Ed Redlich welcomes Copart USA to the Homestead Rotary’s Seafood Festival!

March 4, 2020

RE: Copart USA Offers Great Opportunity for the City of Homestead to Show the Business Community They Are Open For Business

Residents of Homestead,

I would like to thank the Honorable Mayor and Council Members for their diligence in the consideration of the Copart USA application for their proposed outside storage use for 98 acres in the Homestead Park of Commerce. Last year, Copart USA (a S&P 500 Company) retained me to identify and acquire +/- 100 acres in South Dade for a Catastrophe Response Site to temporarily store vehicles that sustain damage from natural disasters.

As many of you may know, I was “Redland raised” for 20+ years, graduating from South Dade High School in 1991. I volunteered with The Homestead Vision Council for over a decade and had the honor of serving as the Chairman of the Board from 2006-08. Presently I am a Trustee with the South Dade Chamber of Commerce. For over 25 years, I have worked in the commercial real estate profession in South Florida. Throughout my career, I’ve sold hundreds of acres of land and assisted my clients in creating hundreds of jobs in this community. My passion and my focus is South Dade.

I have a long history with the Homestead Park of Commerce. I remember Rockefeller Group, A&H Commerce, and GBX Homestead… all of whom failed to successfully develop the same subject property. I believed so strongly in the “vision” of Homestead that I personally acquired 15 acres in the Park of Commerce in 2007.  Unlike many other developers during that period, I survived. In 2016, after almost a decade of fighting to keep the property and extensively marketing the site, I was finally able to successfully recruit Dunham Bush Air Conditioning to acquire my site. None of this was easy.

According to a study by ComReal, there are approximately 344 acres within the southeast area of Homestead available for industrial development. Of the 98 acre subject site, only 38 acres are currently developable of which the maximum number of jobs could only ever be 5-10 per acre (not 50). The remaining acres include 60 acres of federal wetlands. With its investment in the Homestead Park of Commerce, Copart will absorb only about 10% of the available inventory for industrial development. Still leaving plenty of room for more businesses and job creation to come to our community!

Given my history and experience, I know that this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for this site for several main reasons: 1) Copart plans to make a $50M investment into a site that has been abandoned for 30+ years, 2) Copart’s use is harmonious with and is a non-encroachment of the flight path of the U.S. Air Force Base, which lessens the risk of a major PUBLIC SAFETY ISSUE and protects South Dade’s largest economic engine, and 3) Copart’s use represents nearly $300,000 in annual ad valorem property taxes that will directly benefit the City.

This project is truly a win-win-win-win! A win for the U.S. Air Force Base, a win for the ownership, a win for Copart USA and a win for the City and its residents!

We finally have a real solution on the table for a long vacant site with quite a history. Now is the time for all parties that have South Dade’s best interests at heart to send a positive message to the South Florida business community and beyond that “Homestead is open for business”. Let’s approve this use. Let’s welcome Copart USA to the Homestead Park of Commerce. Then let’s all work together to go recruit more businesses to Homestead!

Edward Redlich

Edward Redlich, SIOR, CCIM

ComReal

51 Merrick Way, Coral Gables, FL 33133

This photo was taken in a new empty warehouse in South Florida Logistics Center. Redlich’s team has repped six (6) clients here totaling over 350,000 sq. ft.; more than any other brokerage firm.

So how exactly does doing deals equal to doing more deals? You’ve probably heard of the saying “90% of your business comes from 10% of your customers”. The concept of “deals = more deals” is similar, but it goes much deeper than this.

Our team finds that upon successfully completing a deal we have always learned more. The experience we have earned during the transactions then better assists us on future transactions. We may learn how to restructure a deal or how to handle a certain personality type just as a couple of examples. In other words, every deal makes us better prepared for the next one and serving our client’s needs.

Another way that “deals = more deals” is that we often form relationships with the parties involved. And it is not just the tenant and landlord, or buyer and seller; but, it is also the attorneys, the lenders and all of the other service providers that we meet along the way. These relationships then lead to more opportunities in the future because we have built trust and confidence with each other. We both know with certainty that we can each do our jobs professionally then get deals closed.

Here is an example of a series of deals that prove my concept that deals do indeed lead to more deals. In 2004, my father and I sold the 25,000 sq. ft. building located at 9590 NW 25^th Street in Doral for $2,050,000. An appraiser called me afterward to get a better understanding of the transaction and ask me more questions about the market in general. At the end of the call I asked her what other property she was working on. She stated that she was doing an evaluation for the State Farm Insurance building located nearby at 8825 NW 21^st Terrace because they were about to put the property on-the-market to sell. So I immediately contacted State Farm directly and sure enough they were ready to sell. Our team swiftly brought over one of our customers, United Data Technologies (UDT), who we had also sold some land on 25^th Street to a couple of years prior. They quickly placed it under contract then closed in June 2005 for $2,300,000 before it even was ever placed on-the-market. It was a win-win for both parties.

The neighbor who was in the aviation industry at 8875 NW 23^rd Street was so impressed with our performance that they called me to sell their property. In December 2006, we sold their property for $2,300,000. We did right by our client and years later in 2014 they contacted us again to represent them in their lease acquisition. After preparing a comprehensive market study we then leased them a 37,500 sq. ft. warehouse space in the Miramar Park of Commerce; the lease value was appx. $2,000,000.

Now do you remember that deal that we did in 2004? The owner called us to list and sell her property again. In September of 2011, we sold it for a second time for $2,550,000.

This is just one series of deals that totaled over $10,000,000. The one original deal of $2,000,000 lead to over $10,000,000 worth of deals… and counting. Every deal is a learning opportunity that will increase your deal-making success rate in the future. However, the more important moral of the story to this is that if you treat your clients right, they will keep returning and doing more deals with you. Hopefully, they will introduce you to their friends as well.

“Deals = more deals”. – Edward Redlich

CLICK HERE TO READ THE FULL ARTICLE FROM MIAMI TODAY >>>

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In case you missed our prior report, you may click this link for ComReal’s Miami Industrial Real Estate Market Report for the 1st Quarter of 2015. >>>

Americas’ Gateway Park Building Sold for $10M!!!

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What You Should Know About Renewal Rates by Chris Spear:

Renewal lease rates are skyrocketing and companies are experiencing sticker shock as they receive renewal proposals from their landlords. Five years ago, the market had bottomed. Leases involved many months of free rent, low rental rates, and an abundance of tenant improvement dollars. Today, those same companies face the reality that they may have to pay 20-25% over their current rental payment. So where does this leave you, the tenant? To discover how you can best approach your landlord to discuss a renewal, finish reading here: Renewal Rates & What You Should Know. >>>

Miami Warehouses Leased in 2nd Quarter 2015 (partial list):

Miami Warehouses Sold in 2nd Quarter 2015 (partial list):

Florida Perishables Industry Opposes APHIS Fees:

In collaboration with Port Miami and other stakeholders, ComReal Miami stated it’s opposition to the USDA/APHIS
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Ed Redlich 20 years Anniversary !!!

Panamanian American Chamber of Commerce

ComReal is pleased to announce that it has renewed it’s membership with the Panamanian-American Chamber of Commerce at the level. In addition, Ed Redlich is planning another trade mission this year to Panama City to tour the Panama Canal and other business opportunities. For more information, please visit the Panamanian American Chamber of Commerce at www.paccmiami.com.