

• How much space is needed because buying or leasing more space than you need can be very expensive.
• Give a lot of thought to the ideal layout of the space
• What lease term should be considered
• What is the image we want to convey
• Be realistic with time frame needed for the move
• Last, think of the future. Will the space work in two year.

Then you need to ask:

Should we buy or lease? There are definite advantages to both. If you have a new business working capital is usually at a premium so it could be best to hold the capital and lease. If you’re established with good cash flow it may be the time to buy.

And last hire a specialist to negotiate your acquisition. You know, even if you are a great negotiator, you have to have market knowledge to be sure you are getting a good deal. Give me a call. I’ll give you my experience.

If you don't know, Joe's Crab Shack is opening on the old Daytona pier.  They've run into a few unforseen challenges in their renovation work to the 90 year old pier.  In 09 the City put four million into upgrades to the structure and in my personal opinion it is going to be one of the best additions to the Beach in 90 years.  Imagine the grandeur of years gone by when the pier was new. 

Personally, I can't wait for the "soft" opening which is to happen late May to early June with the Grand opening July 4.  Can you imagine the spectacle of the opening with the fireworks over the ocean.  My opinion, it will be a bigger event than the opening of Ocean Walk.

What will that do to values on the Beach?  Well, they're already moving up.  If the greed factor doesn't overwhelm all reason the Beach will rebound. 

For those of you that might want to participate in the rebirth, I have several opportunites.  I have a small, walk by traffic retail unit, a large 6000 sq ft retail business and building and land as well as a 7500 sq ft building, land and business on Seabreeze.  The one across from the new ocean front park right by the pier is "Daytona 2000".  The one on Seabreeze is "Cruzin".  Walk in, check them out.  You could own one of them or both.

What will Joe's and the reopening of the pier do for Beachside revitalization?  I'd love to know you opinon.  Share it with me. 

I’d like to focus today on what we call the “Lease Vs. Buy” decision. At Prudential Commercial Real Estate we’ve found that the majority of customers want to discuss buying a business property when in fact, leasing could be a better way to go for them.

One bit of advice we always try to give is make the decision that is going to further your business first. Meaning, do the right thing for the business and do not tie it to making a real estate investment. They’re separate business moves.

One of the most obvious examples is operating capital. If the business location is purchased, even for a small space like some of the office or retail condominiums the up front investment could be $100,000 or more. That’s money that could be buying inventory or a marketing program.

The next is location. Many times, in the great locations, there is no space available to purchase only to lease. It could be a big mistake for the business to accept an inferior location for the business just for the sake of owning.

Small business owners especially should take a page from the play book of the large national retailers, almost universally, the large national retailers will lease versus purchase.

Spending the week end in the Florida Keys.  Let me brag.  My son is arguable the top commercial real estate broker in the Florida Keys and is a 50% partner in Prudential Knight Gardner Real Estate located on Duval Street in Key West. 

If you haven't been to the Keys you have to go.  Been doing it for almost 30 years.  The Keys look "taken care of" this trip.  At times they've looked a little rough.  According to my son, the Florida Keys are once again becoming an active real estate market.  Had an appraiser call me Friday that was appraising a Marina in the Keys.

Locally, in Daytona Beach a variance for a new Neighborhood retail center "Tarragona" was turned down by the City Council. The property is just East of Mainland High School on ISB across from Halifax Hospital.  It was 80% pre-leased and not counting the construction jobs it would have contributed around 90 permantent jobs.  Currently zoned for office the owners that objected will now (when built) have to look at three story office building instead of a nicely landscaped, one story retail center.  Oh well.  It is their neighborhood. Can't argue with that. 

Our real estate market, East Volusa, still continues to bump along the bottom.  I stick with my last prognastication, it's at the bottom but showing signs of life more than further deteriorization.  As mentioned in a recent blog, with the Real Estate Tax Value of the county going from $63 Billion in 06 to $35 Billion in 2011, there are tremendous values out there.  Let's look for them together.  For commercial real estate, call me, Claude Gardner, PA. 386 846 4135.  Think I'll lay in the Sun for the rest of the day.