rep in 1991,” says Schenk. “I like to help
people get what they want so that is why when
the agency disclosure law was initiated in Ohio
and nationwide I specialized in representing
tenants, buyers and investors.”
“As my career in CRE evolved it became clear
that it was better to have repeat customers
rather than a series of first-time or one-time-only customers,” notes Kasselman. “In order
to build such lasting relationships, I realized
that my clients’ needs extended far beyond a
single property type or location. Thus I have
moved away from specialty, at least in the
context of how the business is taught, and
instead I focus on creating value and solving
problems – wherever my client might need me
to do so. And in some sense, we have harnessed
a different sort of specialty – providing energy
and innovation strategies in addition to CRE
services – which we use to create incremental
value anywhere and differentiate ourselves
from our competition, even though we are
geographically and product type neutral.”
Kasselman says that when he worked at
larger CRE services “we were under pressure
to generate maximized commission revenue
ahead of all other goals. To accomplish this
consistently, we pursued the business with
a clear focus on specialty. When I started
Op2mize in 2004, the business plan was to
serve our clients’ needs and best interests,
regardless of where or what. That has clearly
served us well in terms of repeat business
and being viewed as value creators and
problem solvers.”
“The bottom line is if you can’t do what you
normally do – for instance, if the office market
is not as good as the industrial market – and
if you can’t adjust – you are at an extreme
disadvantage,” says Kurzweil. “Yes, you should
be a specialist in an area; it helps because you
know things others do not –nuances like who
knows what, who goes to what country club,
who to stay away from, and all of that helps in
making transactions. But although I started as
an office broker, I still did investment deals and
even sold apartment complexes.
When the market went to hell in a hand basket
in 2008, it caused real estate to be much more
difficult in terms of doing transactions – that
problem was pervasive. Some brokerage
firms like people who specialize in just one
area; that might be good for the firm, but not
as good for the broker, unless the firm gives
the broker entree into areas they otherwise
would not have and they can still continue in
their own area. Right now, for instance, New
Jersey office vacancies are at 26 percent, and
in some areas they are 35 – 40 percent. If you
have a high unemployment rate, how do you
lease office space? If you have renewals, that’s
one way, but in terms of new business it’s much
more difficult. I couldn’t just say ‘my specialty
is office' and keep plugging away at the end
of the day if there was no need for office you
are shooting yourself in the foot. So I do the
different things I do to make sure I do well and
expand my horizons.”
“About 10 years ago I began developing two
product specialties (Traditional Terminal
Facilities and large distribution centers for
consumer product companies [CPCs]),”
says Salazar. “Since that time I’ve attended
numerous logistics conferences and have
joined several knowledge based/education/
BEING ABLE TO SPECIALIZE IN ONE AREA
IS A GREAT METHOD TO SOME SIORS, BUT
SOMETIMES YOU MUST BE FLEXABLE IN ORDER
TO WIN A CON TRAC T.
CONTRIBUTING
SIORS
GEOFFREY
KASSELMAN,
SIOR, LEED AP
GREG SCHENK,
SIOR, CNE
STAN KURZWEIL,
SIOR
BRUCE WOLFGRAM,
SIOR, PENG, RPA, LEED AP
J.D. SALAZAR
SIOR
