S.E.C. Real Estate Observer

This is completely ridiculous. As I sit here, I am about to leave for the highlight of my day today—at 4:30 I get my first injection of the COVID Pfizer vaccination. Sad that now I have to wait three weeks for another “anticipation high”—the second dose. I am so glad that 2020 is gone, but […]

Newton’s First Law is often summarized as An object in a state of rest or uniform motion will remain in that state unless an external force is applied. For every action there is a reaction. Have we been in this Goldilocks economy for so long that we have forgotten this law? Interest rates are low. […]

We hear it every day—retail is dying, the internet will make shopping centers obsolete. But is that reality, or is it something that those that do not know retail are saying to hear themselves talk? Is retail dead—or evolving? I would say the latter. But, now more than ever before, successful retail must have a […]

It is no secret among S.E.C.s that some of our Members enjoy tactical shooting: we sweat and roll around in the mud with rifles and handguns and see if we can outdo each other in different tactical situations, shooting hundreds of rounds of live ammunition. We spend time thinking of different scenarios about what to […]

What do I have to have to go vertical? What if I am acquiring a property that the seller says is “ready to go?” Some developers only perform horizontal development—nothing higher than a fire plug. Examples of this are land developers for residential subdivisions and large commercial tracts.

Whew, 2008 has come and gone! After a very rough period, landlords are finally seeing some great days in the retail game. About time! It could not happen too soon for those of us who own shopping centers. Most of the retail categories are seeing a lot of activity. However, brick-and-mortar retailers still remember 2008 too. Potential tenants are doing things much smarter this time around. We property owners must also be smarter about how we do things. Thus, the title of this article: “Lease with a Purpose, Not Just to Fill Space.”

As some in the S.E.C. know, I had a prior life as an independent oil and gas producer. Energy, especially oil, can be very hard to live with — kind of like a mistress.

We often ask the following question at our S.E.C. marketing meetings: “Is your client area bound?” It took me a minute to figure out what the moderator meant at my first meeting, though it became apparent very quickly. But what do we really mean?

This article will speak of our experience with our design architect, the professional who comes up with what the building will look like. Just as we do not pick the low bidder for our engineer, we seldom employ the most famous architect. It is our experience that famous usually translates to two things: needlessly expensive and, more importantly, someone who will ignore our ideas and design a monument to his own legend.

This article will speak of our experience with our design architect, the professional who comes up with what the building will look like. Just as we do not pick the low bidder for our engineer, we seldom employ the most famous architect. It is our experience that famous usually translates into two things: needlessly expensive and, more importantly, someone who will ignore our ideas and design a monument to his own legend.