Statewide Marketing Session for July 2016
Submitted by Louise Norwood
The July Statewide Marketing Session was held on Wednesday, July 27, 2016 at the GMNBR headquarters/training center at 318 South River Road in Bedford. This month’s breakfast sponsor was Richard Charland of the Exchange Authority LLC located in Leominster, Massachusetts. The Exchange Authority, LLC is a leading expert in the practice of 1031 exchanges in all fifty states and the US Virgin Islands. With unparalleled service, security, experience and reports, they can provide this powerful tool for deferring capital gains taxes on all types of investment property. Their web site is www.exchangeauthority.com to view their full range of services and comprehensive information. We appreciate your support to the CIBOR community.
Suzanne Brunelle of Devine, Millimet and Branch has locations in Concord, Manchester and the Portsmouth marketplace. Suzanne discussed the new real estate transfer taxes guidelines and provided us with a handout explaining the various exceptions to this state real estate tax. The state is aggressive in collecting this tax and as there are some exceptions, it is important to clarify how real estate is being transferred especially between the relationship of the parties involved. Please defer your questions to Suzanne for her expert advice on this topic. Additionally, Suzanne is involved in zoning and planning projects and sits on the Londonderry Board. She also takes part in negotiating Purchase and Sales agreements, large litigation cases, wills and related documentation.
Doreen Austin of Optima Bank and Trust is fully immersed in commercial lending. She is always looking for good deals in the commercial real estate arena. If a buyer is short of funding, they can be creative in applying the economic development partnerships to participate, a 504 funding program or one of the many smaller funding channels now available. Doreen is always willing to avail herself to a potential buyer of the services Optima has to offer.
Steve Jones of Building Envelope Specialists is a leader in the industry. Their firm has the ability to evaluate the exterior of a building and ascertain the problems with the envelope as to its performance; what the R value factor is and its efficiency to make the proper decision as to whether to go forward with a purchase. They cover New Hampshire, Maine and Massachusetts. Steve’s firm can also assess a roof system – many times it is not the rubber membrane itself but problems may stem from a poor shim job or flashing application allowing water to seep in under the roof line. In order to prevent future issues, they will provide explicit directions with how to install a new roof system to avoid this problem in the future.
Andre Tremblay of Franklin Savings Bank practices throughout the New England area and offers a simple lending product to the consumer. Franklin can offer 20 to 25 year fully amortized financing and though prepaid penalties are part of the loan package, this can often be negotiated away. They are most flexible with their underwriting and as Andre pointed out, they offer a simple product. Andre then put on his CIBOR membership hat offering to those not yet members to simply join on line for guilt free benefits to belonging to this well thought of, professional trade organization.
Tad Dziemian of Neighborhood Energy is situated in Hampstead and is in the business of lowering energy costs both in the field of electricity as well as the gas supply side of the equation. Tad explained that he likes following the weather forecasters as this often determines the pricing of utilities for the year to come. The natural gas inventory is presently quite huge though as this winter is expected to be much colder the prices will spike over the months of January, February and March. Experts are recommending that the consumer lock in their gas and oil rates now to save over the long run. Tad works with a wide range of customers including residential, commercial and large industrial users though his sweet spot is working with commercial property owners. Some of the larger players in his portfolio are Farley White Holdings; E. Point Properties; Colliers’ Property Management i.e. R.J. Finlay. With this type of clientele Tad has earned credibility in the field of energy cost savings.
Don Marshall of Marshall Associates, who is a business brokerage expert, is marketing a pizza business with an annual income of a million dollars netting an annual income of $160,000 to $170,000. This thirty-seven year old established business owner will even throw in his homemade recipes. With a grandfathered 65 foot sign and the ability to add Sundays to the mix and beer licensing, additional income could be realized. Don sets himself apart from the others with professionalism and flawless follow up. Putting on his CIBOR hat, Don offered membership the opportunity to submit articles on any topic they felt timely and versed in whether it be educational, public affairs, legal or development. The articles would be part and parcel of the monthly CIBOR newsletter.
Rick Mulvee of Tower Realty has five potential buyers three of which recently missed out on a 10-20 million dollar investment package. Not wishing to disappoint, Rick is soliciting the help of membership to submit any listings that fit into that category anywhere in the State of New Hampshire. They will consider a mill portfolio or first class office complexes. These particular investors are not looking for the subject properties “to have hair on them”. Rick is also seeking out large hotel properties in New Hampshire up to $5,000,000 in scope – please no motels or smaller types.
Vincent Chestnut of Alpha Locksmith tells us that it is all about “key control”. An owner should have strong guidelines as to who is authorized to have a key – Vince can provide a policy guide as to how to keep control on the various property keys. Vince uses many types of tools and as he pointed out, a tarp is one that he always has handy to spread out and collect debris that he has created when changing out locks. He will always clean up after doing a job. Vince recited a recent break in in which only one door was jimmied but the safe which was not bolted down was stolen. The owner did not feel it necessary to change out all of the locks but Vince thinks otherwise once a property has been broken into all locks should be fully changed.
Dave Gambaccini of KW Commercial is licensed to practice in New Hampshire and Massachusetts. Dave said he has had numerous automotive requests and to that end has been working on a number of auto repair/used car dealerships in and around the Manchester area. The trend in the vicinity seems to be an uptick in auto sales with one of his newest listings being located at 320 Lincoln Street in Manchester with a sales price of $475,000 one of several he is currently handling in the Manchester area. He is working with several buyers, who though have much interest, wish to spend as little as possible.
Chris Pascucci of KW Commercial has two new property offerings one of which is situated on 1 Prospect Street in Nashua having many charming architectural features. Built in 1890 the property is a classic and an historic building in which to conduct business. In addition, Chris also has a standalone building located at 2 Kinsley Street in Nashua just across the street from Southern New Hampshire Regional Medical Center. Both properties are for lease and offer many fine features. Chris also made us aware of a 3,200 s.f. retail unit situated at Pine Island Plaza at 2626 Brown Avenue in Manchester. As the property was formerly a bank drive-through, the property lends itself to a take-out or like type retail business. Sounds like a hard to find commodity. Lastly, Chris is marketing a twenty-five acre parcel in Auburn that is purported to have 40,000 cubic yards of sand. Ideally located to truck the sand off site.
Jeff Lessard of NAI Norwood Group, Inc. is working with an investor who has the financial capability of spending from two million up to fifteen million for property tied to a 7% cap rate. Jeff went on to say that he will be putting on line in the next week or so a 6,000 s.f. standalone office building at 22 Eastman Avenue. With new siding, new energy efficient windows and newly paved parking lot, this condo building will be marketed on the order of $565,000. He went on to say that he recently took on a new listing located at 21 Commerce Park No. in Bedford – the property is an industrial flex building comprised of 18,877 s.f. ideally suited for a number of uses as it has a combination of office/warehouse/industrial space and is being marketed at $11.00 psf modified gross. A lower level space is being offered at a lease rate of $4.00 psf modified gross. Ideally suited for a classic brewery!
Rick Vandenberg of Weston and Sampson, an affiliate with CIBOR, attended the marketing meeting for the first time. Welcome, Rick. Weston and Sampson is an environmental engineering company and has recently settled into new offices on Perimeter Road in Manchester. Rick made the membership aware that through his dealings with Eversource in Hillsborough, he shared that they are interested in selling their building which is a high bay warehouse and office. As Rick has all of their contact information, he would be glad to share any information he has with you.
Joe Friedman of Brooks Properties is continually on the lookout for industrial and office properties along the Route 93 corridor for his employer. All will be considered and assessed for their investment portfolio. Joe has a wide variety of properties to lease from whole floor plates and smaller 2,500 s.f. suites up to an entire 50,000 s.f. building. Leasing rates range from $7.00 psf nnn up to $17.50 psf nnn. A lot of capacity to satisfy all office user tastes. Many of the surrounding development and better living experiences are the Rockingham Trail; proposed expansion of the Tuscan Kitchen and the resurgence of the Rockingham Track in Salem. Brooks Properties are also selling and repositioning a few of their in-house investments including 6 Manor Parkway in Salem – a 30,000 s.f. office building for $4,500,000 and a 96,000 s.f. building on 5 Branch Street in Methuen, Massachusetts (please speak to Joe in regards to the price). Lastly, Joe wished to remind membership of the Brookstone property with its finely appointed event center and all of its amenities which he exclusively represents.
Steve Scheiner of St. Mary’s Bank explained that they are first in the nation credit union with excellent credentials. Their lending business is primarily commercially real estate based with a variety of property types including multi family, office and industrial. Their lending budget is as low as $150,000 to several million dollars. In addition, Steve further elaborated that they can offer financing for construction projects.
Christine Burke of Burke Emergency Restoration deals with the cleanup of fire damage, water, smoke, odor, etc. and operates on a 24/7 basis. They practice in the York, Maine region, in New Hampshire and in Northern Massachusetts. Christine says that she prays for lousy weather as it is such a large factor in their business – cold and wet contributes to mold issues, burst pipes and a host of other weather related situations. She went on to explain that they have specialized meters that detect water behind the walls whereas they can send out the results to an approved environmental lab for testing prior to calling in the insurance adjuster. They will remove all contents prior to remediation. Many of the cases they have worked on are a Bingo hall removing cigarette nicotine and odor; medical waste; hoarding situations and more. They can provide free estimates and deal in a significant amount of commercial work. All of their technicians are certified – they further ask all past patrons to rank their services which is submitted directly to the insurance companies.
Adam Johnston of Optima Bank and Trust explained that their bank takes a common sense approach to banking. They will do their evaluation of the deal and price out accordingly. In assessing a potential transaction, they will keep their options open and try to work within the framework of the parties involved.
Dan Barufaldi of the Dover Economic Development explained that Dover is kicking off a new development initiative offering up one parcel that will support a 20,000 s.f. medical or office building with additional commercial endeavors that will include a high end retirement center, boutique stores, bank and of course a Dunkin’ Donuts. Dan went on to say that two major auto dealerships have undergone a 100% expansion. It would seem that the auto manufacturers are pushing the automotive retail world to completely retrofit their facilities. Dan passed out his Managers Report for July 2016 covering the Economy State of Affairs in the Dover region. Contact Dan if you would like a print out by e-mail. Lastly, Dan explained that Dover is implementing a multi-media campaign by the use of Facebook, Tweeter and their City web site with a running video of the most recent development activity.
Robert Cruess of TF Moran announced that their company will be hosting a CIBOR event from 5:00 to 7:00 on September 13th at the new Grand Hotel bar area at the Bedford Village Inn with tours to be conducted by owner Jack Carnevale . Robert went to explain that one of the services they offer are surveys but as of late they have had a high demand for many alta surveys as people wait to the last moment prior to closing to get their survey completed. Normally a survey needs lead time of three to four weeks. Please keep this in mind when getting all of the items together in preparation for a closing. Robert also let membership know that TF Moran will be hosting the annual Chamber of Commerce barbeque at their headquarters located at 48 Constitution Drive in Bedford on August 18th featuring a full array of food items from steak tips to hamburgers with an ice cream dessert.
Larry Hirsch of Hirsch & Company is marketing two units located at 444 East Industrial Park Drive in Manchester each having a tailboard loading door and one with a drive in door. The units are being priced at $6.25 psf NNN. Larry also has in his inventory a fine brick clad office building with a variety of office suites anywhere from 3,501 s.f. with two in the 6,000 s.f. range. The property is nicely situated at Exit 11 between Manchester and Nashua and is priced at $9.95 psf plus utilities and janitorial. The landlord will do a good job in accommodating a fit up for your client.
Deana Theriault of NAI Norwood Group, Inc. presented a 1,362 s.f. condo at 109 Ponemah Road at Spruce Park in Amherst which is fully leased and is being marketed for sale at a sales price of $124,900. Deanna also announced one of her new multifamily listings comprised of six units – (3) three bedroom units and (3) two bedroom units. With only one vacancy, great parking and attractively maintained, the price tag of $379,000 seems to be right on the mark.
John Turner of Team Engineering provides due diligence services for any size client. None are too small or too large for their “team” to tackle. Team Engineering is involved in a year’s span up to 1,000 projects so they remain busy and have much repeat business. John wanted all members to be aware that he has been working with a cash buyer who has a half million dollar pocketbook seeking multi-families. John is still actively interested in relocating his headquarters in Goffstown into Bedford and though he has had preference to stay on the South River Road side of the commercial strip, he would also consider properties to purchase on the Route 101 corridor.
Bill Jean represents a full service construction firm namely Fulcrum Associates Inc. They prefer to become involved early on in the process from the ground up providing a detailed performa and outline a budget to spell out all the costs of the project. Some of the assignments Fulcrum is currently working on is a 50,000 s.f. office and Residence Inn at Pease in Portsmouth doing all of their common area space and hopefully moving on to refurbishing their hotel lodgings. And also in Portsmouth Fulcrum is working on a major project for Southern New Hampshire Medical; additionally a small tenant fit up for Siemen’s Corporation; and a 228 unit project in Nashua. As for Bill’s heavy involvement in CIBOR, he announced that the third quarterly “affiliate’s” meeting will be held at the Seacoast on September 23rd. The course has three credits pending with the NH Real Estate Commission and the subject matter will be Code Analysis. Following up to that meeting Paul Alfano, Esq. will be speaking at a PDS on Friday, October 28th. Please consult the newsletter for all of the course updates.
Lynne Bagby of Asset Preservation, Inc. is involved with 1031 exchanges and explained to the membership that she can assist in the case of a sale/lease back situation and in particular if the party is expanding to property adjacent to the existing property in question. She also went on to explain that when 1031’s come into play to be sure that you are dealing with a qualified exchange practitioner as the industry is not regulated and there are many individuals who dabble in the program but are far from expert in the field. As there are typically large sums of money involved, you want to make sure you know who you are working with and that the transaction stays whole.
Jay Lee of NAI Norwood Group, Inc. gave kudos to Larry Hirsch of Hirsch & Company for referring a customer over to him. It gives credence to the fact that the commercial real estate brokerage community works well and co-operatively though we are competitors in the marketplace. Jay is high on a listing he has been working on in Amherst located at 46 Route 101-A. This attractive 3,778 s.f. office building can be split into two distinct tenancies i.e. 1,233 s.f. on the lower level and 2,545 s.f. on the upper levels. Lease rates range from $12.00 psf nnn for the upper and $11.00 psf nnn for the lower – with 27,000 cars per day for maximum exposure and with a large, attention getting signage this property makes for a great offering for the right user.
Robert Charland of Exchange Authority LLC generously provided a great breakfast of delicious pastries and coffee. We are most appreciative and as this was Robert’s first time, we extend a warm welcome and with the hope that he continues to attend our sessions in the future. Bob explained that the 1031 exchange vehicle defers the capital gain tax and that his practice stretches over the entire United States. The fee for his services is a flat rate of $1,800; however, for a more complicated version of an exchange namely “a reverse exchange” the fee would be $6,000. As part of the package, Bob handles all of the phone calls; creates detailed reports and can provide power point presentations to would be Exchange candidates or to members of CIBOR either in an educational venue or individual office settings. Though the institution of 1031 exchanges are presently in jeopardy, Bob feels that at least for the current time frame (being an election year) it will not surface again until the new administration comes into office. The threat at this time seems to be a ceiling of $1,000,000 in any exchange which would seriously diminish what a 1031 exchange was created for in the first place. It would seem that the preservation of this key tax saving will follow party lines.
Louise Norwood of NAI Norwood Group, Inc. pitched a listing for Pam Lynch namely a two story 2,496 s.f. office building in Nashua that has just been reduced to $199,000. A good value with six parking spaces and municipal water and sewer. In addition there are only three offices available at this time at Coldstream Office Park which can be leased on an individual basis or as a three room suite. All rooms are nicely appointed in a professional office environment. Also, filling in for Matt Bacon, Louise announced his new listing at 22 Garland Street in Hampstead just off Route 111. This magnificent event center is housed in a 36,000 s.f. building and is being marketed at a price of $2,699,000. Lastly, NAI Norwood Group hosted a joint open house this past week marketing six of their property listings all located along the Route 101 corridor in Bedford. To elaborate on the growth of this major highway feed, Rick Sawyer, Bedford Town Manager gave an informative power point presentation discussing the growth and expansion of Route 101. The event was well attended by local commercial brokers and other individuals with related businesses and state officials. A pdf of the power point presentation can be sent to any of you that are interested in receiving same.
Many thanks for all of you who participated in our monthly session. With the oppressive heat and vacations in full swing we were delighted to see so many participants. As an FYI our current meeting location will soon be transferred to another training facility in Bedford – we will give you the heads up once the location has been agreed to and what date the change will be made. Thank you for your patience during this transition period.
Enjoy the rest of the summer – August is a great summer month hopefully with glorious weather. See you on the 4th Wednesday of August.