Everyone Gives
I intended to post this a month ago because I think it is such a good idea based on the fact that it is cheap, effective and fun.
You only need to donate five dollars to get involved. The money goes directly to the charity of your choice. You will also discover the degrees of separation between you, the weather man, your grade nine gym teacher and the lead singer of your favourite band. How fun is that?
I look forward to seeing you on Everyone Gives.
iPad: A great tool for Real Estate
If I had to count I am probably responsible for the sale of over twenty iPads. I use mine everyday and it has virtually turned my mobile phone into just that, a phone. It has also rendered my laptop a desktop, I never take it anywhere.
What makes the iPad such a powerful tool for my business breaks down into the hardware and software attributes. The hardware attributes are as follows:
- It is always on. With no hard drive and no off switch I never have to wait while it boots up or spins up the hard drive to do something. If I five minutes in a board room before a meeting or a break between sessions I can do something quickly.
- It is always connected. I’m not a slave to the nearest Wi-Fi connection or bringing my phone with me as my access to the internet. This is akin to always being on because it works everywhere. I didn’t realize how important this feature is until I used it for a couple of weeks. For those of you considering forgoing the 3G because you are going to tether to your mobile phone I hope you reconsider. At the very least you have an effective back up when your phone is off-line.
- The last hardware attribute is not part of the iPad but a separate purchase. I use a stylus with my iPad and for the next two apps it is invaluable.
The software attributes boil down to a few apps. I like and use a number of apps but three have made the iPad indispensable.
The first app is GoodReader. This app performs two very important functions. Firstly, it gives me a place to store all types of files, organize them in folders and email the files directly from the app. Secondly, and more importantly, it allow me to annotate .pdf files. Whether it is floor plans, photos, offers, marketing material or draft proposals I can make comments and changes right on the document and send it back out immediately right from the application. All this done with a stylus in my hand so it is fast.
Notes Plus was the game changer for me. Before I had an iPad I carried a notebook everywhere. I only had the iPad one day and I knew I didn’t want to carry both a notebook and the iPad. I use Notes Plus to take all my notes and in many ways it is better than my old notebook. I create different notebooks within the app for different projects, every thing is time and date stamped and it backs up to my computer every night.
The last app is my secret weapon. Prezi is a presentation app but Andrea Dubeckyj of our solutions team turned it into a very dynamic document handling and reference application. It is like a boardroom table with all your pictures, maps, marketing documents and plans neatly laid out and all you need to do to look at them is tap on it and it zooms into focus. And the best part is that boardroom table is with me all the time.
Market Update for Kitchener Companies with a Pending Lease Expiry
You are a company in Kitchener that leases office space and you have an impending expiry. You likely signed your last lease in 2007/2008 and the market place in Kitchener has undergone significant changes in the past five years. So what should you consider when approaching your lease expiry and impending negotiations?
Fewer options
One of the most significant developments in the Kitchener market involves vacancy rates. Although it may only appear as a couple of percentage points in the annual reports from five years ago, the makeup of that vacancy has evolved dramatically. A tenant out looking at lease options in 2007 had a number of good alternatives in the downtown towers: The Tannery was taking shape and pre-leasing had begun, Deeridge had a new tower completed and Sportsworld was under construction.
Fast forward to 2011 and we see a very different landscape. The downtown towers have options but fewer than in 2007, the fully serviced (air-conditioned, elevator) buildings of The Tannery have leased, Deeridge has one sublet and Sportsworld is fully leased. The only new possibility is The Breithaupt Block which will offer both a concrete construction “A” class building and “Brick and Beam” space.
A move to quality
I don’t have a single example over the past three years of a tenant that moved into a lesser quality building to benefit from lower rates. Most of the significant transactions saw companies investing in better buildings. This means the type of options available today is very different from five years ago. Five years ago there was much more high quality space available than today. Fewer choices means more competition for good real estate.
Ownership change
In 2007, most of the downtown Kitchener office towers were locally owned. That is no longer the case. Most of the office towers are now owned by Dundee Properties which is a very good, sophisticated national landlord. If you are a downtown Kitchener company which is not already in a Dundee building, you will no doubt be looking at one of their buildings as an option.
Large blocks of space
I know you are likely tired of hearing this from me, but it continues to be a challenge for major companies in Kitchener to find a selection large blocks of available office space. There are a number of solutions to this dilemma, but the single most important step a company can take to help itself is to start the process early. Start the process two years from your expiry date to take advantage of all your options.
Semi-Annual Waterloo Region Office Market Report
Colliers’ Semi-Annual Waterloo Region Office Market Report is out and has received an unprecedented amount of attention. I even saw a real estate broker from another company offer to send out a copy of our report; humorous. The world is interested in what is happening in Waterloo.
We take great pride in our market information and no question it provides value to our clients but the biggest advantage it provides is how it allows us to forecast trends. A good example is the vacancy projections we made for the fourth quarter. As of today, it looks to be coming to fruition.
Knowledge Leader Fall 2011: Best Issue Yet
The most recent Knowledge Leader, which is Colliers International’s property magazine, is exceptional. Yes, I’m biased by the article featuring David Gibson of Perimeter Development and the Breithaupt Block but I really liked the international slant of this issue.
Waterloo Vacancy is projected to Spike
This is precisely why the research team at Colliers tracks “vacancy” and “availability”. If you were only tracking availability in Waterloo it would look like business as usual. In actual fact there is a large amount of leased space that is not occupied.
This is a great insight into the Waterloo Market because it foreshadows a change in the market. In the event companies do not start to use their vacant premises they will start to look for ways to reduce real estate costs and start putting space back on the market. Companies in need of space or with a pending lease renewal will have greater opportunities. Landlords will start looking at strategies to protect their portfolio of tenants from increased competition. And developers will delay or stop projects once they get wind of this latent supply. I hope you use this in your future plans.
The Great Waterloo Region Office Space Race
Last week, while sitting by a fire in the Canadian wilds, a designer extraordinaire, long time friend and I had a discussion about office space and the challenge of convincing decision makers that a company’s work environment is crucial to its success. We talked about creating matrices to measure the effect of work environment on company output. After some quick research on the web, I discovered there are some very extensive studies on the topic of office work environment and productivity. They are also very boring; this is not what we had in mind around the campfire. It occurred to me that the most relevant measure of a company’s physical environment is how people feel about the space. What do the employees, management, HR, clients, business partners and general public say about your office space from their very different perspectives?
This brings us to “The Great Waterloo Region Office Space Race”. I’m holding an online competition to see who has the best office space in Waterloo Region. I know what you are all thinking, “Google is a shoe-in.” Maybe, but in the world of social media, I think the field is wide open. I often hear comments about the office environment of groups like MFX Partners, Chorus Entertainment and Treehaus. Any one of these groups could win this competition with a little ingenuity.
Here is what I think is going to win this thing:
Work space that supports culture! Are you a tech group obsessed with turning out the next big app? The people at your company work crazy hours with inspiration, collaboration and office downtime being important. Then submit pictures of your killer think tank, lounge area, sleep room or the wall mounted docking station next to the toilet. If your company has a culture of sustainability, then let’s see your designated electric car parking spots, furniture made from recycled tractor parts, your employee common garden, or your worms that eat organic coffee grounds and poop silk. Here is your chance to say “I work in the coolest place ever” and if my suspicion is correct, authenticity will win the day.
Here are the rules:
September 30th, 2011 is the final submission date.
The submissions will include the following:
Company name and address
Photos of the place you work.
A description of the place you work. Make it brief or drone on forever, we don’t mind.
Contact person and phone number
This will be online, so please have permission to submit your space to the competition.
Email it to me at: john.lind@colliers.com
In the first week of October, we will start an online poll that will end November 4th, 2011. The results of the poll will be confirmed and published the following week.
So what do you get?
The winning company will receive a yet to be conceived trophy, a spot on Colliers Canada Website, a post on “the informed tenant” blog about the winning submission, and the all important bragging rights.
Good luck and feel free to email me with any questions.
Why Are Taxes Lower in Former Industrial Buildings?
I asked our Vice President of Valuation and Advisory Services, Chaney Morkill, this question. Chaney is my go to guy when I have inquiries about anything tax related. This situation is most prevalent in my business when office tenants are considering Brick and Beam options. Chaney explained that there are a number of factors which could account for a difference in taxes between comparable properties, but one occasion when he has seen dramatic increases occur is when a property moves from being assessed by the Cost Approach to the Income Approach to Value. I have paraphrased Chaney’s email to me below:
The reason is that these former industrial buildings were long assessed using the Cost Approach to Value, which includes a deduction for depreciation.
Most of these properties have become revitalized as income producing properties. As such, the assessors are now analyzing rents in the area and capitalizing the income streams. The result, in most cases, is that the capitalized commercial/retail income rents produce a much higher assessment than one achieved using the Cost Approach with depreciation. Most of these properties have had dramatic swings in taxes and each should be reviewed carefully.
Owners/Occupiers have an opportunity to avoid these huge increases if they are sole occupants. As such, one would argue the site is not an income producing property and should continue to be valued on the Cost approach.
Each property and tax situation is unique and should be evaluated individually, but this does shed some light on a number of discrepancies I have seen over the years.
Open Letter to BlackBerry Bosses Still Rings in My Head
The line “Some of our offices feel like Soviet-era government workplaces.” is still ringing in my head five weeks after reading the Open letter to BlackBerry bosses. I fear I am being too subtle in my posts about office space so let me make this absolutely clear:
1. The office space people work in is important!
2. A company’s office space not only reflects its culture, it defines it!
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Photo Update – The Breithaupt Block (via Colliers Ink)
Below is a great update on The Breithaupt Block.
via Colliers Ink
http://www.colliersnews.com/
http://www.knowledge-leader.com/
