Multifamily brokers form new venture: MMG

Multifamily property owners have a new team of experts - and a new firm - to turn to when considering a sale.

Alex Blagojevich and Michael Sullivan will lead Mid-Markets Group Real Estate Advisors (MMG) as founding partners and executive managing directors, leveraging their multi-market approach to ensure clients receive maximum exposure from interested and qualified buyers.

The duo, along with four others on the MMG team, brings more than 50 years of collective brokering experience and a vast, nationwide network to its new venture that plans to assist owners of multifamily properties in determining the best strategy for their holdings.

Recognizing the long-standing brokerage framework centered on siloed markets is growing increasingly obsolete, MMG leaders seek to establish a new type of multifamily firm built with the client at the center of the business.

“As part of the industry’s recovery from the recession, a growing number of investors are turning to the multifamily sector for more consistent, predictable yields. In turn, fund advisors are forced to expand their search for properties outside of their historical market focus, and MMG is poised to execute on this well,” said Blagojevich.

Its advisors aim to maximize value for multifamily property owners by providing a fully integrated advisory platform from acquisition to disposition. The team has extensive experience with all subsets of multifamily properties, including student, affordable and senior housing and land services.

Owners benefit from MMG’s national reach, access and expertise. Though the team rose to prominence in the industry selling across the Midwest, South and Southeast, they have continued to expand their market coverage into a national focus.

Collectively, the MMG team have closed nearly 500 multifamily transactions across 110 unique markets in 31 states for a total of more than 100,000 units and $6 billion in gross sales, building a knowledge-base of similar markets and an expansive network of qualified buyer prospects.

“MMG’s diverse relationships allow us to explore opportunities among private and institutional investors. That combination gives MMG the advantage of quickly generating interest from multiple qualified buyers by accessing capital unavailable to other brokers,” said Sullivan.

The team prides themselves on taking a detailed, strategic approach to every assignment and creating the highest-quality marketing materials tailored to each property and market.

“We’ve put together a talented team that delivers exceptional service to our clients, and that’s just one of the secrets to our success. We have the knowledge and resources to support clients every step of the way,” Blagojevich said.

“We don’t believe in one-size-fits all solutions. Rather, every client, every asset and the ultimate objective for each listing is unique. By customizing each solution so that it is aligned with the client’s objectives, we’ve successfully helped hundreds of property owners meet or exceed their goals.”

Prior to launching MMG, Sullivan and Blagojevich led the Berkadia Mid Markets brokerage team to notable success in 2020. By leveraging an aggressive approach despite difficult market conditions, they closed more than $935 million in gross sales.

“Coming off of a challenging year has only ignited our passion for amplifying our ability to deliver outstanding client service. We look forward to maintaining and increasing our momentum in 2021, leveraging our one-of-a-kind, full-service approach to consistently exceed clients’ expectations and deliver profitable outcomes,” Sullivan said.

Lee's Summit Medical Center expands bariatric program

Lee’s Summit Medical Center’s bariatric program has recently moved from an off-campus location to the new 52,000-SF, three-story medical office building on the Lee’s Summit Medical Center campus.

The $17 million state-of-the-art building was completed in summer 2020 and included project partners Turner Construction, HCP Medical Office Properties, Bremner Real Estate, ACI Boland Architects and Hereford-Dooley Architects.

The change will give the bariatrics program a larger, updated space with more capabilities to treat patients.

“We are pleased that Lee’s Summit Medical Center is expanding the level of quality care for the residents of Lee’s Summit and surrounding communities,” said Rick McDowell, Lee’s Summit Economic Development Council president and CEO.

Lee’s Summit Medical Center’s bariatric program has six providers who perform various types of surgical and non-surgical procedures.

“Access to healthcare is a significant contributor to the quality of life in our community and we are fortunate to have tremendous health resources in Lee’s Summit,” McDowell said.

Bariatric treatment can greatly reduce the risk of developing chronic conditions such as sleep apnea, type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease and stroke, according to Dr. John Tann, one of the bariatric surgeons at Lee’s Summit Medical Center. In some cases, such as high blood pressure or type 2 diabetes, bariatric treatment has even been shown to cure certain conditions.

“My passion is to treat patients with metabolic disease and the main side effect we see from that is excess weight. I have many tools to use that will help patients reach their goals of leading a healthier lifestyle from diet modifications, nutritional support, medication and minimally invasive procedures and surgery. Lee’s Summit Medical Center gives us access to the latest in technology and resources,” said Dr. Tann.

According to Lee’s Summit Medical Center, the need for bariatric services is growing - especially after seeing how bariatric conditions were disproportionately negatively impacted by COVID-19.

The bariatric and metabolic suite is one of the many specialty services Lee’s Summit Medical Center provides. Other specialty physician services include:

• Midwest Heart and Vascular Specialists

• KC Vascular and General Surgery

• Kansas City Gastroenterology & Hepatology

• Kansas City Neurology Associates

• Colorectal Surgery Associates

• Neuroscience Institute at Lee’s Summit

Are sale-leasebacks a good fit for your business?

In a sale-leaseback, a company sells their property to an investor who leases the building back to the company under prearranged terms. The lease is usually for a term of 5 to 20 years with renewal options. The sale provides the now-tenant with a swift infusion of capital to pay down existing debt or reinvest into its business, while the buyer/investor grows its real estate portfolio with a paying tenant in tow.

Typically, the company enters into a triple-net lease whereby it is responsible for costs of maintenance and all upkeep, real estate taxes and insurance. The rent paid by the company is based upon a combination of market rents, credit of the company, the buyer’s financing cost and required return on equity. A sale-lease back is an alternative for all property types including office buildings, warehouses, manufacturing plants and retail stores.

Advantages of a sale-leaseback transaction for a company include:

1. Unlocking capital from a non-performing asset to invest in core business at a greater rate of return or to reduce debt;

2. Improving their balance sheet by removing depreciation and mortgage debt;

3. Generating more capital (100% of market value) than typical mortgage financing;

4. Continuing to have operational control of the property;

5. Determining to a considerable extent their own sale price, lease rate and renewal options.

A sale-leaseback is an attractive alternative in both good and bad economic times. The ongoing pandemic is severely affecting many businesses’ revenue, working capital is limited, lending guidelines are more stringent than in prior years and M&A activity likely will increase.

In addition, interest rates are low. These conditions represent a strong environment for sale-leasebacks. In a good economy, a sale-leaseback generates more capital than traditional mortgage financing. In a bad economy, a sale-leaseback of real estate holdings provides capital when companies are unable to obtain bank financing or raise capital through public offerings.

A misconception that many people have about a sale-leaseback is that the company has no control over the property. However, remember that the lease is long-term and typically renewal options can be negotiated to provide further control for the company.

In addition, in some respects a company has more control by leasing rather than owning because it has more options upon the lease expiration. These include exercising a pre-negotiated renewal option, negotiating a renewal based upon current market conditions, or relocating to a new facility that better accommodates the operation at that time. As an example, for a warehousing operation this could mean relocating to a larger facility, smaller facility or a different geographic area that better accommodates current distribution requirements.

Sale-leasebacks are not just an option for public companies. Private companies that are looking for ways to generate capital to invest in equipment or reduce debt should consider the advantages of the sale-leaseback transaction. In addition, private equity firms that have purchased a company or taken it private often will consider a sale-leaseback to generate funds for the purchase.

Another twist to a typical sale-leaseback is a partial sale-leaseback. Assuming that the property can be economically modified for multi-tenant use, this option allows a company to downsize in their existing facility while still generating capital to be redeployed as needed.

If considering a sale-leaseback, the first step is to engage the services of a commercial real estate professional that specializes in this type of investment transaction. This will allow you to evaluate your various options and potential market value of the real estate. Your accountant and legal counsel should also be involved in evaluating the advantages and disadvantages of this type of transaction based upon your company’s particular situation.

The next step is implementation of a professional marketing plan to position the offering and present it to the likely buyers of the particular type of real estate. Depending upon the type of property and credit of the seller/tenant, potential buyers can include real estate investment trusts (REITs) which specialize in triple net leases, national private equity funds that focus on sale-leasebacks and individual investors.

Consider the advantages of a sale-leaseback transaction for your company.

Michael L. VanBuskirk, SIOR, CCIM, CRE is executive managing director-principal at Newmark Zimmer with over 26 years of experience in investment sales/acquisitions, corporate services, development and real estate consulting. VanBuskirk can be reached at 816-512-1010 or mvanbuskirk@ngzimmer.com.

Christopher S. Robertson, CCIM is senior managing director of investment Ssles and capital markets at Newmark Zimmer. He has over 7 years of experience in investment sales/acquisitions, appraisal, financial analysis and real estate consulting. Chris can be reached at 816-512-1014 or crobertson@ngzimmer.com.

REVERBerating in the KC Crossroads

Opening a multifamily community and a cocktail lounge during a pandemic presents a unique set of challenges, as told by panelists during last week’s CREW KC event.

The virtual presentation featured REVERB, a 14-story, 132-unit multifamily complex and The Mercury Room, a 800-SF cocktail lounge atop of REVERB, located at 18th and Walnut in the Crossroads Arts District.

Bri Swanson, REVERB community manager; Kyle Bennett, The Mercury Room general manager; Charles Rotter, staff architect at Burns & McDonnell; and Trevor Hoiland, design manager at Burns & McDonnell; joined moderator Andrea McClain, portfolio analyst at CrossFirst Bank, to discuss how the team was able to rise above the challenges of the project during a pandemic.

Developed by Copaken Brooks and managed by Asset Living, REVERB opened mid-August 2020; The Mercury Room soon followed, opening in mid-November 2020.

Swanson explained that REVERB is unique from other recent multifamily projects in that it only offers studio and one-bedroom units and provides its residents with no amenities, like a pool or a gym. Instead, residents have access to a mixed-use space on the 14th floor with conference and meeting rooms and the Mercury Room — all of which Swanson called “an extension to our residents’ homes.”

Hoiland said that in selecting the site, the developers wanted the project to be part of the Crossroads neighborhood.

“So many downtown apartment buildings have everything you need inside them so why move downtown and then just stay in your building?  We really wanted people to not have a gym and not have a pool and not have some of these amenities you typically see because we want people out on the streets, to be part of the neighborhood and connecting with other tenants up the street.  That was very, very intentional,”  Hoiland said.

Swanson said that to supplement the community’s lack of amenities, Asset Living focused on providing residents with ways to get residents into the neighborhood, including providing residents with metal cards to present at nearby businesses for insider perks and discounts.

Swanson said the challenges of developing and delivering a high-end multifamily community with only studio and one bedroom units, no on-site amenities and a cocktail lounge open to the public during a pandemic were met through an innovative marketing plan, custom-built website and COVID-friendly seamless leasing and a virtual marketing outreach.

“When COVID interrupted previously established marketing plans, the Asset team quickly pivoted to creative practices such as partnerships with social media influencers to promote REVERB through what we call the ‘unboxing experience..’ We partnered with several local Kansas City influencers and invited these influencers to unbox promotional items and branded apparel on Instagram as well as attend private tours and share the REVERB experience with followers,” said Swanson.

Swanson said that the project was nearly 10 percent pre-leased without offering concessions prior to delivery.  To date, REVERB is 20.77 percent occupied and 26.15 percent leased.  Rents range from $1,149/mos for a studio unit to $3,325/mos for the largest one bedroom unit, which offers 1393 SF.

Construction of the project was well underway when the pandemic hit and there were not many delays.  Holland said that when smaller job sites in the city were shut down, the REVERB project was able to pull from them to keep construction going. 

Hoiland said that the project got its name from the energy on the streetcar, which also impacted the design of the building. 

“As the building gets taller, those apartment units stretch out further towards the streetcar, towards Main Street - then it pulls back at the very top.  So we really wanted to almost create a diagram of the soundwave that maybe you get from the energy on Main Street,”  Hoiland said. 

The Mercury Room currently accommodates approximately 20 guests to comply with COVID restrictions, but Bennett said it can sit approximately 32 guests when operating at full capacity.  

Entry to The Mercury Room is by reservation only for two-hour periods. Guests are checked in by a host downstairs and notified by text when their table is ready. Reservations are being taken on a month-to-month basis and Bennett said The Mercury Room is booked through the end of the month. Bennett expects to retain the reservation system post-pandemic.

“We are a high-end cocktail bar, really focusing on the craft of making delicious cocktails and really offering a high-touch, elevated-style service not seen in the cocktail world,”  said Bennett.

The Mercury Room has partnered with Michael Corvino from Corvino Supper Club & Tasting Room and is seeking other chefs to offer small bites to pair with the cocktails.