Retail restaurant client seeking new location for his conceptual idea of the next hottest restaurant to hit the valley.

So I took a call from, let’s call him Mr. X, who cam through from the office line the other day and began to wonder why I did. The gentleman was deliberate on his presentation, knew exactly what he was looking for, and basically told me how I should do my job of representing him. Well, after I heard about how I did not know anything and should be listening to every piece of direction he is giving me, it was then my turn to ask one question: so, tell me Mr. X, how many million dollar restaurants do you have now?

I already knew the answer to the question, but I wanted to prove my point: if you already know how to source the very best possible location for your restaurant, then why are you calling me? The fact remains that experience can be so valuable when solicited appropriately.

Here is why.

When you have been working for a restaurant system for upteen years, let’s say a great example would be Chili’s, know how to operate that same restaurant to maximum performance, and know how to turn around a dying restaurant, all having done so in the past, and now you have a great idea about a new restaurant concept, this proves that you are an Operator by trade or heart, however you see it.

What you should do, is leave the additional valuable pieces to the restaurant pie to the experts in that piece. In this case, the real estate piece.

Having had many successful units opened after the site selection, lease negotiations and work letter done, you become an expert in that particular field or niche of the pie. That is where I came in.

Having known what that success factor looks like through real life experience and work experience, I was confident that I could help Mr. X. The next step in the process was to take what was told to me and run like the wind.

Parameters: 3500-5500 square feet, existing or build-to-suite, east of downtown Phoenix, low lease rates, main and main. Pretty easy right?

Let’s see how good I really am…

(To Be Continued)…

Recently I have been charged with finding the best locations for Snap Fireworks in all of Arizona. Finding the best locations for Snap Fireworks is exciting and fun at the same time. Not only are there plenty of retail spaces available, landlords are looking for this type of retailer to bring to their shopping centers, corner lots, and parking areas. This allows for the landlord to attract major traffic to their property, and that equates to many more eyeballs looking into the other tenants within that shopping center.

Arizona recently passed House Bill 2246 (AMENDING SECTIONS 36-1601, 36-1605 AND 36-1606, ARIZONA REVISED STATUTES; AMENDING TITLE 36, CHAPTER 13, ARTICLE 1, ARIZONA REVISED STATUTES, BY ADDING
SECTIONS 36-1609 AND 36-1610; AMENDING SECTION 37-623.02, ARIZONA REVISED STATUTES; RELATING TO FIREWORKS). This amended law has provided the opportunity in most Arizona cities to enjoy the careful use of fireworks and the displays thereof.

These opportunities have extended all the way down to me and my ability to find the best sites for Snap Fireworks here in Arizona. So far the search has been fairly simple, now the chance to negotiate a great deal comes into play. Let’s see what can be produced.

I will be in search for 20-30 retail locations for Snap Fireworks all across Arizona. This includes the cities of Tucson, Flagstaff, Yuma, Payson, Show-Low/Pinetop, and many more outlying cities to that of metropolitan Phoenix. If you are a landlord/owner or broker of a site and want to entertain this opportunity, please leave a comment below and/or give Ray Flores (that’s me!) a call at 480-610-2400 ext 102, and tell me all about your site.

News Release

Ray Flores joins COBE Real Estate and Development Company

MESA, AZ March 16, 2011 Ray Flores, a corporate commercial real estate professional in Chandler, AZ, has joined COBE Real Estate, a division of COBE Development, Inc.

Ray Flores is an accomplished retail real estate professional with over 13 years of corporate commercial real estate transaction matters. He joined COBE Real Estate to compliment his experience from the corporate tenant side to now that of the listing/landlord side. During his career, he has negotiated numerous commercial lease transactions for companies such as Cold Stone Creamery in Times Square, NY, Jamba Juice as well as other transactions for Bank of America and other emerging companies.

Mr. Flores specializes in providing stellar tenant representation to retail, office and industrial tenants as well as Landlord representation in shopping centers, industrial parks and office complexes. Flores also provides transaction management in those same verticals. Because of his unique background, coming from the corporate real estate world, he negotiates aggressive deals for his customers and delivers tremendous value throughout the transaction process.

We are thrilled to have Ray Flores join COBE Real Estate, says TJ Zaharis, Designated Broker. COBE offers associates unparalleled career growth and lifelong learning opportunities in the commercial real estate industry. With the addition of Ray Flores, we are excited about the possibilities of expansion in our division.

When Ray is not acting as the rainmaker or dealmaker, he enjoys spending time with his family, sports and outdoor activities. He, his wife and five children reside in Chandler, Arizona.

I chose COBE Real Estate because of its reputation for market knowledge, community involvement and the opportunity for commercial listings from the numerous bank related accounts, says Flores.

The COBE Real Estate office is located at 1 N. Macdonald, Suite 506, Mesa, AZ, 85201, was established in 2003 and has 7 associates.

To learn more about COBE Real Estate, call Ray Flores at 480-201-3322
or visit COBE Real Estate

With a recent uptick in same store sales, Tropical Smoothie is in growth mode once again. Tropical Smoothie has been experiencing a bit of a downtrend over the past year, until recently.

There has been a surge in customer loyalty and new customer acquisition, and with the help of bright and shining stars at the helm of operations, Tropical Smoothie is, once again, expanding in key markets. Those markets include Arizona. This is where I step in.

I was contacted to assist in finding the perfect locations for the next roll out of units within the Arizona marketplace. These plans could not have come at a better time within the current economic conditions of Arizona retail space. Rents are down and deals are being done at rates that make leasing fun again.

Finding the right locations for Tropical Smoothie should pose as a rather simple process, seeing as how I was able to take a similar concept and grow them to leaps and bounds within the same territory. Actually, one unit in particular was the first of its kind to have the register ring in over $1,000,000.00, in smoothies, can you believe it? Well, if you happen to be driving past 99th Avenue and McDowell you will see a smoothie concept doing just that today. I am planning on helping Tropical Smoothie do the same.

With only a few stores in operations now in the Arizona marketplace, the expansion plans call for a quick ramp up. Tropical Smoothie is looking to add several locations across the valley of the sun and even into Tucson, Arizona. The ideal location fits about 1400 square feet with the minimum frontage at 20 feet. Deals will get done at long terms intervals, and attractive rent rates.

Let me know if you have the right space for Tropical Smoothie – here.

Does changing your logo equal change to the brand? Is your brand strong enough to that a change to the logo creates more opportunities? Let’s wrestle with that for a second…

The unveiling of a new logo has its good sides and its bad sides, just go ask GAP.

In one hand you have an existing great brand, and in the other, you have old and tired of that same brand image. What can be done to rejuvenate your customer base to begin to purchase more product/services from your company? Is a logo change enough? Can an outward appearance increase sales? The answer to that question is an astonishing YES.

Starbucks recently changed their logo. Why?

To be rolled out in the spring — Starbucks’ anniversary is in March — the new logo also aims to represent the 16,858-unit coffeehouse chain’s “next chapter,” which it said would include innovation and new distribution channels.

Howard Schultz goes on to say…

…that the new logo allowed the siren to “come out of the circle in a way that I think gives us the freedom and flexibility to think beyond coffee.”
“But,” he added, “make no mistake, we have been, we will continue to be and we always will be the world’s leading purveyor of the highest-quality coffee.”

So this is the tell-tale sign of where the brand is going… “beyond coffee”. So what is next for Starbucks, is it food, or music, or something completely out of the realm that we will not know until it hits us….my thoughts are the later. We are all going to be smacked in the face by some new, hip, trendy product from Starbucks and never have seen it coming. That is just my opinion, and i have been known to be wrong a time or two (wink).

Therefore, does it makes sense to go through a logo change and ultimately change your brand? Well, according to companies like Starbucks, it very well may be.

2011, a year to create new challenges, new highs, and get up and over it already! ‘It’ equals the year of 2010.

The economy is in the tank, the outlook is bleak, and the silver lining is turning rusty. We have all heard it from one person or several. The economy this, foreclosures that, and whoa is me, blah blah blah. Get over it, the past is the past and there is not a single thing you can do about it.

However, there are many lessons to be learned from all of the past, and that will be the hurdle that needs to be crossed.

For example, on a yearly basis, salmon swim upstream to go and do their thing with their significant other. However, did you ever stop and think about the achievements, blessings and great results this against the current track leads them. They have to battle consistently against the stream and any and all obstacles in their path. From boulders, to tree branches, to moss and your occasional white water rapid areas, they seem to manage just fine on making the trek upstream. However, if you have read anything about this particular route that the salmon take, you will be surprised that most if not all of the salmon make it safetly, give or take a bump or bruise here and there. The story behind that is that each and every one of them learns from the first time they attempted this course.

They each surveyed the course, planned ahead, and went for it. On the route, they were taking dubious notes and burned them into their memory, so that the next time they will not head into the danger zone and yet avoid it with great skill and advancement.

This year, we all need to look back at what went wrong and make the proper corrections and simply get off the sidelines and into the move forward challenge.

I personally challenge you to take the bull by the horns and Get up and Over it already, set your sights on your goals and not only achieve them, but surpass them and don’t look back. One more thing, take dubious notes along the way, you never know what you may learn!

Have a great and prosperous year in 2011!

With the turning the new new year, comes change.  From persons to personalities, to lifestyle to Retail.  Now is the time where there are seen many Retail Lifestyle Centers changing, well evolving is more like it.

We have come to a point in time where lifestyle is overcoming retail, and so has the tenant mix within lifestyle centers. Where the older version of lifestyle centers was that of high-end product and service units, we are now experiencing major shift of what the term “Lifestyle” actually means.

That shift is headed to ‘what does the would be shopper do during the day/night/weekend/’, and now has come to seeing ‘lifestyle’ units within the actual ‘lifestyle’ centers. Salons, Cleaners, Workout Centers, Karate, Hobby, etc…

One of the biggest factors to this changes is the presence of online shopping. Online shopping has risen considerably over the past few years, and has brought the retail development community to a screeching halt. Really any would be shopper coming into the lifestyle center is a pleasure to have. Thus, the change of having a yoga studio within the used to be high-end center, allows them to get there total body pleasures taken care of in one visit. Perform your yoga, then go out shopping without having to get back in the car.

We shall see how 2011 shapes these centers into strip malls all over again!

This new client is looking for a building to purchase. They have been in business for a few years, and right now, business is good!

They are completely busting out of the seems right now, and literally are stacked on top of each other in their current building. Here is the catch though, because you know there is always a catch, they are buying a new building and keeping the old one too!

Not really a catch, but an extra.

So, here is what they are looking for:
East Valley – Mesa, Gilbert, Chandler – in that order.
2500-3000 square feet of space, even though their current needs are not that much, but anticipation of business going well some more, have the client thinking ahead.
Office Space, no retail needed.
Price range – $150k – $200k.

If you know of anything that may fit this criteria, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Here is how I got the client, funny story really:
I got a call from a referral who said that someone at the office told her to call me. She sent me the information and when I read it, I could not believe it. It was an old buddy of mine from back in my high school and post college graduate days. This guy and I used to play softball together all the time, and now he is looking for a building and just happens that I am helping him. What are the odds. I do not know the referring agent at all, other than the fact that she will get a nice referral, which will turn into a nice Christmas bonus for her.

So, as we all know the market is not up to speed and, frankly, considered a bit slow. However, there are these usual suspects called, the Rainmakers, who are getting ready for a storm to hit.

Buyers of REO properties have been sitting on the sidelines waiting for a great deals to pop up and they pounce on the slightest glimpse. This waiting game is excruciatingly exhausting, and can make or break real estate professionals all around the world. There are deals happening, but they are few and far in between. When, and if, you find yourself in the middle of one, you must on hang on tight and do everything in your power to make it work out to everyone’s benefit.

That brings us to the ‘who’ is making these deals happen in this market: that is where the RainMakers come into play.

There are about 10 individuals who make this REO/Asset/Equity market run, day-in and day-out. Most are from the east coast but cover asset management from 200M to 20B worth of assets. Those assets do include debt, so let’s say half of that are actual property based assets. That leaves us with about 10B worth of properties that are looking to be disposed of within the next few years.

REO buyers are trying to figure out who these guys are and how to get in touch with them. Well, for starters, there is a laundry list of gatekeepers that you will need to be on a first name basis with to even get a chance to talk with these guys. Smaller buyers will get close, but most likely will not be directly in touch with the RainMakers. They will, however, be able to get the second-hand discounts.

Today’s maketplace for second-hand discounts lay around the 65-75% range. The RainMakers, just to give you a comparison, are buying and selling at around 20-35% range.

You can find all about these special RainMakers and what they are doing here.

Or you can give me a call and I can tell you how to get ‘in’ with them (wink, wink).

Recently I have been working with many buyers/investors that are often looking to the future and trying to disseminate where the REO market is headed to…

These buyers/investors are thinking about the market and the direction. As we all know, the market is still perceived to be headed south. Well, in the case of buyers and investors they are looking for deep discounts anyways and are in extreme forward looking mode. These investments are typically by the way of REO property, or what we all consider to be bank owned.

According to a recent momortgagerticle, produced by HousingWire, the trend of the banks/sellers of REO assets is to not go to foreclosure, but rather sell the notes or loans behind the assets and let the new owners deal with that headache. We will touch on this topic later in the post.

So, that brings us to the next topic of what does the future look like for the new owners (who are buying loans that are 90+ days delinquent already) and what possible solution or workout they be looking at once these loans are acquired. The future, quite frankly, looks great. The purchase of these notes or loans are typically done at such a heavy discount (sometimes in the single digit percentages), that any new modification or principle reduction does not even matter anyways, because money will be made.

Let’s look at an example:

A homeowner owes $200,000.00 and the home is worth $120,000.00. They lost their job and can no longer afford the payments. The loan goes delinquent three months and now the lender is pressing foreclosure. The lender tries to connect with the owner and see what can be paid, if anything at all, only to find out the owner is out of cash reserves and can no longer afford to live there.
The lender has three options:
1. Wait until the homeowner gets in a position to start payments again
2 Foreclosure (money and time for the lender involved) – becomes REO property
3. Sell the delinquent loan to another party and let them deal with collections

So, with those options in mind, the direction of most of the major banks is headed to selling the notes and loans behind the real property, and the entire REO division shifting focus, the banks or lending institutions are electing to collect some up front cash instead of spending cash in collections.

REO property is getting moved and moved quickly. Just my own investor clients are beginning to see the light and now purchasing these types of investment vehicles. It is actually getting really fun to be involved in the REO industry!

Here is a bank owned site that lists what product they do have: Bank of America REO Division

The fun comes from being in the banking industry prior to this and having those connections. So instead of going out and looking for the product, I am able to go directly to the source! The investors and buyers love this aspect about my business and I am often called on to produce such connections (and as long as we all understand each other as to why I would be connecting the two, then I am more than happy to).

Happy deep discount hunting! (by the way, if you need to be directly connected to the source, let me know!)