Statewide Marketing Session – February 25, 2015
Submitted by Louise Norwood, NAI Norwood Group
The monthly statewide marketing session was held at the GMNBR’s office located at 166 South River Road in Bedford. Doreen Austin of the Northeast Credit Union was kind enough to sponsor this month’s session. Northeast Credit Union has been a trusted neighbor and the financial partner of choice for members for over 75 years. As the second largest credit union in the State of New Hampshire, Northeast Credit Union offers full service commercial, business and SBA loans.
Jack Mannix of End Point specializes in environmental assessment and seeks to lessen a property purchase risk. Welcomed referrals would be gas stations, municipal properties, underground oil storage or any questionable property with potential environmental issues. With seven to eight professionals on staff, they are capable of handling real estate holdings that pose contamination problems. They provide services on an ongoing basis for an assisting living facility off 93.
Larry Hirsch of Hirsch & Company is marketing space at an attractive building at 26 Clinton Drive in Hollis with a lease rate of $4.95 to $5.95 per square foot NNN. Access to the property is via Exit 5 from Nashua. Additionally Larry has a variety of industrial units for lease from 4,700 s.f. up to 100,000 s.f. in a range of $4.00 to $6.00 psf NNN in a wide spectrum of southern New Hampshire towns.
Don Marshall of Marshall Associates practices brokerage and co-operates with other agents or a referral basis on a case by case basis. His expertise is evaluating small businesses and will provide assistance in the due diligence portion of a sale. He does not mind asking probing questions in order to get essential information. He will not accept listings in which he cannot verify cash flow or clients that he cannot establish a good relationship with.
Bill Jean of Fulcrum Associates is a well-known and full capacity from ground up development construction company. Bill explained that there is a great short term lease opportunity on South River Road. The property is an 8,000 s.f. open area with some finished office offering a one year lease term. Fulcrum approaches a construction project early in the planning process giving guidance and a full range of building services. By developing realistic budgets and working with a qualified design team, a customer client can achieve their goals in a cost effective manner. The company is presently working on a small improvement project of 5,000 s.f. in Nashua; a 10,000 improvement project in Manchester for Dyn and a private dorm facility in Durham.
John Turner of Team Engineering has been extremely busy as of late with roof structure issues due to the heavy snow loads. Team now can perform lower cost property assessments by providing a less in depth building survey and physical evaluations that do not require time consuming reports but gets the job done in a more cost effective manner. John was happy to report that Villa Augustine in Goffstown now has a cash buyer ready to go and close by the end of March. He encouraged anyone voting in that community to vote “yes” on zoning article which was unanimously approved by the planning board.
Doreen Austin of Northeast Credit Union who graciously provided breakfast, explained that their team is willing to provide a cash flow business analysis to get a customer client to the next level all of which will be treated with the utmost confidentiality. Their credit union has cash to lend for businesses and as they are first in New England for vehicle lending can provide good financing. Their approach for financing is 80% loan to value; are most flexible; can provide lending on a personal level, business situations and globally in scope. They do not have a cap on lending and at this time have a portfolio in the $17,000,000 range.
Rick Mulvee of Tower Realty has two excellent cash buyers one of which deals in the 2 to 4,000,000 million dollar range. They pay cash with the exception in the most recent transaction he handled, an existing loan was so attractive they assumed the financial package. The other investor group just sold a major commercial property in Texas so are actively seeking investment opportunities here in New Hampshire in the $5,000,000 to $20,000,000 range. They generally hold on an average of seven to ten years but put into place an escape plan when they feel the property has matured for their portfolio. Criteria for consideration are single asset office buildings – no interest in apartments or smaller groupings of properties. Rick is also marketing 150 Dow Street with excellent parking both on site and off site. With its excellent location downtown; being marketed on a modified gross basis with heat included; no common area factor, this great mill building has much merit. Rick is starting a search for an existing 50,000 s.f. building comprised of 50% high bay and 50% office to purchase anywhere within the borders of New Hampshire.
Suzanne Brunelle of Devine, Millimet, Branch is a long time attorney of twenty years and prides herself on returning phone calls and retaining clientele for the long run. The firm offers a spiff to start up businesses in the form of setting up their LLC’s at no charge with the hopes that they can service their legal needs. DMB is a full service law firm handling all fields of legal issues including but not limited to tax taking, condo conversions and documentation, subdivision, zoning, estate planning and environmental issues. Suzanne announced that CIBOR is a wonderful organization and has brought much business her way.
Jay Lee of Berkshire Hathaway Verani specializes in leasing and sales. He is presently working with a client interested in obtaining apartment complexes and is capable of spending 3 to 4,000,000 dollars. Additionally his other clients are from Hong Kong and Korea and are seeking turnkey operations here in the states and have 20 to 50,000,000 million dollars to invest. Their goal is to invest in a steady investment with safe money return. Jay stated that he is marketing a fully occupied investment i.e. Stadium Plaza in Manchester. As an aside, Jay gave kudos to Tenley Callaghan of Cleveland, Waters & Bass for handling a closing with great finesse as the Seller had “issues”. Lastly, he announced that he is marketing a 2,600 s.f. law office in Laconia sited on one quarter of an acre asking $250,000.
Vince Chestnut of Alpha Locksmith delivers first class locksmith services for your commercial clientele. He can provide restricted key access with authorized signature if a landlord requires same. Additionally he can offer an efficient and failsafe system for chain link fences and storage unit facilities. For office buildings the one key fits all and/or push button combination code locks are very popular and a security conscious avenue to implement.
Tenley Callaghan of Cleveland, Waters and Bass operating from Concord also maintains offices in Maine, Vermont along with their New Hampshire presence. Their law offices offer full service legal as well as title work via their other business i.e. Granite State Title. Tenley has practiced in the state of New Hampshire since 1989 with much expertise in the field of estate planning.
Adam Johnston of St. Mary’s Bank explained that their lending sweet spot is two to three million dollars. They also offer financing for 504’s and are open to looking at properties with “hair on them”. Adam along with Jim DeStefano are active committee members for NH CIBOR Cares. The first annual CIBOR Cares New Hampshire Commercial real estate awards will be held on June 1, 2015 at the Executive Court in Manchester. They are presently accepting sponsorships for what promises to be a gala event. 100% of the proceeds raised will be used to support local immediate need non-profit organizations throughout the state as well as non-profits supported by NH CIBOR members.
Joe Friedman of Brooks Properties announced that his company’s owners are continually seeking out existing office properties for sale in the range of 20,000 to 80,000 s.f. along the I-93 corridor from Salem down to Boston. They would like to see the property at least one third leased. Their current portfolio offers a wide spectrum of leasing opportunities anywhere from 15,000 s.f. up to 30,000 s.f. on multi levels or one floor options. Along with office space, they also own flex space in tandem with a percentage of office. They presently have permits to do a build to suit project at $23.50 psf. With attractive options on Keewaydin Drive, Red Roof Lane and Industrial Way in Salem with other offerings in Hudson and Derry, Brooks has much to offer your client. Presently they have permits in place for a build to suit which will be marketed at $23.00 psf. As a reminder, Brookstone Park is capable of hosting all types of functions in their facility and has a great nine hole golf course.
Tim Sheedy is a real estate attorney affiliated with Phenix Title. Phenix Title handles both residential and commercial transactions in New Hampshire and Massachusetts. As they have six offices in New Hampshire with six practicing attorneys they are fully capable of preparing documents very quickly for closings. As an aside, should anyone have access to the North Carolina real estate market, Tim is seeking apartment complexes thirty units up to one hundred and fifty units. Please contact Tim to connect his buyer and your seller.
Paul Alfano of Alfano Law Office focuses in on real estate tax abatement. Paul pointed out that it is important to utilize the equalization ratio to establish a true and fair market value. As the deadline is this coming Monday, Paul recommends using the prior year’s ratio which will be the best case at this point in time. Paul went on to say that he typically charges a $250 contingency fee and only paid if he is successful and/or a flat fee as the case warrants. By utilizing Paul’s best practices, he can assist with the onerous task of filling out the application. On a personal level, Paul and his siblings are trying to dispose of a family compound in Winter Harbor in the lakes region with four homes sited on 2.7 acres three of which are four season.
Marie Bodi of CP Management is actively looking for property management contracts in Andover, Massachusetts. At this point the farthest they have managed resources is in Rhode Island. Marie pointed out that as a result of attending both marketing sessions here in Bedford and in Portsmouth, she retained their two largest property management contracts as a result of the networking provided by CIBOR. Relationships are established through membership; friendships and as an added bonus business is attained by trusted affiliation.
Louise Norwood of NAI Norwood Group is looking for a sound business investment for a local developer up to 2.5 million dollars preferably an office facility in Bedford. Several properties were pitched one being a small, immaculate 1,350 s.f. office suite at 10 Commerce Park No. in Bedford; a small investment property ideal for an owner/user at 400 Harvey Road in Manchester priced at $275,000 and a broker owned executive suite in the home office of NAI Norwood Group full gross.
Once again, thank you Doreen for providing the attendees a delicious breakfast. We look forward to seeing everyone at the next CIBOR Statewide Marketing Session on Wednesday, March 25th at 166 South River Road in Bedford.
Think spring!