Statewide Marketing Session for May 2018
Submitted by Louise Norwood
The May Statewide Marketing Session was held on Wednesday, May 23, 2018 at our new location at the Matheson Education Suite at 116 South River Road in Bedford. Every month for the last five months the attendance has grown to bulging proportions and this meeting was no exception with a vast array of new faces as well as many of the old guard. This month’s meeting was sponsored by Robert Cruess of TF Moran who has on numerous occasions kindly supported our monthly meetings as well as the annual CIBOR picnic and other events for members to partake in. TF is celebrating 50 years as a regionally recognized land planning firm with offices in Bedford and Portsmouth, New Hampshire. The company specializes in civil, structural and traffic engineering; land surveying; landscape architecture; permitting; storm water monitoring; and construction support services for private and public clients.
Robert Cruess of TF Moran explained that their firm is the oldest continuous engineering business in the state. They are supported by 70 to 75 employees and are currently working on the Woodmont Development site in Londonderry with another large project underway in Dover, New Hampshire as well as the Maine marketplace. One of their more local projects was the Murphy’s Tavern site having conducted the survey, structural engineering, environmental, wetland study, traffic study and landscape planning. Robert announced the date of the annual cookout to be held on Thursday, June 14, 2018 from 5:00 to 7:30 a.m. at the offices of TF Moran located at 48 Constitution Drive in Bedford at which time the Realtor of the Year as well as the Affiliate of the Year will be awarded the coveted respective titles. As a side note TF Moran has been awarded the Best New Hampshire engineering firm for five years running!
Scott Kingsley of Primary Bank is a commercial loan officer and was excited to announce their expansion into the Manchester market with a location at No. Elm Street. Scott covers all of New Hampshire, Massachusetts and Maine concentrating on C & I along with SBA financing. Scott announced that CIBOR will be hosting a huge networking event on August 2nd at a location yet to be determined – please mark your calendars. Primary Bank is committed to creating the best business banking relationships, always exceeding their client’s expectations, delivering expert knowledge, and providing the financial resources to help New Hampshire’s economy grow and thrive. Of note, Primary Bank was voted the second best bank in the country for customer satisfaction.
Tad Dziemian of Neighborhood Energy is headquartered in Hampstead where he brokers energy solutions for both industrial and commercial customers. With their expert knowledge of the suppliers, Tad and his team can optimize your energy while saving substantial dollars at the same time. Tad feels that connecting with property managers and owners he is able to reduce the clientele’s energy bills with fixed electricity and natural gas terms. To that end Tad can also provide a monthly usage and savings report which is imperative in understanding usage patterns and comparisons throughout any given year. Tad went on to say that he feels blessed to have several superlative accounts including R.H. Finlay and other high profile commercial users.
Jason Settineri of Build-It Construction explained that their company deals in construction management providing extensive experience with project scheduling; cost control; maintaining detailed records; track materials and equipment; permitting and closely coordinating logistics between staff, owners and management. Their territory covers from Boston north to Concord. As their company is extraordinarily busy, he is encouraging individuals to speak with him now for late summer projects. Please contact Jason with your property service requests and how to best utilize their services.
Keith Turgeon of Namtek deals in federal government services in their mid market sized projects and is the provider of expert security services and purpose built hardware and software solutions. Namtek enables organizations to manage security risks associated with information technology in support of critical business processes. Namtek leverages its corporate experience spanning civilian and defense agencies combining best practices and insights from enterprises in financial services, healthcare, retail and education. Keith explained that Namtek can provide extensive experience with servers, storage, and networking hardware extending the life of their IBM and HP hardware. We welcome Keith to our group and look forward to seeing him at future CIBOR events.
Duane Hines of Weston and Sampson explained that their firm offers interdisciplinary design, engineering and environmental services. Their sphere of operations spans from Florida to Maine but they primarily service the New England area having offices in both Manchester and Portsmouth. Additionally, other specialties in their practice are architectural and landscaping skill sets. The firm was recently awarded the ACEC/MA Bronze Award for Engineering Excellence (Black Book Road Reconstruction and Slope Stabilization) – Savoy, Massachusetts. They are ranked as the 8th largest engineering firms in Massachusetts according to the Boston Business Journal.
Diane Lewis of TD Bank is a commercial lender who specializes in lending in the medical realm whether for start-up practices in health care or existing practices as well as related improvements. TD Bank has a heavy presence in Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and New York focusing on commercial loans. TD Bank, N.A is the eighth largest bank in the United States by total assets ($380 B).
Steve Scheiner of St. Mary’s Bank described their services as a full menu offering checking, lending, mortgages, business banking and financial planning. With four loan officers on site, decisions can be quickly addressed very expeditiously giving commercial borrowers very competitive rates and ease of processing throughout the transaction. Some of their recent transactions include multi-family, commercial owner and non-owner occupied, and industrial/warehouse. On the commercial/industrial platform, lending can be as low as $100,000 with anything over $10,000,000 a partner institution will participate in the lending package.
Andrew Robbins of Colliers International explained that he has an investor interested in a 3 to 20 unit apartment building who is willing to restore or reposition with value added potential in the Haverhill/Methuen locality. Andrew is also actively seeking 1,000 s.f. of retail oriented storefront in the towns of Salem/Windham/Londonderry.
Laura Nesmith of Colliers International described a new listing she is currently working on in downtown Wilton that being an early learning center known as Tumbleweeds Child Care, Inc. which is being marketed with an adjacent home and rental apartment. This turnkey operation is being offered at $949,000. Laura is also marketing a highly visible retail/mixed use free standing building at 1176 Hooksett Road in Hooksett at a lease rate of $6.00 to $10.00 psf NNN. Another listing that Laura has brought to the market is a completely restored 7,000 s.f. mill condo at 155 Dow Street in the mill yard complete with sixteen parking spaces.
Brian Hansen of Team Engineering deals in all types of building inspections. Team has been operational for the last fifteen years assisting clients with design consulting services, property inspections and solutions that will greatly improve the efficiency and structural integrity of building components. They recently completed a sixteen property portfolio which was most difficult but extremely rewarding. The scope of their work expertise covers many facets from insurance claim investigations, expert witness services as well as property condition assessment and capital improvement planning.
Matthew Lefebvre of Elm Grove Realty is working with an investor seeking multifamily dwellings from one half million up to five million dollars. He is also working with another investor looking for two to four acres in Derry or Hooksett to construct a 10,000 s.f. manufacturing plant. He is also marketing a 4,000 s.f. retail sited restaurant in downtown Nashua. Matt was proud to present The Allyson Apartments which is the winner of a Manchester Historic Preservation Award. This twenty-one unit apartment building is listed at $95,000 per unit with 30 parking spaces. Additionally, Matt has a portfolio of properties in Pittsfield including a large portfolio of rental properties along with a restaurant all offered at a list price of $2,945,000.
Eric Gerade of VHB touted their integrated services for land development projects including permitting compliance, traffic and parking improvements as well as landscape architecture and environmental assessment. VHB handles many of the large retail sites and in particular the CVS’s of the world. Their Bedford location houses more than 60 professionals which is supported by 1,350 engineers, scientists, planers, and designers across the East Coast corporate footprint.
Hayley Klein of Hirsch & Co. is currently marketing an operating restaurant along with the real estate in a highly visible, high traffic location in the greater Nashua area. This 4,000 s.f. structure is fully equipped with 125 seats and sports a full liquor license. With 1.790 acres of land, there is a great potential to expand this successful operation. Hayley is also offering office units at Thornton’s Place at 604 DW Highway in Merrimack within a lovely, restored former home sited on 5.86 acres of well landscaped grounds. A great place to house small businesses or incubator start-ups.
Joe Friedman of Brooks Properties specializes in the leasing of both office and industrial space for the Brooks family controlling in the neighborhood of some 1,300,000 s.f. along the 495 corridor. They are continually looking to buy properties in the New Hampshire southern tier to add to their portfolio. Joe passed materials around that summarized from 4,000 up to 33,000 s.f. of office space at Exit 2. In addition Joe is marketing a variety of office spaces in Derry. Lastly, Joe mentioned that he is offering a 50,000 s.f. facility at 6 Wentworth Drive in Hudson for $3,900,000.
Paul Harrington of Sullivan Construction has recently come out of retirement from the Catholic Diocese to become Tom Sullivan’s business development manager. After having assisted in the purchase of thirteen new churches, Paul went into retirement on December 1st of this past year and is now back out there with much involvement in a bank project in Goffstown as well as the opening of the Franklin Savings Bank facility in Merrimack. In addition work is progressing on a retirement community at The Woods in Exeter. We were happy to see Paul and learning about his newest undertakings with Sullivan Construction.
Bev Donovan, Economic Development Coordinator for the Town of Derry, joined us for the first time. Welcome Bev. Bev spoke of Derry’s business friendly environment and that the town is offering a program with great incentives to developers and business owners. She is working with a company who needs to expand into 20,000 s.f. of space requiring water, sewer and gas with a ceiling clearance of at least 12’ in height or better. We hope to see Bev at more of our CIBOR events.
Aaron Gill of Northway Bank deals in all types of commercial lending including income properties. His mantra is to develop a long lasting relationship with his clients for the long term. Northway Bank has a total of eighteen branches throughout the state, primarily in the northern portion of the state. Today, Northway is New Hampshire’s largest independent commercial bank and the top-ranking SBA lender in the state.
Jeff Brown of Cross Insurance presented a Case Study describing how prospecting can pay off. By persevering, Jeff has gained a clientele base and has saved these new customers hefty dollars while substantially increasing his business. Jeff used the old retort by customers who say “I’m all set” converting them into a client with lots of insurance knowledge, great follow up and overall savings with excellent insurance coverage. Jeff, like of all of us, is looking for good referral business.
Ray Sirois of Service Master Disaster hails from the Rochester area and deals in all realms of disaster restoration handling the worst of the worst. Their territory covers a vast area including No. Suffolk and Middlesex counties, all of New Hampshire and the Maine seacoast areas. As Ray says, “they are there for you when disaster strikes”.
Lindsey Goodrich of Berkshire Hathaway Verani has a cash investor exploring the purchase of ten to twelve unit multi families in the S. New Hampshire area. Lindsey is also marketing a business condominium at 100 Carl Drive in Manchester with a price tag of $229,000.
Jay Lee of Berkshire Hathaway Verani is seeking retail development sites on the order of five to twenty million dollars. Jay is marketing 3,800 s.f. of office space in a stately, traditional office building which can also be considered as quasi retail because of its prominent location on S. River Road. The primary existing tenant is a title company and the lease rate is $17.50 psf on a modified gross basis. Lastly, Jay pitched a listing for Tom Dickson located at 790 S. Willow comprised of 9,000 s.f. along with 26 parking spaces being offered for lease at $18.50 to $20.00 psf.
Thomas Timpone of Morgan Stanley handles an array of investment holdings whether it be commercial/residential property; stocks or even fine art. With four certified planners on his team, he is capable of assisting a cadre of individuals in need of financial advisory expertise. Their services cover a wide range of financial business skill sets including but not limited to wealth management, investment banking and capital markets, sales & training, research, investment management and sustainable investing.
Chris Pascucci of Masiello Commercial is working with a cash buyer in the two million dollar range seeking net leased office or medical building (s) with a 7-8% cap. Chris is marketing a former Mobil gas station at 193 Union Square in Milford – all underground tanks have been removed with certificate of no further action from NHDES. As a commercially zoned property, the facility has much potential and is being marketed at a sales price of $315,000. Chris is also working on a lease only 2,600 s.f. auto service property with overhead door on 3.36 acres of land. In addition, Chris has a very unique space on Chestnut Street in Manchester that being the former police station. And, lastly, Chris pitched his Concord office condominium listing at 46 S. Main Street which is for sale and/or lease located right next to the Capitol Center of the Arts.
Fred Richards of Masiello Commercial is seeking a 15,000 s.f. retail facility made up of 10,000 s.f. warehouse/5,000 s.f. showroom. Fred is also marketing a 2,200 s.f. office condo for $170,000 with two deeded parking spaces. In addition, Fred noted that he used to work with the late Fran Cassidy and spent many years in the appraisal industry as well as acting as a consultant in the commercial real estate world.
Mark Whelan of North Marq Capital joined us for the first time. Welcome Mark! His principal focus is sourcing debt and equity opportunities to be presented to a targeted set of capital sources through the creation of financing summaries which include financial analysis of the subject property, project and market data and sponsorship information. In addition, North Marq arranges for permanent mortgages fixed for the first ten years with a 25-30 amortization as well as offering bridge lending available. His team also brokers to local businesses and is instrumental in ground leases.
Nick Shea of Shea Commercial is based in Salem and commented on how much he appreciates CIBOR and the relationships he has forged with its members both on the brokerage side and affiliates alike. Nick pitched a property he has listed on Lafayette Road in Hampton which was a 2,400 s.f. former Burger King for lease at $34 psf NNN or for sale at $1,250,000. Nick has been working on a development project at 5-10 Apple Drive in Windham spending much time with the planning board officials.
Stepfani Croeau of Allen & Majors explained that their company has been operational for some forty-five years with offices in Manchester, Woburn, Massachusetts and Lakeville, Massachusetts offering a variety of services. As part of Stepfani’s presentation she passed out some literature depicting some of their more recent projects being Silver Square in Dover, Infiniti of Nashua and University Edge in Durham just to name a few. Allen & Majors are particularly proud of their 2018 blue ribbon award for best in class namely Windsor Station as announced in The New England Real Estate Journal. A laundry list of their services are land surveying; civil & structural engineering; landscape architecture and transportation planning & design.
Kim Matson of RH Thackston & Co. Realtors concentrates on the golden triangle area of Vermont, New Hampshire and Massachusetts where the borders converge. She specializes in the mountain region of Vermont doing much brokerage for the ski areas. One of her highlighted listings is a turnkey, fully equipped restaurant in Troy with much roadside exposure and with much pride of workmanship listed for sale at $375,000. Additionally, Kim has a tavern with three acres as well as 1942 Lunch Car both located in Westminster, Vermont with motivated sellers.
Mary Lacoy of Allobar Strategies is in the practice of property tax abatement and appeals; property tax management and property tax projections. He and Paul Alfano offer unparalleled personalized real estate tax consulting services to a broad range of commercial and residential clients in New Hampshire, Massachusetts and Connecticut. Mark cautioned the group that the next cutoff date is September 1st. Call Mark to learn how you can reduce your property tax burden, manage your current tax costs and estimate future expenses.
Scott Wade of S & K Services, LLC main focus is that of property assessment practicing in the tri state region of Vermont, Massachusetts and Maine. Not only do they conduct property inspections but now his wife has achieved the status of real estate appraiser so they can work hand in hand. Their team of people handle all facets of the inspection process from sewer scope inspections; drone inspections; elevator inspections; hvac assessment; radon; air; water testing and walkthroughs.
Romeo Danais who is a private investor has been his own person working on behalf of himself since 1970 purchasing and leasing industrial properties from the S.E. portion of the state up to Bedford, Concord and Amherst. He recently put BJ’s under contract and purchased two business condos on Bouchard Street. Romeo went on to say that Sam’s Club will be closing seventy-two sites including his facility in Hooksett. This 40 bay/20 cross dock 26,000 s.f. distribution center on nine acres is back on the market at $7.50 psf NNN. Romeo is on the prowl for large industrial buildings in the Londonderry/Manchester/Hooksett/Bedford quadrant with at least a 16’ clearance.
Joe Campbell of North Branch anchored in the town of Concord was founded in 1958 and has developed into a full service, award winning construction manager, design-builder and general contractor serving New Hampshire and its bordering states. They now employ 65 individuals 35 of which are carpenters which is a huge asset as the labor pool is not always available with those specialized skill sets. They can step in quickly when a subcontractor is not able to do so. On July 23rd they will be celebrating their 60tieth year in business maintaining high standards at all levels with lasting value and top notch craftsmanship.
Lisa Parda of Realtyscape Brokerage is a full service firm specializing in the practice of lead abatement. Their mission is to provide services directly and indirectly related to the purchasing and selling of real estate. They are goal oriented in providing property management for long and short term rentals; landlord-tenant services, asset management, foreclosure cleanouts as well as construction and remodeling resourcing. Lisa and her team are currently listing an off market, fully occupied thirteen unit mixed use building with separately deeded parking lot.
Kathryn Bristol of NewVo Interiors located at 60 Rogers Street deals in all types of office products and office furnishings whether for schools, startups, new construction or almost any imaginable real estate venue. Their company offers a wide array of office products and supplies equal in service to the other office delivery purveyors with speedy delivery along with industry-leading customer service. Their website tools are perfect for businesses which will streamline your orders – as easy as Amazon!
Leighton White of Leighton A. White Excavating created their business model some forty years ago providing site excavation from the smallest space to the largest development project and over the years has worked in tandem with Robert Cruess and his team. Part of their overall business offerings include a wide selection of gravel, stone and sand having four gravel pits in the Milford area ideal for stonewalls, driveways and a host of applications for the building industry. His son Dale runs the operation on a daily basis though Leighton is still involved owning several prime pieces of real estate in the Souhegan Valley.
Justin Mikolyski of Creative Office Pavilion covers the gamut when it comes to supplying office furnishings. Whether it be in the health care field, a governmental agency, architectural firm or an educational facility, they have a huge collection of office pieces for any taste and any pocketbook. With 10,000 s.f. of showroom space at 155 Dow Street, Justin can guide you through the labyrinth of choices and enable you to visualize a finished office space.
Steve Mangekian of Alpha Inspections has five inspectors working full time with offices in Bedford and Portsmouth with much work being conducted in the greater Boston area, Maine and Providence, Rhode Island. Steve has a host of five star reviews as he guarantees his work with a money back guarantee. Not only do they deliver an oral report on site but will supply their customer/client with an electronic report following the actual inspection. Their excellent track record speaks for itself with a high degree of competency and stellar reputation servicing both the commercial and residential property sectors.
Ray Dugdale of Colliers International recently joined the financial services division and partnered with David Eaton in providing free market analysis with a forty-eight hour turnaround. Their practice is separate from the brokerage team but enhances the brokerage side of the equation by seeking out the best financing venue along with a professional loan application and term sheet. With forty years plus in the banking industry Ray understands the nuances of financing with a personal touch supported by years of experience in his field.
Jeff Boufford of Boyd and Boufford Insurance is an independent insurance agent servicing the needs of his clientele in the Southern New Hampshire tier. Over the years Jeff has cultivated very strong relationships through his business and through his involvement with CIBOR. He touched on a relatively new insurance product that being data breach insurance which is of vast importance in this social media/internet oriented world that we now live in. Jeff takes a personal interest in his clients and has involved himself in volunteerism for non-profit organizations with his pet charity being Liberty House.
Kent Buschle of Heartland specializes in credit card systems as well as payroll processing. Not only does Heartland go beyond client’s expectations but they offer the latest in flexible payment processing options from Apple Pay and PayPal to POS in store, online or offsite on virtually any device. Their securitized systems is dedicated to protecting your business with comprehensive breach warranty. There are three players in their sandbox with ATD and Paychex as their foremost competitors – Heartland has outgrown them with the fastest growing overall volume in the industry. Check with Kent on a way to hire veterans to your firm while taking advantage of tax credits as an employer which is a very innovative way to assist our military while promoting payroll savings.
Louise Norwood of NAI Norwood Group, Inc. is seeking on behalf of Aron Brown and Chris Norwood an industrial building in the 50,000 to 60,000 s.f. range on a lease basis with 20’ ceiling clearance a must in the greater Manchester area – first quarter 2019 occupancy. Louise pitched an extraordinarily immaculate office condo at 124 Bedford Center Road in Bedford totaling 5,900 s.f. which can be subdivided down to 4,000 s.f. for lease at $14.00 psf NNN or for purchase at $1,062,000. NAI continues to market three business condominiums in Coldstream Park ranging in size from 1,736 s.f. to 1,934 s.f. or collectively in one package of 5,997 s.f. The properties are for sale or for lease.
Many thanks to all of the individuals who attended and in particular warm thanks to Robert Cruess of TF Moran who has once again sponsored our statewide with an excellent breakfast. We are most appreciative of your generosity. Enjoy this beautiful weather and we look forward to getting together on the fourth Wednesday of June – please check your e-mails as Allison Ropes will be sending several notices announcing our next session. Also, if you would be good enough to bring marketing materials and/or paperwork on your business practice or latest business endeavor. That would be helpful in tabulating the notes for the newsletter.
Look forward to seeing you in June.