In April 22-25, I attended the 2015 Spring World Conference in Scottsdale, Arizona. The event was hosted by the SOCIETY OF INDUSTRIAL AND OFFICE REALTORS®. As the 2014-2015 President for the Florida Chapter, this was a great opportunity to other SIOR’s and others involved in commercial real estate. SIOR’s meet every spring and fall at various locations nationwide. The meetings held during these conferences include educational programming, in addition to a variety of business and social opportunities. SIOR conferences are designed to help attendees connect, build relationships and facilitate business logistics with other SIOR’s, in addition to industry colleagues and exhibitors. In addition, Independent Florida SIOR’s, Bob Dikman and Ed Redlich, explored the McDowell Sonoran Preserve in Scottsdale, Arizona on a 10 miles hike after the Spring Conference. Below are a few photos from my trip…

October 29th to 31st – Edward Redlich, SIOR of Miami took the opportunity to attend the SIOR World Conference in Toronto, Ontario in Canada. Over 600 industrial and office real estate professionals attended the event. Mostly were real estate brokers, but also included developers, investors, institutions, lenders, architects, engineers, and more. The commercial real estate convention was held at the  Fairmont York Hotel. Personally, I am very pleased that this year’s convention was held in a city outside the United States; especially Toronto. It is an awesome city and I now have several Canadian customers including a flower distributor, logistics company and a stone importer/distributor. Toronto has over 8oo,ooo square feet of warehouse space. It is a primary logistics and distribution center for North America and has self-proclaimed itself as “Toronto: Gateway to North America and the Globe”. As such, there is plenty of access to rail lines, airport cargo, sea port and highways. Nearly 50% of the US population is within a day’s drive. Over 80 airlines operate at Pearson International Airport with over 80 international destinations. The population is about 5.5 million. Toronto reminds me of Chicago with it’s industrial warehouse market, city’s architecture, culture, international community, and more. However, it seems much safe, cleaner and the people are friendly. Next year’s convention will be held in Orlando, Florida. I’d like to see a SIOR convention held in Mexico in the near future.

Here is a brief summary of the highlights of the SIOR real estate convention primarily from my industrial real estate perspective. I would like to note that real estate markets around the world and the United States vary greatly of course. However, a common theme amongst the SIOR professionals at the World Conference is that warehouse activity in the USA remains low. Almost every market in the USA had no major activity from the 4th quarter of 2008 through 2nd quarter of 2009. There is hardly any specualtive industrial construction anywhere. The good news is that most industrial real estate markets started seeing activity in the past two quarters and some have reported more frequent transactions; both large and small. Rental and sale values along with occupancy rates are just recently appearing to stablize. SIOR’s are great at communicating with their clients and reading up on market trends. As such, it appears that most SIOR’s are optimistic about the future, however there is anticipation that we will have more economic and political challenges for the next couple years. We are listening to the economists and politicians speak, but are skeptical they will get it right. Our best course is to focus on our business and our customers. And as the theme of this conference states “when the going gets tough, the tough get going”.

“Helping your clients navigate the globe with SIOR”. Before and after this session, I had the opportunity to meet commercial real estate professionals from around the world from countries such as Canada, Ireland, England, Japan, England, Puerto Rico, Venezuela and Mexico. These connections will be of great benefit for myself and my customers. There was some discussion on Miami, Florida’s central role in the international business and real estate market. Miami is viewed as a major gateway into South and Central America and the Caribbean. Miami has the trade routes, businessmen, relationships and language capability for companies to reach Latin America via Miami. Interestingly, most deal flow for business decisions come from the United States; so referrals are going out of the U.S.A. It is much easier to obtain an office specialist than an industrial specialist amongst international real estate brokers. The reason is that there is more commissions in office brokerage hence more office experts. This point really stresses the point why it is important to select SIOR professionals around the world. My theory is that Florida will continue to receive good activity from real estate investors from the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Canada and others. This session of the convention, I learned how to protect my client relationships by being able to offer global services and contacts; understanding international issues like languages, cultures, currencies, time zones, referral standards, etc.; and highlights from other CRE professionals of other countries.

“Distribution and logistics: the client’s perspective”. This session was of value for an array of reasons and also stressed the importance of the broker / customer relationship and experience. Be sure to point  out the value added during the entire relationship.

* The broker must take a leadership role during the process and add value for the client. CRE brokers negotiate purchase contracts and lease agreements everyday. Most often, the clients have not seen these documents in five years when they did their last transaction.

* Broker must work with client to identify the customer’s requirements. Sometimes the customer does not yet know either. However, the broker’s experience in dealing with similar businesses and warehouses will be able to determine such needs and requirements. And most importantly: the broker must ask the customer many, specific questions. An experienced, SIOR broker always asks the best questions which help the customer and add-value to the relationship. Often the broker will speak with executives such as VP of operations, CFO, human resources and any other employee that is integral to customer’s business.

* New tools, technologies and innovative processes must be adopted by CRE brokers which add both value and time-savers for clients.

*  CRE Tip #1 for customers: Engage a CRE broker now. All too often, clients look for real estate and/or renegotiate a lease way too late. Do not wait right up until a lease expires or you obtain a new contract for business with a customer which will require new or more warehouse space. It is never too early to contact a CRE broker for a candid discussion on market trends, forecasts and availability.

* CRE Tip#2 for customers: Contact your local CRE broker for service providers such as a warehouse roofer or architect. Brokers have a database of all types of contractors and professionals because good ones are needed so often. So they will come well recommended and have been used before with good results.

At the end of this session, The Port of Prince Rupert in Canada was discussed (see www.rupertport.com). It actually is more direct and takes less time for Asian ports to ship freight via Prince Rupert than via the Panama Canal. In addition, some in the distribution and logistics businesses try to avoid Los Angeles, California due to the disruptive strikes by unions and longshoremen. However, Prince Rupert does experience unpredictable land slides and Panama Canal has the problems of bad weather and hurricanes that can be supply chain disruptions.

SIOR Real Estate Conference

“SIOR keynote speaker: Marci Rossell, PhD.” One of my favorite parts about attending CRE conventions is learning what the economists have to say. There is too much to write, so I’ll just mention the most important part of what I took away from this. Ms. Rossell affirms my theory that the sector of the economy that will pull America through 2010 to 2012 during this bad economy is: exports! I strongly believe this to be true. The reason is that people from around the world are gaining higher disposable incomes. Just look at the increasing economies and standards of living for the BRIC countries (Brazil, Russia, India and China); plus all of the other nations. In addition, the United States of America still has a profound reputation for manufacturing high quality products; coming up with innovative ideas; being economically and politically stable; and being trustworthy and dependable business partners during the trading process. For these reasons, Americans will see exports grow significantly in the next few years. The lower US dollar value will help increase export sales too. It is so imperative for our economic and political leaders to execute the foreign trade agreements with countries like Colombia, Panama, South Korea and more. Countries like China, Iran and Venezuela are aggressively doing business. Why does it seem the USA government is apathetic to foreign trade and exports? Anyway, for those in the Miami, Florida industrial real estate market “more exports, means more warehouse space”. The ComReal Miami team is looking forward to serving our warehouse customers in the manufacturing and exporting industries during the next several years.

For more information on SIOR and commercial, industrial real estate trends and data, please contact Edward J. Redich, SIOR, CCIM of The ComReal Companies based in Miami, Florida, USA. Phone: 786-433-2379 or www.comreal.com.

At the age of only 35, he is the youngest SIOR in Miami and one of the few professionals worldwide that now possess the SIOR-CCIM dual designation. These are the highest designations that exist in the commercial real estate industry. His fellow ComReal associate, Stephen H. Smith, SIOR, is a long time member of the prestigious group and one of its past Florida Chapter Presidents. “These affiliations provide us with the capability to serve our clients’ commercial real estate needs on both national and international levels,” states Redlich. Ed Redlich has been with ComReal for nearly 15 years and is now its Vice-President of the Industrial Division. His corporate clients include Goodyear Tire, Burger King, Enterprise Rent-A-Car, and General Electric, to name a few. Current industrial projects include the 180,000 sq. ft. Airport International Center and the 196,000 sq. ft. Eastgate Business Park.

Eastgate is a new warehouse development project in The Homestead Park of Commerce in which Redlich is both an equity partner and co-developer with Smith. Redlich recently made the Miami commercial real estate news with his representation of Costex Corporation in its $21,000,000 purchase of a 17-acres site on the Palmetto Expressway. Costex will construct its new 300,000 sq. ft. Miami headquarters and distribution facility on the former Farm Stores HQ site. For more information on ComReal Miami commercial real estate, please visit www.edwardredlich.com. For additional details on this transaction, please call Edward Redlich, SIOR, CCIM at 786-433-2379, eredlich@comreal.com.

The Society of Industrial and Office Realtors is the leading professional organization in the world for office and industrial real estate specialists. With more than 3,200 members in 562 cities in 22 countries, SIOR represents today’s most knowledgeable, experienced, and successful commercial real estate brokers. Last year SIOR members reported an average per person dollar volume of more than US $33.5 million worth of property leased or sold. Cumulative dollar volume for all SIOR members was $85.6 billion of property leased or sold. As a group, SIOR Members closed 82,747 transactions in 2006 involving more than 239 million square feet of industrial and office space. SIOR has certified more than 2,500 of its members with the prestigious SIOR designation, a professional symbol of the highest level of knowledge, production, and ethics in the real estate industry. Real estate professionals who have earned the SIOR designation are recognized by corporate real estate executives, commercial real estate brokers, agents, lenders, and other real estate professionals as the most capable and experienced brokerage practitioners in any market.

Since 1979, The ComReal Companies have been a leader in commercial real estate, specializing in asset management, leasing, property management, investment services, and tenant/ buyer representation. ComReal’s team of highly trained and distinguished professionals has earned the company its reputation for serving clients with a comprehensive range of services. The ComReal Companies and its affiliates are also well recognized in the equity side of the commercial real estate industry.

Through CR Partners, principals of ComReal are very active in the acquisition, ownership and redevelopment of strategic real estate properties throughout South Florida. ComReal combines its commercial expertise with state of the art systems to find the very best business and economic opportunities for its clients. ComReal’s Miami office is located at 8725 NW 18th Terrace, Suite 105, Doral, FL 33172. ComReal’s Florida operations include offices in Miami, Ft. Lauderdale and Jacksonville. For more information on ComReal, please call 305-591-3044 or visit www.comreal.com.

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