Follower Update on Who I Am: 20 years experience brokering retail real estate across the US at @cppartners_cre. Since 2012, I have been partnering with my developer clients providing them capital to build shopping centers, national restaurants, and medical facilities. 2020-22 I raised and deployed $150M into companies such as @PalantirTech, @anduriltech, @airtable, and a bunch of others - had winners, had losers. Ended up with investment exposure to 70 @sonicdrivein locations, @hawaiianbros, and will be announcing the acquisition of a coffee chain shortly. In summary, I am an investment sales broker with a decade plus track record investing alongside my clients. Here to share war stories and expertise in real estate investing & brokerage.

My take on the @SpaceX IPO is I don’t think people realize the level of wealth about to be bestowed upon a pretty large amount of people. Some of these guys are walking away with billions net to them. The company was founded 23 years ago and had dozens of investment rounds - these investors all want to cash out a large chunk of that and so do all of the employees to buy houses or move on to next deal. There will CONTINUE to be an exodus of top talent from the company to the “next Space X” and run it back now that they hit their but with exit liquidity. I would sit out the IPO and wait until the lock up periods expire for the employees which is staggered starting with “after the first quarterly earnings report” and through Elon’s lockup after 1 year. Most people will sell asap at the first lock up and then sell into large days of trading volumes. Good luck out there.

The best part of investing is losing money. If you can learn lessons, it makes you become a much better investor.

Developer buys a vacant drive-thru property with a signed lease from a major national coffee chain. The lease has a contingency: permits must be secured by a certain date. The day before the city council meeting to approve the permits, the tenant emails the city and asks them to pull it off the agenda. Then the tenant turns around, says “permits weren’t approved on time,” and tries to terminate the lease. Developer calls BS, refuses the termination, and sues. City gets subpoenaed and BOOM — the “smoking gun” email from the tenant to planning staff surfaces. Attorneys on both sides immediately light up. Meanwhile, while all this is going on… a homeless guy breaks in, starts cooking crack, and burns the entire building to the ground. Developer still manages to recoup a decent chunk of the loan from insurance. Now? He just received a strong new lease offer that could actually make the whole deal profitable. This, ladies and gentlemen, is how you make (and sometimes lose) money in commercial real estate.

Developer locks up 100 acres at a brand-new highway off-ramp in a booming area. A big-box retailer wants the site… but refuses to lease or pay market price for it. They pick up the phone and call the city: “Use eminent domain, take the land from this guy, hand it over to us for free — and we’ll build a shiny new store in your town.” City says yes. Land gets seized. Compensation fights drag on. And suddenly… there’s a new store in town.

Tenant interviews are the most important part of any CRE acquisition, yet the majority of buyer's don't do this. For corporate users, speak with a manager - one guy told my client sales were terrible and he was quitting - someone else bought the property because they didn't do this. When acquiring a strip center, you are buying a small nuanced community - there tends to be an unofficial "mayor" and quarrels amonst the tenants / landlord the broker and seller would never reveal. Basic questions include: -Tell me about your business - start the relationships before you close - you need to have a mole per se. -How are sales? -What are some things you would like to see done here? Tenants are extremely fearful of new landlords and will pause capital improvements or undermine a new landlord if they don't give out the right vibes. The best ice breaker is to remind them that their contracts are secure and you are prepared to spend money to improve signage, paint, etc. Completely disarms them. On the other extreme, a landlord bought a strip center did no interviews and sent letters raising rents - the tenants colluded and all ignored the letters for over a year. Having interviewed hundreds of tenants and strip center villages, the things you will discover would shock you. Happy to provide further insight this into acquisitions folks are making - AMA.

No stuffy dinners. No small talk over finger foods. Instead, I've rented out the Baby Disco—complete with dance floor—at Zero Bond at the Wynn for an unforgettable night with my best clients and partners. We're reviewing RSVP applications now - if you're a valued partner or tryna be a top client and want in on the fun, DM me or reply here. @cppartners_cre @EvCapJVEquity @Ben_Udell

Strat Hotel Vegas just closed at a 7.5% cap Space needle included $496M purchase price

Started doing real estate deals in Spain back in 2022 realizing that development spreads were 100-200 bps better than the US. Senior living communities did not exist as traditionally the elderly moved in with their children - a concept that universally does not always go well Interest rates are 2.5%, non-recourse and fixed for 15 years. The tax treaty the US has with Spain is only 5% if the profits are spent in Europe - this means you can re-invest or travel Europe because of the economic development. This project in Madrid became an oversubscribed community of retirees that are living their best lives, drinking cases of wine at lunch every day:

How to use the equity from a home to create retirement income: Guy buys house in 2019 for $3.2M Converts to rental property in 2024 Sells property for $8.5M in 2026 Does 1031 exchange to defer the capital gains and trades into a shopping center producing $650K in income

2 closings above $2500/ft in 2 days in SF, averaging $2M above the list price

This 2.737 square foot house is asking $5.2M in San Francisco. 6 offers. In contract at $6.8M at $2400/ft. SF housing prices literally off the charts.

Returns are “temporary” according to this marketing package.

Friend of mine works at a prominent think tank whom completed a study of the impact of California “billionaire’s tax”. Total net loss to California coffers projected to be $40B primarily through the loss of income taxes paid over their lifetime. This plan was hatched by the unions as a way to generate income to the State, so that the State of California could bail out their pension plan deficit for its workers.

Westfield's San Francisco Shopping Center is 1.2M square feet and completely vacant. It is now in contract to sell. Meeting with buyer to discuss their plans. What are some ideas you have for this redevelopment?

Who are some of the best AI / Claude consultants on here? Those with CRE / investing experience get bonus points.

So good