July 2014 Seacoast Marketing Meeting Minutes

18 July 2014 NHCIBOR New Hampshire Commercial Investment Board of Realtors Minutes of Seacoast Marketing Session Adam Johnston with Saint Mary’s Bank was the breakfast sponsor.  Saint Mary’s Bank was the first credit union in New Hampshire.  They are located at the bottom of the hill in front of Saint Marie’s Church and near Catholic Medical Center on the West Side of Manchester.  They can lend up to 9.5 million dollars per borrower and in house can go up to 5 million dollars.  They have an experienced and small underwriting group which allows for quick turnarounds.  Don Saint Germain is their chief lending officer and he used to be with Citizens Bank.  Their prime lending use group is mult-family housing.  They do owner occupied and equipment lending too.Cash Buyers   Tony Fallon with Tony Fallon Architecture is licensed in Maine, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts assisting with new buildings or refreshing existing.  Tony has done pro bono work for the transitional facility Starting Home for homeless veterans from this general region.  Starting Home will offer 6 months of housing, counseling, and job training.  They have good resources for operating capital but need to come up with the initial nut for refitting the vacant former Carroll County Nursing Home.  Please answer this call to help those who answered the call of their lives by calling Dorothy Solomon at 603-447-1199.  http://vethousecc.org Marie Bodi with CP Property Management let us know she was going to help Russ Doyle with Two International Group in the listing round since Russ had to leave for a showing. Patrick McDermott with Hinkley Allen joined us for the first time.  Patrick used to work with PSNH in Community Affairs for 37 years.  Hinkley Allen is a full service business law firm in Concord, New Hampshire and Pat is helping them with business development.  Maxine Kenny with Colliers let us know that she is moving to California.Bill Jean with Fulcrum Associates does construction management from their Amherst offices throughout New Hampshire, Southern Maine, and Northern Massachusetts.  They are working currently on a 197 bed private student housing project in Durham. Ken Berry with Berry Engineering provides Civil Engineering, Land Surveying, and Septic Design and has done so with their family business for 52 years in the Seacoast Region. Andre Tremblay with Franklin Savings Bank noted they have expanded their service reach to all of New England with their 20 to 25 year commercial mortgage loans.  This lending is tending to allow borrowers to sleep well. Ben Baroody with Elm Grove Realtyannounced his shift from Baroody Real Estate after 40 years to Elm Grove.  Ben had thought about firing himself for a while and is jazzed about the new business opportunities.  Ben has a contractor looking to do single family subdivisions, apartments, or condos in the 12 unit or so size from Laconia south anywhere in New Hampshire.Tom House with THA Architects is licensed in Maine, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts and can assist with Master Planning too. Ralph Pope with CBC announced the formation of this new wing of the Coldwell Banker organization.  Coldwell Banker Commercial is a worldwide operation serving up world class service.  Ralph has a hunt on for high visibility land from the Spaulding Turnpike for an auto related business.Susan Miltner with Seacoast Business Machines reiterated that they are having fun bringing super duper white boards to businesses that allow collaboration beyond the room of the conference.  They continue the copier and document management marvels too.Jim Schwartz with Jewett Construction is part of a design/build firm from Raymond,  New Hampshire that also offers GC and CM services from a sound family business basis started in 1972 focused on you.Robert Cruess with TF Moran serves up services of Civil Engineering, Structural Engineering, Landscape Architecture, and Surveying.  They recently worked on the new office for Saint Mary’s Bank, our breakfast sponsor of this meeting.Adam Johnston with Saint Mary’s Bank noted that they issue notes for projects that have some distressed aspects and out of the norm asset ratios.  They are interested in helping projects that need unique help. Sean Fitzgerald with Granite State Development is a great guy to go to for the SBA 504 program for developments in the Granite State. John Konevich with Alliance Capital Funding is an independent commercial lending broker for real estate, developments, and businesses delivering dough from a nationwide network of banks and non-banks in the form of conventional, SBA, and C&I.  They can service most any debt from both secured and unsecured situations including underwriting to stated income, stated asset,  lower credit scores, and personal tax returns. Al Silva with Silva Graphics signified his ability to serve up signs for commercial and residential with his sweet smile. Don Marshall with Marshall Associates is a general business broker with offices in Exeter, New Hampshire serving all sectors including retail, wholesale, and manufacturing among others.  Don helps bring rational reasoning to pricing of the asset to sell and manages the delicate transfer beautifully and gracefully.  Ray Dugdale with Optima Bank is very happy with his recent switch to the little/big bank that believes all things are possible.Rick Mulvee with Tower Realty Group updated us about his long term clients who are always looking for projects in the 5 to 20 million dollar range and are patient money.  They are fine with waiting many years for a return in something that has a longer list of challenges.  The new thing with this group is that they are willing to take a number of buildings separated by geography into a portfolio.  New England is the main target currently.Danielle Lape with King Real Estate has a cash buyer looking for office properties outside of downtown Portsmouth in towns such as Newington and Greenland.  This is for a 1031 exchange in the 1.5 million dollar and above range.Vince Chestnut with Alpha Locksmith brings professional security services to your door. Butch Ricci with DeStefano Associatesoffers design/build, CM, and GC services from their Portsmouth offices just beyond the Waterstone development on Lafayette Road which they are helping refresh. Art Bonin with A R Bonin Companies has a commercial real estate cash buyer looking for 50 to 125 units of multi-family and would prefer Class B in the 2 to 5 million dollar range anywhere in New Hampshire. Charlie Ciovacco with TD Bank covers all kinds of commercial lending from the Sullivan Bridge south for TD.  Right now he has a Seabrook machine shop owner who has outgrown their space and is looking for 8 to 10 thousand sf and would rather own but would consider leasing.  They live in Hampton so staying in that area is best.Jeff Brown with TD Bank is a competent commercial lender for TD covering from the Sullivan Bridge north.  Jeff brings the unique asset of his earlier career as a CPA to help keep your dreams on track and alive.  Jeff brings small bank nimbleness with big bank assets. Bill Cormier with Hourihane Cormier Realty gave us a preview of his next rounds where he will share discounted delightful deals on great properties in the sparkling Seacoast region of  rockin’ Rochester.Ute Luxem with Profile Bank services New Hampshire and Maine north of the Sullivan Bridge for all types of properties.  Ute noted that the SBA 504 has recently inched down into the 4% range and thinks that this year is going to be the last year we see that.  So be in the know and sign up for low dough!Dan Barufaldi with DBIDA let us know that there are three major construction projects going on in Dover.  Dover is working diligently to provide additional parking and accessibility to assure that businesses downtown continue to flourish.  They have engaged a marketing consultant who worked on a similar campaign during reconstruction of the Memorial Bridge in Portsmouth.Nina Cutts with Institution for Savings is a commercial lender who shared details of a recent deal where a owner wanted to gain access to more operating cash.  They were able to convert a good amount of existing equity and give them a robust credit line.Ken Lambert with Exterior Designs brings metal lightage framing, drywall, EFIS, and stucco to your favorite building beautifully.  They recently worked on a Wegmans.Bob Marchewka with One Commercial has a cash buyer looking for small industrial buildings in Portsmouth and Dover, but not Somersworth.  5 to 10 thousand sf will do.David Choate with Colliers has a wealth management client who recently sold a hotel in Southern Maine for 3.5 million dollars looking to roll this dough into another investment.  It could be multiple properties and some in need of adding value.  Some should be traditional investment and it is OK if some just break even.AnnouncementsThe statewide NHCIBOR marketing meeting occurs on the 4th Wednesday of the month from 9:00 to 10:15 at 166 South River Road in Bedford. David Choate spoke of a recent meeting that batted around the concept of getting some professional advocacy for NHCIBOR members at the State House.  Some of the areas of interest from the recent meeting were gas tax for infrastructure and more money for DRED to bring more businesses to New Hampshire.  Anyone interested in exploring this possibility further is to contact NHCIBOR president Mark Dickey.  This may be a joint venture with NHAR and affiliates are welcome on the NHCIBOR side.  Dave Garvey chimed in that the other important piece is for all members, whether a lobbyist is hired or not, to track things, show up, and testify.  Letters, emails, and telephoning is still important, but testifying is the most effective.  Pat McDermott concurred emphatically with this and said that testimony from professionals weighs much more with legislators than paid lobbyists.  City of Dover won high praises from around the room for delivering what many municipalities claim: streamlined building project approvals.  Many people in the room have had one meeting approvals in Dover and are delighted with Dover.There was a general call for those around the room to get on to planning and zoning boards to help keep things reasonable.  Andre Tremblay noted the need to counter the no kids push that many planning and zoning boards have adopted.  Tony Fallon won the prize for knowing what the greatest need of businesses in New Hampshire is: “skilled workforce.”  We need kids that can grow up and get these great jobs in the skilled workforce for New Hampshire to flourish.  New Hampshire is far too rapidly becoming an aged population and all of this stems from the avoidance of workforce housing.  Maybe something like the Massachusetts 40b legislation would work where the state can approve what a local board nixes with regards to workforce housing.  Editor’s note:  Tony Fallon, a former Zoning Board alternate in Strafford, was at a zoning seminar once where John Ratigan, Esq. of Exeter’s Donahue, Tucker, and Ciandella was presenting.  John noted that towns and cities gain their right to exist from the State and these municipalities are mandated by the state to proactively assist people through planning and zoning processes.  The state, and attorneys that know this, is there to help prod them on in instances of monkey wrenches and other obfuscation for workforce housing or any use group that is a reasonable proposal.  So there already is some legislation extant to help break up planning/zoning logjams that is not often used.   Maybe better to use what we have before writing more law.David Choate called for a group hug and Susan Miltner lead us in line dancing.Listings Tony Fallon with Tony Fallon Architecture noted that he went before the Berwick Planning Board with regards to possible new uses for the former Catholic Church behind Kennebunk Savings Bank and was pleased to find out that, as long as the footprint wasn’t changed dramatically, developers could go before the Planning Board with informal site sketches as opposed to full blown civil engineering drawings as long as the footprint didn’t change much.  They are also very much in favor of and eager to work with reuse of this property that is a central player in their vision for Downtown Berwick.  Tony also says to remember the Vets at Starting Home!  http://vethousecc.orgMarie Bodi with CP Management serves sweetly as a Third Party Manager in New Hampshire, Maine, Vermont, and Rhode Island.  Marie also passed on Russ Doyle’s listing of 32,000 sf of space at Two International Drive, the sister building to where we meet.  This is going for 16 dollars psf  NNN with the nets totaling $7.35.  Russ would like to show this often, frequently, lots, and daily.  Bring them on in!Pat McDermott with Hinkley Allen serves up full service business law with specialties in construction and real estate.  John Sokul Jr. and Ron Ciotti are some of their resources you might know.Maxine Kenny with Colliers has the listing for the former Hostess distribution center in Rochester on Hancock Street.  These 10,000 sf on 2/3 of an acre have exposure on Route 125 and is yours for the delightful deal of 350 thousand dollars.  This would make good flex space.Bill Jean with Fulcrum Associateshopes to help you early on with pro forma and budgets and is ready to build things in the 500 thousand dollar to 35 million dollar range. Ken Berry with Berry Engineering joined the praising of the approval process in Dover, New Hampshire.  They worked with David Choate on the Formax site on 6th Street in December and the building was breaking ground by May 1st.  It is unbelievably good in Dover with regards to cooperation in gaining planning and zoning approvals so says Ken among many around the table. Ben Baroody with Elm Grove Realty noted that old people are people too!  Ben has 17 Domain Avenue in Nashua going for $4.50 psf for 71,000 sf.  This is a couple of minutes to the Everett Turnpike and is a two year sub-lease.  The owner is happy to right away start talking about switching this to a longer term lease in this beautiful building right near the highway. Tom House with THA Architects is on the Stratham Planning Board and is vice president of The Workforce Housing Coalition.  Tom is working on Seabrook Crossing and there are a couple of spaces still to be leased.  Tom also was kind enough to share the below for Ralph Pope.Ralph Pope with CBC has a former tanning salon in Somersworth going for 159 thousand dollars. Susan Miltner with Seacoast Business Machinesmade it clear that they are into the cloud and that you can save some time and money by basing your resources in the offsite puffy.  They can help with the integration and offer free initial consults.Jim Schwartz with Jewett Construction has a steel crew that puts up steel frames along with pre-engineered metal buildings.  Last year they built more than 250,000 sf.Robert Cruess with TF Moran floated around details of the Pratt and Whitney distribution center in Londonderry that is a 600,000 sf, 14 acre building for which they did a host of engineering.  TF Moran did the Civil, Structural, Traffic, and Road Engineering along with the Landscape Architecture in three months time.  Speaking of municipality maneuvers, this project came to life partly by a deal being struck on the extension of Pettingill Road.  The town had been trying to get previous developers to extend the entire distance between Interstate 93 and the Everett Turnpike.  With this project, they allowed the developer to just do the portion of the road in front of their project in an incremental manner.Adam Johnston with Saint Mary’s Bank is happy to help young families with lots of kids and homes and do so quickly and comfortably.  If you have someone on the bubble of working or not working, give Adam a call. Sean Fitzgerald with Granite State Development is facile with SBA 504 which is great for owner occupants, large capital, or equity situations and can be fixed for 20 years and obtained for as little as 10% down.John Konevich with Alliance Capital Funding has a client with a fully approved 9 home subdivision in Laconia near Lake Opechee that seeks an equity partner to obtain financing and build one or two model homes or to sell the approvals and land.Al Silva with Silva Graphics has helped construction companies with project signs.Don Marshall with Marshall Associates is a proud member of the Rockingham County Planning Commission.  Don shared the story of a real estate agent who referred him to a country store that was for sale.  When they had gone in to do both the listing for the residence and the business, the owners tossed her out.  When she came back in with Don, they welcomed her and gained a 7500 dollar referral fee from Don.  Give Don a call the first time and avoid getting bounced out on your ear.  Don is leading a NHCIBOR 2 hour class about how to sell a business coming up soon.Ray Dugdale with Optima Bank is a commercial lender not just for real estate but for purchasing businesses and equipment too along with operating capital in the form of lines of credit.  Ray has a small manufacturer looking to buy or build 6 to 8 thousand sf of space and he is going to set him up with money for the building, equipment, and lines of credit in a full service manner with competitive rates to boot.Rick Mulvee with Tower Realty Group has some unique buildings in downtown Manchester that have quite a bit of parking that go with them.  There are 3,000, 4,000, and 5,000 units as well as others up to 22,000 sf in one of the buildings, all downtown and all with lots and lots and lots of parking.Danielle Lape with King Real Estate highlighted two offerings.  210 West Road has 2500 sf of office space with two private offices and two baths going for $6.50 psf NNN with $3.18 nets.  Also Danielle mentioned 177 Shattuck Way where she has 3800 sf and 2600 sf available and could let these go for $13.50 psf NNN with $3.50 nets. Vince Chestnut with Alpha Locksmith can install locks on box stores and security too. Butch Ricci with DeStefano Associates also talked up Dover with regards to cooperation in the planning and zoning approval process.  Butch says that Dover is the best by a long shot. Peter Gluckler with Masiello Better Homes and Garden Real Estate has 2 parcels that are halfway between the Kittery Mall and When Pigs Fly Bread.  They are vehicle related and have no buried oil tanks from what he has unearthed so far.  There are 5 buildings extant with 3 of them being for auto repair.  There is also an 18 unit storage building and a residence.  The total rents for the property are currently $85,000 per year.  These are next to a restaurant, across from the Pine Tree Mall, and near the Kittery Mall.  There would probably need to be a variance gained for change of use proposals.Sean Grady with Prudential Financial serves up offerings for individual business owners and individuals in the investment and insurance arenas.  Sean is himself an income property owner, developer, and manager and so can speak fluently with other developers, property managers, and owners so as to assist them with their investing and insurance needs optimally.Art Bonin with A R Bonin Companies let us know about a small deal in bustling Brentwood.  On Route 125, Art has 2.5 acres with two buildings in the Commercial Zone near the new Fire Station.  The home is 2,500 sf and the small commercial building is 3,000 sf.  Buy them both while they are still available for 539 thousand dollars.  There is owner financing to sweetly sweeten the sweet deal.  Also, Art has 67,000 sf available on 5 acres with 1.5 adjoining acres separately available in Salem, New Hampshire on Route 28.  They are now starting to look at subdividing for leasing this facility with ceiling heights varying from 12 feet to 20 feet clear height.  The available units are 4,000 sf and up with a lease rate of $6.75 psf NNN with nets at $1.40. Charlie Ciovacco with TD Bank is a full service commercial lender who is happy to look at any buyers.  Charlie has served on a Zoning Board for six years and learned a lot in that service.  Charlie encouraged others to sign up and serve on boards.Jeff Brown with TD Bank again spoke about his unique background as a CPA and Comptroller.  He worked on a couple of development deals in that capacity including Hilton Towers Inn and lots of commercial properties.  Jeff can dodge the saying about that’s why they call them bankers and not business people because he was in the business trenches for many years and thinks in terms of spread sheets.  Jeff assures you that he will industriously assist. Bill Cormier with Hourihane Cormier Real Estate jangled the jingle bells and all listened as he told the tale of The Christmas Dove in Barrington, New Hampshire coming in for a repositioning.  The 17,000 sf building and 15 acres could all be available or perhaps portions of this.  The zoning is town center village center.  They are not really looking to sell the business and plan to keep operating.  There is even a railroad bed on site.  It will mostly have to be a commercial use, but there may be some residential too for elves and those of taller stature.Ute Luxem with Profile Bankadvocated for Durham and shared the efforts afoot to bring Durham to greater cooperation with development applicants. They met every Wednesday in January and are bringing in Mary Ellen Humphreys to help improve cooperation and build a better atmosphere for business.Dan Barufaldi with DBIDA noted that in the last 18 months there have been 90 new units of workforce housing in construction.  Dan also noted that Dover is one of the youngest cities in New Hampshire with a 10.4% growth rate in people under 18 years of age.  Dover is both the youngest and the fastest growing city in New Hampshire.Bob Viel with Remax Insight has a brand new listing that is 1258 sf of recent commercial renovation along with a barn.  The Town of Northwood has approved the property for retail and this has town water and an oversized septic system along with a three bedroom home.  These 1.97 acres with stunning beauty are going for the low, low price of $289,900. Nina Cutts with Institution for Savings lends for commercial real estate and other long term notes in the general Seacoast area. Dave Garvey with KW Commercial has a 12 unit in Sanford, Maine that has a $78,000 NOI, is in great shape, was recently rehabilitated, and has a solid rental history with no vacancies.Sam Kallmerten with Brixmor Property Group has the Seabrook plaza where Super Walmart has left.  Space they have along with Tony Fallon’s wife’s favorite place for a pedicure. Ken Lambert with Exterior Designshas a new office in Westbrook, Maine and so they are expanding into the Portland, Maine market.  Ken can help you with their services of metal studs, drywall, siding, EIFS, and synthetic stucco. Bob Marchewka with One Commercial has office space at 1 Hampton Road in Exeter where the former Rockingham Courthouse was.  Access Sports Medicine is going through some renovations at the entry to the building and there is some work going on around the parking lot.  11,000 sf will become available towards the end of the year and the area can be subdivided starting with 5,000 sf as the smallest block.David Choate with Colliers has a new listing of a 2,500 sf office/warehouse flex space that is going for $5.50 psf.  The office is about 600 sf.Haves and Wants Tony Fallon with Tony Fallon Architecture has a fellow volunteer at Waterville Valley Adaptive that was the lead designer for the largest Architectural firm in New Hampshire and has recently shifted to Banwell in Lebanon, New Hampshire.  Tony has arranged with Banwell and his friend to fish for work for them in this area for larger projects.  Tony says remember the Vets and Starting Home!  http://vethousecc.orgAndre Tremblay with Franklin Savings Bank is keeping his ear to the ground for three investors who all have the same type of request for their hunt.  The three are generally looking for 96 units and up although they will go down to 50 units anywhere in Southern New Hampshire.  Andre recently sent them a 120 unit deal in Laconia from a member of NHCIBOR who had the listing and it transacted quickly for a nice deal. John Konevich with Alliance Capital Funding has a client wishing to buy a 5.8 million dollar home in Hyannis 400 yards from the Kennedys.  The buyer is OK with paying into the double digits for interest.    John has not been able to find sources willing to lend to this picture and is reaching out to see if there are any other resources out there. Dan Barufaldi with DBIDA announced that Dover received a 5 page spread in an international business in focus magazine that circulates to 360,000 business executives. David Choate with Colliers has 8,600 sf at the former ThermoFisher Scientific property in Newington that is a stand alone with drive in door going for 5 dollars psf NNN and nets of 2 dollars.  This is not for sale and there was an ambulance company that backed out.  It is perfect for other drive in door users.Note From Tony Fallon Architecture: These Minutes are what I understand people to have said at this meeting. Please contact people referenced to verify and clarify.Next Meeting is 8:00 – 9:45 am Friday 15 August 2014 at One New Hampshire Avenue, Third Floor Conference Room Pease TradeportThe sponsor will be TF Moran