CORFAC News

Chicago, IL (March 16, 2015) –CORFAC International President Scott Savacool, CCIM, SIOR, announced that the commercial real estate association’s Spring Conference in Miami March 4-7 was a resounding success with solid networking and relationship-building, excellent technology workshops, best practice sessions, guest speakers and an awards program honoring the top joint transactions from 2014.

Keynote Speaker Lawrence Yun, Ph.D., from the National Association of REALTORS®, had numerous nuggets of useful information such as the prediction that fixed-rate residential mortgages would rise to about 6% by 2016 and that inflationary pressure is coming from rising apartment rents – 3.5% to 4% annually, which is ahead of the Fed’s inflation target of 2% to 2.5% for the overall economy. Dr. Yun also forecast that oil will hover in the $60s a barrel longer than most economists are predicting – for 3-5 years (with dips in the $50s and surges in the $70s, but mostly staying in the $60s range for the foreseeable future).

Technology Highlights:

• Patrick Fowler of ESRI and Gary Ralston, CCIM, of the CCIM Institute, presented demonstrations of some of the top technology tools in the industry. Conference sponsors Buildout, Realcore and RealNex also demonstrated their applications.
• Phill Tomlinson, a broker with Commercial Properties Inc./CORFAC International in Tempe, AZ, put on a highly informative talk on how to maximize social media tools in commercial real estate.

Best Practices:

• Duncan Patterson, CCIM, a founder of Patterson Woods/CORFAC International in Wilmington, DE, has developed a core expertise helping longtime owners of commercial property unwind their investments and presented “Alternative Disposition Strategies using Charitable Giving.”
• Sandy Shindleman, CCIM, FRICS, SIOR with Shindico/CORFAC International in Winnipeg presented on “How to Succeed in Business.” Sandy’s story was about how he and his brother started from modest beginnings and built their careers to the point that they are not only one of the more successful brokerage businesses in central Canada, but they have built a portfolio of about 8 million square feet of commercial retail and office properties that they own and operate in their market.

International Committee update: CORFAC welcomed a new affiliate from France (BG Carré/CORFAC International) while approximately 100 attendees also heard about market conditions in Mexico, Colombia and London from existing affiliates. Miguel Cavazos, CCIM, SIOR, from Mexico (Citius Capital/CORFAC International), said that more than half of his firm’s business is now is coming from Japan.

Guest Speaker Rob Richter from South Florida-based Flagler Global Logistics presented the colorful history of Henry Flagler’s railroad construction and hotel development activities that essentially “opened” Florida to the East Coast over 100 years ago. Richter also discussed the company’s expansion and future growth plans in Panama and select markets in Latin America. Flagler is a wholly owned subsidiary of Florida East Coast Industries Inc., which in turn is owned by Fortress Investment Group (NYSE: FIG).

At the awards function on Friday night, brothers Mason and Jason Capitani were recognized for their firm’s 50th anniversary (L. Mason Capitani/CORFAC International, based in Troy, MI), as was Mike Boyd, SIOR, principal and founder of the Houston, TX, firm Boyd Commercial/CORFAC International. Boyd won the Texas Association of REALTORS® William C. Jennings Award for the Most Outstanding Real Estate Transaction in Texas in 2014 for a deal he did representing The Detering Company in a corporate headquarters relocation and expansion. In addition, Steve Podolsky, SIOR, of PodolskyICircle /CORFAC International in Chicago will be honored for his longtime leadership involvement and named a Director for Life of the Jewish Council for Youth Services organization on May 16, 2015.

2014 CORFAC “COR$TARS” Referral Awards

Top Industrial Award (by dollar volume)
$7.5 million
Location: Jacksonville, FL
Client: Tucker Rocky Distributing
Primary (referring) brokers: Don Ossey, SIOR and Robbie McEachern (Capacity Commercial Group/CORFAC International, based in Portland, OR)
Transacting (local) broker: Jeff Graham, SIOR (King Industrial Realty/CORFAC International, based in Jacksonville, FL)

Largest Industrial Award (by size)
404,400 square feet
Location: Memphis, TN
Client: New Breed Logistics
Primary (referring) broker: Steven Podolsky, SIOR (PodolskyICircle CORFAC International, based in Chicago, IL)
Transacting (local) broker: Treat Macdonald, CCIM, SIOR (Crump Commercial/CORFAC International, based in Memphis, TN)

Top Office Award (by size and dollar value)
40,000 square feet and $3.45 million
Location: Farmington Hills, MI
Client: Halstead Investments, LLC
Primary (referring) broker: Barry Bram, CCIM, LEED-AP (TRI Commercial/CORFAC International, based in San Francisco, CA)
Transacting (local) broker: Mason Capitani, SIOR (L. Mason Capitani/CORFAC International, based in Troy, MI)

Top Retail Award (by size and dollar volume)
25,536 square feet and $3 million
Location: Pineville, NC
Client: SkyZone Franchise Group
Primary (referring) brokerage company: The Klabin Company/CORFAC International, based in Los Angeles, CA
Transacting (local) brokers: Scott Hensley, CCIM, SIOR, and Lester Osborn, CCIM, SIOR (Piedmont Properties of the Carolinas/CORFAC International, based in Charlotte, NC)

Top Referring Broker
Scott Savacool, CCIM, SIOR, with Sansone Group/CORFAC International, based in St. Louis, MO
Total transactions referred: 14

Top Referring Firm
Sansone Group/CORFAC International, based in St. Louis, MO
Total transactions referred: 20

About CORFAC International
In association with global affiliates, CORFAC International offers commercial real estate services with market reach in 48 countries worldwide. Founded in 1989, CORFAC firms completed more than 10,000 lease and sales transactions totaling approximately 400 million square feet of space valued in excess of $7.4 billion in 2014. For more information on the CORFAC network, call 224.257.4400 or visit www.corfac.com.