Reconnaissance, Recovery, Regeneration – Our Retail Group Making it Happen/Fall 2012

When the going gets tough – the tough get going

We have all witnessed the brutal unveiling of the economic collapse of 2008, and its lingering negative effect on the Northbay economy. There’s no question that finding the solutions to the challenge of restoring economic growth and vitality to a community are daunting and illusive as we are experiencing an economic shift that is unparalleled in our lifetime, or maybe I should say “my lifetime”.

Remember the Chinese character for “crisis” consists of two characters signifying both “opportunity” and “danger”.  I believe we are beginning to experience the results of a new optimism and enthusiasm as results of resilient brainstorming and relentless hard work begin to pay off.

Consider the following:

In the past 6 months, Windsor experienced an almost unprecedented avalanche of mixed-use foreclosures, and the prospects of dozens of half vacant Downtown condos in foreclosure was nothing but dismal.

What has happened under the teamwork of Keegan & Coppin, headed by Rhonda Deringer, has been nothing less than amazing as dozens of these retail condos have been purchased by prudent investors within the last few months. This has been a win-win situation; offering investors aggressive financial returns, and stabilizing the heart of Downtown Windsor.

Another daunting task has been finding solutions to the Big Box tenant exodus and downsizing occurring in this environment, and the path to new growth,  has been indeed like “watching paint dry”.

These phenomena has been astutely illustrated by some of the lingering Big Box vacancy residue on Santa Rosa Avenue, and the path to new retail tenants has been hard to forge. Rather than Best Buy relocating to effect a downsize we were able to keep them in their existing location and lease the 16,000sf of recaptured space to Petsmart who will have their grand opening next week. You should know that through Tom Laugero’s tenacity in working with the City for over a year and a half to make modifications to antiquated zoning restrictions on the area, market forces are beginning to prevail. Because of Tom’s efforts, Supermarkets of any size are a permitted use in existing buildings on Santa Rosa Avenue. This fills a vacancy, generates new tax dollars to the County, and brings a much needed Food Resource to an area that has been designated a “Food Desert” .

Our team continues to consistently work on ferreting out, (and working to create) sound opportunities in Commercial Investing; often recognizing opportunities disguised as problems for savvy investors to solve, and make money.

925 Corporate Center Parkway is a good example. It was a retail center constructed near the economic slide, and was slow to lease up. Through Keegan & Coppin’s relentless leasing efforts and the listing team of Marshall Kelly and Tom Laugero, the 13,826 sf center sold for $2,475,000 to an investor from Marin County. That brought new investment dollars into our region.

Marshall also represented that same buyer in finding another strong retail income investment: a 9,982 sf Center at 211 Peabody Rd. in Vacaville for $1,297,000.

A (somewhat) new significant force in the Sonoma County investment arena has come through the sophisticated and knowledgeable efforts of Rami Batarseh.  Rami specializes  in income properties and investment opportunities.

Rami was able to attract new investment activity by selling the Kress Building in downtown Santa Rosa for $4.23 Million last month. This is a perfect example of hard work infusing new investment money in our community by attracting some of the wealth the Bay area is experiencing.

The experience and “brain trust” reliability of the Keegan Coppin Brokerage Team remains unparalleled in our community; committed to excellence and committed to do what it takes to “Get the Job Done”.  Call anyone of us when you want the most professional real estate representation in the North Bay.