“New” development north of Broad on Staples Mill
Posted: December 19, 2011 | Author: Nathan Hughes | Filed under: Commercial Leasing, Henrico County, Multi-family Housing, New Development, Office Buildings, Redevelopment, Residential, Retail | Tags: commercial real estate, Henrico County, real estate development, Redevelopment, Richmond, Virginia | Leave a comment »About once a month I get a question about the large, vacant property that borders Staples Mill Road that is just north of West Broad Street, right over the Henrico Count line. My answer is always that it was an old, rundown neighborhood that was purchased and cleared with the intention of rebuilding, and that the developer is the same group that is doing the project at Monument Avenue and Willow Lawn Drive – Gumenick Properties. As to why it hasn’t been started, well just look around at new building all around the country. The developer was obviously waiting until the economy turns around.
But, I always have to give that answer with the caveat that the last official word I had heard about it was a few years ago. I couldn’t even be sure that the same plans were in place. Thankfully I can point to this article on Richmond.com that gives us the lowdown on the current situation — which is pretty much as described as above. It sounds as though things are just on hold, but the same big plans are still on the books. In fact, this project is expected to take 10 years even once they finally get underway.
You need to go read the article to see all of the reported details, but I thought I would share a couple of details of the plans here:
What: Staples Mill Centre, proposed to include 1,096 apartments, 571 condominiums, 391 townhouses, 32 single-family homes, 60,000 square feet of offices, and 100,000 square feet of stores.
Where: About 80 acres between Staples Mill Road, Libbie Avenue and Bethlehem Road, near Interstate 64.
Small rental property owners breathe a sigh of relief
Posted: April 13, 2011 | Author: Nathan Hughes | Filed under: Commercial Leasing, Government Institutions, Investing, Multi-family Housing, National News, Office Buildings, Residential, Retail | Tags: Bandazian & Holden, business environment, commercial real estate, government, legal, property management, real estate development | Leave a comment »There is always a lot of new legislation passed every year that sounds like a good idea at the time and generally goes unnoticed, and every once in a while the consequences of that legislation become horrifyingly apparent afterwards.
This past year, the legislation that was causing so much heartburn for small property owners was a new IRS requirement that anyone with rental property file a 1099 for any repairs that add up to $600+ over the course of the year. (see my post about it here, from December 2010)
Good news — the provision was repealed before it could take effect!! (here is the actual legislation that was passed to repeal the IRS provision, in case you would like to read it)
Hats off to the Realtor community for standing against this for the good of the mom-and-pop investors, who are the ones would be most affected by those proposed requirements — and for Realtor Magazine’s blog for bringing the repeal to my attention. From their description of how everything unfolded, it seems as though everyone understood that this was good to do:
When the provision was included in the small business bill, REALTORS® were among the first and firmest opponents of it, helping to ensure that Congress understood the provision was an example of over-reach that was never intended to burden mom and pop property owners. Members of Congress and President Obama got the message and, in a rare example of agreement between not only Republicans, Democrats, and independents, but also between House and Senate chambers and between the legislative and executive branches, lawmakers agreed the provision needed to come out.
Nice to know that we don’t have this provision coming up to haunt us over the next few years, isn’t it?
Redevelopment plans for Carytown get nod from Museum District
Posted: February 6, 2011 | Author: Nathan Hughes | Filed under: City of Richmond, Commercial Leasing, Government Institutions, Investing, New Urbanism, Redevelopment, Retail, Shopping Centers, Transportation | Tags: business environment, business owners, commercial real estate, downtown Richmond, government, real estate development, Redevelopment, Richmond, Virginia, walkability | 2 Comments »The redevelopment of the old Verizon building at 10 N. Nansemond Street has been hotly debated and contested. (see: the official site for the Carytown Place; Don’t Big Box Carytown‘s website; & this post and the accompanying comment thread on Caramelized Opinions for a good summary & feel of the debate)
The Museum District Association had originally ruled to oppose the redevelopment based on the original plans, but Friday they sent out a press release announcing the reversal of that position. The gist of the situation can be summed up from this one paragraph in the press release:
The Board voted 13-1 in November to oppose the original SUP and subsequently provided the applicant with detailed requests for further changes to make it more amenable to the neighborhood. The applicant responded by altering the SUP to remove vehicular ingress/egress on Nansemond Street as well as reduce the number of available uses of the property to 10 uses. The applicant also agreed to limit the usable floor space of any one tenant to no more than 25,000 square feet, ensuring there would be multiple tenants in the building and ruling out a single, larger “big box” tenant.
The whole press release can be read here on the MDA’s website (right now it’s at the top, but it will shift down the page as new releases are issued).
What do you think? Are you satisfied with the MDA’s ruling, or are the changes in the plan not enough for you? In that case, what changes would be enough to get your support for the development?
Retail Real Estate Market: 2010 vs. 2011
Posted: January 10, 2011 | Author: Nathan Hughes | Filed under: Retail, Shopping Centers | Tags: business environment, commercial real estate, real estate development, retail business, retail real estate | Leave a comment »Retail real estate has gone through a lot over the past year and will continue to evolve over the upcoming year. I can say from anecdotal experience in our office and from what I’ve heard from other colleagues in the business that the last half of 2010 was very busy, with the level of activity only set to increase going forward.
Retail Traffic is a great resource for information on the retail real estate market and I always enjoy seeing a new issue come out. If you don’t want to miss anything, I would suggest you watch it closely too. Of course, if I see anything particularly interesting, I will be sure to pass it along here. For example…..
Their “Retail Real Estate’s 2010 in Review” is a comprehensive review of the biggest stories in retail real estate over the course of the past year.
And even more important, “What Will 2011 Bring?” (which links to a few other very informative pieces)
Important! New IRS requirements for all landlords
Posted: December 6, 2010 | Author: Nathan Hughes | Filed under: Commercial Leasing, Government Institutions, Investing, Multi-family Housing, National News, Office Buildings, Retail, Shopping Centers | Tags: business environment, commercial real estate, government, IRS, legal, property management, taxes | 1 Comment »
Anyone receiving rental payments from either residential or commercial properties will need to review the newly-enacted small business legislation called HR5297 with their accountant and how it expands 1099 reporting requirements.
Currently, only real estate professionals that engage in property management services have to use 1099 forms to report any service provider that they pay more than $600 in a given tax year.
The changes will be enacted over the next two years as follows (details from the NAR Issue Brief released recently — can be found online here or hosted on my site here):
2011 Rule: ALL persons who receive rental payments must provide Form 1099. This affects ALL owners (both individuals and businesses) of rental properties, both residential and commercial. Thus, “mom and pop” investors and those who invest in real estate for their personal portfolios are subject to the new reporting requirement. Only aggregate annual payments of $600 or more for services (but not goods) must be reported.
2012 Rule: All businesses, including real estate businesses, self-employed individuals and independent contractors will be required to make a 1099 report of any aggregate annual payment of $600 or more to any person from whom they acquired goods and services.
Please keep in mind that I am not an accountant, so before you act on any of this information (or panic. or dismiss.) please consult with your accounting/tax professional. But when I saw this come across my desk, I thought it was important that you are aware of these new rules!
(*Warning! Sales pitch!*) And, by the way, here at Bandazian & Holden, we have dealt with these reporting requirements from when they were first enacted for real estate professionals in the property management field, and we are accustomed to handling the necessary paperwork for our clients. If you don’t feel like dealing with it on your own, let me know and come on board with us. (*End of warning. Enjoy your day!*)
Business is getting better, Richmond
Posted: October 18, 2010 | Author: Nathan Hughes | Filed under: B&H News, City of Richmond, Commercial Leasing, National News, Restaurants, Retail | Tags: Bandazian & Holden, business environment, business owners, commercial real estate | 6 Comments »Business is booming! Relatively speaking, at least, the economy is buzzing along. Things certainly aren’t where they used to be, but they are getting better. Running a small business is tough, no doubt about it — but it’s always tough.
One of the first questions I hear is “how is business” — and the answer lately has been that business is great! The business I’m in (commercial real estate and business brokering) is busier than it has been in the past couple of years. I can’t speak for the entire industry, but our small piece has been rolling along quite briskly. The period between the 4th of July and Labor Day weekend is usually dead for us, except for the residential leasing, but this year defied past trends and was the busiest we’ve had in a long time.
As I’ve said in the past, I’m a small business. I’m not Coca-Cola or Dow Chemical. I don’t need the whole economy to be in a bubble to be doing well. I just need to do well with and by my clients and customers to be rewarded. Conversely, I don’t need the whole economy to be in recession for my business to be spiraling downward, either.
It’s not just our business at Bandazian & Holden that has been on the upswing lately. I’ve been hearing from more and more friends that their businesses are doing the same thing, and that brings me great hope for everyone.
Don’t take my word for it, though. The news outlets are tapping into the data and things are starting to spring back (or at least stop going down) all over:
From Nation’s Restaurant News: Atlanta’s restaurants seeing better days
Operators in the city pointed to an increase in private parties and convention business, which they expect to continue as the holiday season nears. And while diners remain value-conscious, some restaurateurs reported that increased drink and appetizer orders are giving check averages a boost.
U.S. retail sales rose for a third consecutive month in September, posting a stronger-than-expected increase that should fend off fears of a double-dip recession but doesn’t signal a strong recovery.
For the second quarter, area sales totaled $2.59 billion compared to $2.64 billion in the second quarter of 2009. The decrease of 1.89 percent is the smallest quarter to quarter change since BizSense began analyzing taxable sales data at the end of 2008—a sign that the slowdown may be flattening out.…Restaurants and bars are also doing a little bit better, growing sales by more than 6 percent in the second quarter. That is a big change from the 1 percent to 2 percent decrease reported for previous quarters.
What has changed? I don’t know. Maybe people are tired of being scared and sitting on the sidelines, waiting for more bad news. What I do know is that we got ourselves into this mess, and it’s up to us to dig our way out — everyone working on their small piece of the hole. There is plenty of money to be made in good times and bad times, trick is that the people have to earn their money in the “bad times”. Let’s keep making this work!
What do you think? Have you seen business improving in your corner of the world?
Richmond’s next frontier?
Posted: September 23, 2010 | Author: Nathan Hughes | Filed under: City of Richmond, Redevelopment, Retail | Tags: business environment, business owners, commercial real estate, Redevelopment, Richmond | 1 Comment »Style Weekly has an interesting article this week about a part of Richmond that has been largely ignored, Northside’s Brookland Park Boulevard. There is a lot of great information in the article, so be sure to go here and read the whole thing, but I felt like this part in particular was a great summary of the past and present of this area:
Brookland Park Boulevard was a bustling commercial corridor in the 1950s and ’60s, with popular bakeries, restaurants, a theater and a nightclub. And today, despite the many vacant buildings, several businesses still do a thriving trade.
On Saturdays, the area’s many beauty and barber shops are packed. Soul food restaurant Sam’s Kitchen is doing well, Epps says, as is his brother’s newly opened restaurant, River City Seafood. The cheerful yellow Michaela’s Bakery, which opened in 2005, sells six-layer cakes and strawberry shortcakes wholesale. Owner Michael Hatcher wishes the city would think of some way to bring more customers in — something historic, he says, or a tourist attraction. Another longtime business owner, florist Sylvia Richardson, says loiterers are the biggest deterrent to business. She says she doesn’t feel comfortable even walking to the convenience store across the street.
The one thing on which the merchants agree is that Brookland Park Boulevard has potential. Car traffic is plentiful, because the boulevard connects the city’s North Side and East End, and the area is served by two bus lines. The street has some architectural gems, such as an old theater and an ornate bank building. Richmond Community High School, a school for the gifted, moved onto the boulevard in 2009. Young people are buying up houses in nearby neighborhoods.
Brookland Park Boulevard reminds me a lot of other Richmond gems like East Grace Street near the Carpenter Center and Manchester’s Hull Street. A rich history, a questionable present, and a lot of enthusiasm and support to make the area a thriving community.
For another great write-up on the area, take a look at this very thorough post on This Decrepit Victorian from March 2010: The Brookland Park Historic District.
What’s next for Brookland Park, I wonder?
Official recommendations on the privatization of ABC stores
Posted: September 8, 2010 | Author: Nathan Hughes | Filed under: Government Institutions, Restaurants, Retail | Tags: ABC law, business environment, business owners, commercial real estate, government, legal, McDonnell, Restaurants, Virginia | Leave a comment »Virginia Governor, Bob McDonnell, has been getting a lot of news coverage lately over his push to privatize ABC stores statewide: RTD from 9/3/10, NBC12 from 8/19/10, Hburgnews.com from 8/26/10, Style Weekly from 6/29/10.
This proposal still has a ways to go and many levels of bureaucracy to push through before it becomes reality, but McDonnell ‘s senior staff members have been studying the issue to make recommendations. Here are their official findings (the full version), which were released today. You can find the presentations that were made through this link. (although it doesn’t look like it will stay the top story but for so long)
I pulled out a number of points from the press release that I found to be the most intriguing:
- 1,000 retail licenses will be auctioned off to the highest bidders
- The licenses will be broken into three categories: 600 licenses for large establishments such as grocery stores; 150 for smaller establishments such as package stores and wine and beer shops; 250 for convenience stores/retail pharmacies
- No one company will be allowed more than 25% of licenses within each level
- 1,000 licenses will still give Virginia 1.8 outlets per 10,000 adults, far below the private state average of 3.8 per 10,000 adults
- Majority of new license holders will be existing stores; Virginians will primarily see new shelves in retail establishments, not new establishments.
- 332 licenses will be guaranteed for areas currently served by an existing ABC outlet
- The additional 668 licenses will be granted based on population density
- The wholesale side will also be privatized, allowing the Commonwealth to completely focus on law enforcement and regulation of distilled spirits
- There is no tax increase in the privatization proposal
- The Commonwealth will also make an additional $33 million on the sale of the ABC warehouse in Richmond and 19 state owned outlets
- The number of ABC enforcement agents will be increased by 25%
- The Commonwealth, through the ABC board, will maintain health, safety, law enforcement and marketing regulatory authority over private distilled spirit sales and distribution
Also, the point that has been making the most buzz lately is the idea of a 4% tax on the gross liquor receipts for restaurant operators. That seems to have been taken out of the recommendations (given the 9th bullet point listed above), unless it’s a matter of semantics and they’ve buried it by not calling it a tax. I didn’t have time to go through, but I’m sure there will be lots of other people combing through the details of this proposal word for word.
Another point that is of particular interest to me is the sale of the ABC main warehouse. I wonder who will be listing that? *ahem* Mr. Governor, I’d be happy to take a look at it for you!
Should I wait to sign a lease, or is this as good as it gets?
Posted: July 9, 2010 | Author: Nathan Hughes | Filed under: Commercial Leasing, Office Buildings, Restaurants, Retail, Shopping Centers | Tags: business environment, business owners, commercial real estate | Leave a comment »Fear is a strong motivator, but so is hope. They’re especially strong when they come together. It’s a special moment when we’ve made it through an especially bad economic downturn and your business starts to tick upwards for the first time.
Commercial landlords have been through that hard time right along with every other business owner, and they are ready to see that uptick themselves. They are ready to deal to get in good steady tenants. At the same time, businesses are seeing new contracts come in (I know we have!) and they are ready to start taking advantage of the deals on leases — are you?
2217-2219 W Main Street
I’m certainly not the first to point this out, and I’m taking my cue from a recent online article on National Real Estate Investor — “Office Tenants and Landlords Battle for Upper Hand”
Landlord concession packages are not likely to get any bigger… “They’re as good as they’re going to get.” The same may be true with rents, he adds. “Rents may fall in some markets a bit further, but the ship starts to turn before a lot of people know they’re on it.”
Robert Bach, senior vice president and chief economist at Grubb & Ellis, agrees. “More tenants are active now and willing to sign a long-term lease because they are more confident in their own outlook and realize now is a good time because of the concessions available.”
They’re talking about office leases in the article, but it makes just as much sense with retail and restaurant spaces, too.
Of course you never know when the economy has hit bottom until it’s too late to take advantage of the best deals. The great part is that as long as you’re not making decisions out of fear, you can keep your eye on your own business and use cues from your business activity help you decide when is the best time to move.
So if you’re seeing cues that things are getting better in your business, perhaps it’s time we talk about finding a good deal now…?
Tips on leasing commercial space
Posted: April 26, 2010 | Author: Nathan Hughes | Filed under: General, Restaurants, Retail, Shopping Centers | Tags: Bandazian & Holden, business owners, commercial real estate, Entrepreneur Magazine | Leave a comment »If you’re looking for commercial space for your business, or think that you might ever be looking — read this article from Entrepreneur Magazine, “How to Negotiate a Lease“. It has lots of great information on what to expect and how the process works for finding a commercial space to lease. [please ignore all of the obnoxious advertising that Entrepreneur Magazine is so horrible about, the article is worth suffering through the ads]
Be educated about the process and do your homework, but don’t let your ego get in the way and think that you can do this on your own. As the article mentions, be sure to use a commercial broker to find and negotiate the space with you, and use an attorney to review the lease documents.
There are things that you won’t know that you’re missing, no matter how savvy of a tenant you are — and those things that you missed will become painfully obvious the moment you reference your lease regarding a contentious issue 2 years from now, or the moment you hear about the space that wasn’t officially “on the market” but was half the price and better positioned than the space you chose.