Good afternoon –
Everybody is watching April 19th for when vaccines are going to be readily available to all adults and California has issued a July 15th date for its grand reopening. Everybody is wondering how much of a rush people will have to go back to the office if they were able to work from home in their role. In his closely watched annual shareholder letter, reported on in CoStar News today, financial giant JPMorgan Chase Chairman and CEO Jamie Dimon said the coronavirus-driven remote working trend will “carry forward” and change how the bank manages real estate:
“The COVID-19 pandemic changed the way we work in many ways, but, for the most part, it only accelerated ongoing trends,” Dimon said in the 66-page document. “We learned that we could function virtually with Zoom and Cisco and maintain productivity, at least in the short run.”
Dimon said JPMorgan’s office space will quickly move to a more “open seating” arrangement, where digital tools will help manage seating and needed amenities such as conference room space. That means for every 100 employees, it may need seats for only 60 on average, he said.
That’s not stopping JPMorgan from its plans to build its new headquarters at 270 Park Ave. in New York and consolidate even more workers into the building, which Dimon said will house between 12,000 to 14,000 employees. Last year, the company signed a 250,000-square-foot lease in a downtown Houston skyscraper.
Dimon’s letter comes as CEOs from major real estate companies, from WeWork to Columbia Property Trust, said this week at an industry symposium that they are betting on a return to the office as workers across many industries seek out socialization in both the workplace and surrounding areas. While Dimon talks about scaling back the number of seats for some parts of his workforce, the headquarters move shows he is partly in line with the CEOs betting on a strong return to office work.
Featured Activity
- 27462 Portola Parkway, Foothill Ranch (Offering Memorandum)
- We just brought this fully leased 20,120 SF medical office building to the market for sale for $14,000,000. This represents a 4.15% cap yield for the investor with plenty of room to push rates over a 5 year period. The seller is a tenant within the property and can leaseback as needed. Additionally, if the buyer needs to occupy the building for their medical practice, the seller could vacant their 3,9
- 9834 Norwalk Blvd, Santa Fe Springs (Brochure) & 9924 Norwalk Blvd, Santa Fe Springs (Brochure)
- These two sublease spaces are within the same project and just steps away, both being leased by the same sublessor. Each space is roughly 5,875 SF and consists of parameter offices, a large open area in the middle of the space, then a conditioned lab/assembly/testing area that is climate controlled with a roll-up door. Call to show.
- 17091 Daimler, Irvine (Brochure)
- We leased this 8,000 SF industrial unit for a long-time high net worth client. We found that in this size range and area that credit is sparse. We were able to wade through the market and find a moving and storage company with a track record that was expanding within Orange County that fit the bill with minimal need for TIs.
- 9401 Norwalk Blvd, Santa Fe Springs (Brochure)
- We leased this 11,050 SF free-standing industrial building for a local landlord so that they could take an owner/user building and convert it into a fully leased investment property to hold long-term within their portfolio. We had multiple offers and were able to find a credit tenant who could make the best use of the grade level loading building.
Market Reports
Media
- Book
- The final format is completed and it is with the printers now. The first 50 copies will ship in two weeks along with the Amazon presale page. The audible recording won’t be ready for another 4-6 weeks.
- I’m looking to collaborate with industry associations, universities, publications, and corporations on speaking engagements, bulk sale opportunities, free give-aways, educational seminars, and contributing articles. Here is my media kit for more information. Let me know if you would like more information and I will send you a copy of the manuscript and we can discuss it in greater detail.
- Podcast – Our next three episodes were a hoot covering how to buy multi-tenant projects, how to build new product, and how to maintain and invest capital prudently in what you already own. Great gems of practical knowledge that you can learn from.
- Scott Jolly of Site Consulting Services– Scott is a master of asphalt and concrete in parking areas, new roof systems and HVAC units. He is your guide when you need to consider how to invest in capital expenditure within your one building, or your entire portfolio of properties.
- Taline Apogian of Connor Commercial – Taline is a rising start in the development community and works with a great team. We went over some of the finer nuances of building new industrial properties and what the future holds for new development.
- Peter Mork of Capital Partners – Peter and I talk about building a portfolio of industrial property and how to think through choosing capital partners, lenders and how to think about dispositions. A must for investors and aspiring investors alike.
We’d love to catch up with you and brainstorm how we can make your goals come to life. You can book time with me at your convenience: https://calendly.com/industrialsmith/. Thank you!
Best Regards,
Justin Smith, SIOR Grant LaBounty Jeannette Plumeda
jbsmith@leeirvine.com glabounty@leeirvine.com jplumeda@leeirvine.com |