Shwanika Narayan – Jan. 23, 2019
Exactly a year after Papenhausen went up in flames, the longtime San Francisco hardware store is back in business in a pop-up location a few doors from its original West Portal location.
The temporary space on 2 West Portal Ave., which used to house the Peek-a-boo Factory children’s play space and before that a Walgreens, is open for customers to shop. But a big reason why the makeshift store exists is to retain Papenhausen’s loyal staff, whose paychecks to date have been funded by a generous insurance policy.
“The pop-up is really to keep our staff,” said Karl Aguilar, the store manager. “Our insurance covered our equipment and products, employee wages, continuing expenses, and loss of business, but parts of that coverage had timelines.” The wage coverage lasted a year to the day after the fire.
The Jan. 23, 2018, blaze burned out three businesses: Papenhausen, the West Portal Daily newsstand and Sloane Square Beauty, a salon. The newsstand is back in business but the salon won’t reopen. Papenhausen is expected to move into its former location by May or June. The Fire Department did not provide an update on the status of the investigation.
For Papenhausen, a retail staple in the West Portal neighborhood since 1936, relief also came in the form of a $7,500 grant awarded by the Office of Economic and Workforce Development. The business used the funds for “various expenses associated with reestablishing the store,” Aguilar said.
Matt Rogers, the owner, credits community support plus the right type of business insurance coverage for the company’s reopening.
“If we had the basic coverage of 60 days business interruption offered by most companies, we would not be reopening. It is that simple,” Rogers said.
But “insurance bureaucracy,” as Rogers put it, meant it has taken the business, which also dealt with a fire in 1998, much longer than expected to reopen.
“I thought this time around we’d be back up and running in six months, but a year later, here we are,” Rogers said. He said there were no delays from his insurer but working with different parties including contractors, insurance adjusters and lawyers added months to the reconstruction process.
Aguilar and Rogers realized in October that the hardware store wouldn’t reopen by January. They started to shop for retail spaces but low vacancy in the area, where they wanted to remain, made it tough.
This led Rogers to post about his troubles on Facebook. Tara Hardesty, a West Portal resident and frequent customer of Papenhausen, saw his plea. She connected Rogers to a friend and colleague, Ross Portugeis, the leasing agent of the current pop-up location.
“As native San Franciscans, we want the city to help maintain its character,” said Portugeis, a senior vice president at TRI Commercial, a real estate brokerage. “A city’s character is expressed no more clearly than the presence of its local merchants.”
Papenhausen signed a five-month lease on Dec. 1 and moved into the new location which officially opens Wednesday. It’s renting 3,000 square feet.
Michaela Byrne, a part-time employee, said she’s excited to be working again at Papenhausen. She was paid a full year’s worth of work at $16.50 an hour, she said. This allowed the 26-year-old to pursue an existing sideline working as a stage manager in the theater world, she said.
Keeping familiar faces at the counter may help more than Papenhausen.
Anchor businesses like a hardware store add to the liveliness of a neighborhood, said Vas Kiniris, executive director of the West Portal Merchants Association.
“When the fire happened and Papenhausen left the commercial corridor, it was like the place had lost a limb,” he said. “We’re glad that a legacy business like the local hardware store is back.”
Editor’s note: An earlier version of this article mischaracterized the distance from the store’s original location at 32 West Portal Ave. to its temporary home at 2 West Portal Ave. It is a few doors away.
Shwanika Narayan is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: shwanika.narayan@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @shwanika
View original article here.
John Sechser is a well-known fixture on the CRE retail scene, having recently joined TRI.
WALNUT CREEK, CA—Third quarter 2018 marked the lowest downtown Walnut Creek retail vacancy rate in more than a year. Vacancy dropped from 4.6% in the second quarter to 4.5%, according to John Cumbelich & Associates’ third quarter retail report.
The downtown market continues to attract new-to-market users, with retailers such as Blaze Pizza and Madison Reed signing leases in third quarter. Heritage Eats, a Napa Valley-based concept, also opened during the quarter.
As existing vacancy continues to absorb, there are significant new retail developments either underway or ready to break ground in the coming fiscal year, says the report. And with Broadway Plaza’s ongoing construction decreasing due to the third quarter completion of the new Apple Store, additional construction is anticipated as new downtown retail inventory breaks ground.
The Foundry, a 27,545-square-foot European-style food hall, continues to make progress. The Foundry’s proposed site is located on Walnut Creek’s busy Locust Street across the street from Century Theatre. And, Broadway Plaza’s new 75,000-square-foot Lifetime Fitness facility is underway, receiving approval from the Walnut Creek planning commission earlier this year.
Net absorption ended the quarter at 3,450 square feet and vacancy in the historic downtown north of Mt. Diablo Boulevard increased from 10.8% to 11.3%, according to the Cumbelich report. The historic downtown’s share of overall vacancy remained stable in the quarter, carrying over 54% of the overall market from second into third quarter. Vacancy rates there have continued to rise since third quarter 2016, as the center of gravity for retail and dining has shifted to the remodeled Broadway Plaza. With vacancy increasing in the historic downtown, additional retail assets will be repurposed to mixed-use development.
With all of this retail activity buzzing in Walnut Creek, it seems to be the place for veteran retail real estate brokers. John Sechser is certainly that. He is a well-known fixture on the commercial real estate scene, having spent numerous years at Transwestern, Colliers International, Grubb & Ellis and Bishop Hawk.
And now, Sechser has joined the team at TRI Commercial/CORFAC International, according to president Tom Martindale. His expertise includes retail leasing as well as representing retail tenants with site selection requirements, and negotiating leases and investment sales.
Sechser’s new position at TRI is East Bay retail services managing director. He was most recently a senior vice president/director of retail operations with Transwestern in Walnut Creek. Ed Del Beccaro managed that office until joining TRI Commercial a few weeks ago as executive vice president and East Bay regional manager.
“I have known John Sechser for many years as a man of integrity and always a top producer. We are thrilled to have a consummate professional such as John join our East Bay team,” Del Beccaro tells GlobeSt.com. “The retail business in the East Bay is thriving and John is a great addition to TRI Commercial.”
Since 1981, Sechser has worked extensively with retail tenants as well as retail property owners throughout the Bay Area, later concentrating on the East Bay. Recently, his work includes marketing the retail space at several mixed-use projects in Walnut Creek.
The Lyric, located between North California Boulevard and Locust Street on the north end of Bonanza Street, has 18,000 square feet of ground-floor retail with 141 apartment units in three-, four- and five-story buildings.
1380 North California Blvd., the former McDonalds, will have 10,300 square feet of retail with 97 apartments above it; 22 of which will be Airbnb-style short-term rental residences.
1716 North Main St., which will be 42 executive-style apartment homes above 2,700 square feet of retail.
Alamo Drafthouse, Maya Cinema, Fuddruckers, Las Montanas Market, Patio World, Philly Cheesesteak and Denica’s Real Food Kitchen are some of the retail tenants Sechser has exclusively represented. He also has development experience, having worked as a partner in developing Brentwood Junction, a 65,000-square-foot retail center anchored by Best Buy and Walgreens, and Brentwood Station, a 75,000-square-foot retail center, both in Brentwood, CA.
After several years with Bishop Hawk in San Jose beginning in 1981, Sechser transitioned to the Grubb & Ellis Company where he spent 13 years building his retail real estate career. He joined Colliers International in 1999 and was an integral part of building its retail business before joining Transwestern in 2012 to help open its Walnut Creek office.
Written by: Lisa Brown
Lisa Brown is an editor for the south and west regions of GlobeSt.com. She has 25-plus years of real estate experience, with a regional PR role at Grubb & Ellis and a national communications position at MMI. Brown also spent 10 years as executive director at NAIOP San Francisco Bay Area chapter, where she led the organization to achieving its first national award honors and recognition on Capitol Hill. She has written extensively on commercial real estate topics and edited numerous pieces on the subject.
View the original article here.
2018 Q3 TRENDS – San Francisco – Office
2018 Q3 TRENDS – Sacramento – Office
2018 Q3 TRENDS – Sacramento – Retail
2018 Q3 TRENDS – Sacramento – Industrial
As we mentioned in our previous post, SFMade is a great local organization, dedicated to rebuilding the Bay Area’s vibrant manufacturing sector. One of the big success stories of SFMade is Seven Stills, a thriving Bayview craft brewery and distillery, where talented brew masters explore the nearly miraculous transformation of beer into whiskey. Due in large part to their extremely cool product concept, TRI retail advisor Ross Portugeis recently negotiated deals for Seven Stills at 100 Hooper and 150 Hooper, where they will soon open a production/manufacturing facility and restaurant.
The SFMade Spotlight on Seven Stills can be read here!
To book a tour or an event with Seven Stills click here!
Become a part of the Seven Stills Founders Club here!
Photo: 100 Hooper – Plans for the new site for Seven Stills production/manufacturing facility and restaurant.
Cautious Optimism is the Watchword for Retail Investors
Presented by CORFAC International
June 7, 2018 | By John Salustri
“We’re busier than ever,” says Christina Snyder, one of three CORFAC brokers lending their views to this exclusive RECon video. But that doesn’t prevent the trio from sharing some words of advice.
LAS VEGAS—“There’s a healthy level of fear that should come with any investment,” says Tony Banks of Wolf Commercial Real Estate/CORFAC International, Philadelphia in this exclusive RECon video interview. That said, success lies in the demographics and economics of the locale, adds Richie Blue (Blue & Obrecht Realty/CORFAC International, Baltimore). But wise investors should allow for a vacancy factor greater than what actually exists in target properties, adds Christina Snyder (TRI Commercial/CORFAC International, San Francisco).
With that in mind, how can landlords hedge their bets? What should they be doing to attract tenants in today’s market? And with the expected growth of online grocery retail, how can grocery anchored brick-and-mortar respond? Watch the video to uncover the answers to these questions and more.
Written by: John Salustri of GlobeSt.com
John Salustri has covered the commercial real estate industry for nearly 25 years. He was the founding editor of GlobeSt.com, and is a four-time recipient of the Excellence in Journalism award from the National Association of Real Estate Editors.
Download full article and watch the video here.
Be a #CRE Advocate, Not Just an Agent
For TRI retail advisor Ross Portugeis, commercial real estate is about more than brick-and-mortar transactions. Ross is a passionate advocate for local entrepreneurs, and for sustainable growth of small business throughout the community. But these are challenging times in San Francisco’s overheated #CRE market and it takes more than one person chipping away at the problem to make a difference. Enter SFMade, a dynamic local nonprofit dedicated to reviving and expanding manufacturing in San Francisco. Ross is a staunch supporter of their work and now sits on the board of their subsidiary, 150 Hooper Inc.
The 150 Hooper project is a joint venture with Kilroy Real Estate, creating a dedicated hub for manufacturing businesses. Through the agreement, SFMade, through their subsidiary Placemade, will take ownership of a brand new 50,000-sf production, distribution, and manufacturing facility. Lease income will support the work of SFMade and help the organization expand, while local manufacturing businesses will have the perfect space to put down roots and grow.
In a city where big business has a clear and nearly unchallenged advantage in commercial real estate,
SFMade and Ross Portugeis are helping to deliver a satisfying win.
*Photographs taken at The Bay Area Urban Manufacturing Summit in November, 2017
Erik Reese is no ordinary restaurant and retail real estate adviser. In fact, restaurants are kind of his super power. He comes to the table (no pun intended) with an impressive set of credentials including receiving his BSBA in Hospitality Management at the University of Denver, and graduating at the top of his class from Le Cordon Bleu Paris. From there, he went on to hone his skills at Le Taillevent, famed for being the only restaurant to twice rank #1 in the world.
When he moved to the Bay Area, Erik turned to the business side, parlaying his considerable talents into a 20-year career creating, designing, and opening restaurants, including Asqew Grill, BurgerMeister, Cream, and Fleur de Lys (Las Vegas).
(Shown above: Watercolor Rendering, Parliament, Oakland, 2014)Over the years, Erik built great relationships with leading Bay Area hospitality companies like Restaurant Design Concepts and MCG Inc. Today, his network of restaurateurs, consultants and contractors keeps Erik on top of all the latest industry news.
“I’ve always had a passion for restaurants. It takes something special to ride this roller coaster and be successful. Over the years, I’ve worked with so many talented creative people in the industry and it’s great to be able to share that knowledge and experience with my clients, to help feed their success.”
Erik’s “Ingredients” for a Great Restaurant Site (plus a couple of Showstoppers)
Here’s a couple of Bucket List items, just for good measure:
(Shown above: Completed Restaurant, Parliament, Oakland, 2014)Looking for more information on restaurant real estate? Email Erik.Reese@tricommercial.com or call (415) 268-2200. To learn more about TRI Commercial/CORFAC International, check out our web site at www.tricommercial.com .
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