Well with the election behind us there is nowhere to look but the future. One result of the election is the legalization of marijuana. Industrial and retail stand to gain from this law change. Growing at scale requires lots of space and consistent climate, boosting demand for large warehouse space. Edibles require packaging and distributor space. Even hard to lease former bank vault space is in demand to handle the large amount of cash storage (because banks still won’t accept or lend to growers). Legalization will also boost retail with marijuana shops proliferating like liquor stores. Also could be interesting to see if it boosts tourism as people travel as they do to Napa Valley or craft brew areas.
While we may see loosening of energy regulations under the new administration, you should look to take advantage of retrofit rebates while you can to lower your energy costs. If you are looking for a resource contact Jim Murphy at CEI – jmurphy.solutions@gmail.com. Your net cost should be zero and you will have new bulbs and lower monthly costs.
One thing that has definitely gone up and probably will continue to are rates. The 10-year treasury went from 1.71% to 2.36% from election night to present. Time to lock in still low rates or buy and borrow as long term as you can.
The USD Real Estate Index remains unchanged. Funny it is about where it was at the beginning of the year (but it’s been a rollercoaster through the year). The initial forecast for job growth is 30,000 for 2017. This is solid but less than 2016 and to put a further dent in unemployment. (Congrats to USD for publishing this bell weather index for 25 years now!)
While we usher in a new era of making America great, we need to be vigilant of how technology is likely to upend the globe. According to Moshe Vardi, a professor at Rice University, half of the world’s workers will be replaced within the next 30 years. Robots may take over many spheres of life. On the positive side, we will have more leisure time but the question remains, without a job how will you pay for it? Self driving cars could reduce the need for parking structures, curbside parking, parking lots and allow for more redevelopment, repositioning and densification of real estate sites. 3-D printing will move from on-demand component production to fully automated construction (as recently witnessed in China). The internet of things (IOT) will allow for more and more automation of buildings thereby making them more profitable. One I particularly like is on premises security where cameras are motion sensitive and a remote security monitor can see movement at your property at night and actually speak to the loiterer and warn them of an impending police visit or sound a siren.This allows one security guard to monitor 100’s of properties at once in real time, all of the time. Either way you look at it, a world without work is coming – it could be utopia or it could be hell.
Well besides celebrating the Holidays, I am pleased to announce that CDC Commercial will be celebrating 20 years in the business this month. As I reflect on this and the approaching Holidays, I want to thank each of you for the relationships we have and those that will grow in the future. If there is one thing the recent election has taught us is that we are a diverse society. Each of us is different in our own way but when harnessed together we can achieve great things. I hope you enjoy this year story….
Little Barbara couldn’t understand why her mommy could never come home. Barbara looked up into her dad’s eyes and asked, “Why isn’t Mommy just like everybody else’s Mommy?”
Bob’s jaw tightened and his eyes welled with tears. Her question brought waves of grief, but also of anger. It had been the story of Bob’s life. Life always had to be different for Bob.
When he was a kid, Bob was often bullied by other boys. He was too little at the time to compete in sports. He was often called names he’d rather not remember. From childhood, Bob was different and never seemed to fit in.
Bob, after completing college, married his loving wife Evelyn and was grateful to get a job as a copywriter at the Timothy Eaton Department Store, in Toronto, during the Great Depression. Then he was blessed with his little girl. But it was all short-lived. Evelyn’s bout with cancer stripped them of all their savings and now Bob and his daughter were forced to live in a two-room apartment in the poorer area of Toronto. Evelyn died just days before Christmas in 1938.
Bob struggled to give hope to his child, for whom he couldn’t even afford to buy a Christmas gift. But if he couldn’t buy a gift, he was determined a make one – a storybook!
Bob had created an animal character in his own mind and told the animal’s story to little Barbara to give her comfort and hope. Again and again, Bob told the story, embellishing it more with each telling.
Who was the character? What was the story all about?
The story Bob May created was his own autobiography in fable form. The character he created was a misfit outcast like he was. The name of the character? A little reindeer named Rudolph, with a big shiny nose. Bob finished the book just in time to give it to his little girl on Christmas Day.
But the story doesn’t end there.
The general manager of the T. Eaton Store caught wind of the little storybook and offered Bob May a nominal fee to purchase the rights to print the book. They went on to print, “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” and distribute it to children visiting Santa Claus in their stores.
By 1946, Eaton’s had printed and distributed more than six million copies of Rudolph. That same year, a major publisher wanted to purchase the rights from Eaton’s to print an updated version of the book.
In an unprecedented gesture of kindness, the CEO of Eaton’s returned all rights back to Bob May. The book became a bestseller.
Many toy and marketing deals followed and Bob May, now remarried with a growing family, became wealthy from the story he created to comfort his grieving daughter. But the story doesn’t end there either. Bob’s brother-in-law, Johnny Marks, made a song adaptation to Rudolph. Though the song was turned down by such popular vocalists as Bing Crosby and Dinah Shore, it was recorded by the singing cowboy, Gene Autry.
“Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” was released in 1949 and became a phenomenal success, selling more records than any other Christmas song, with the exception of “White Christmas.”
The gift of love that Bob May created for his daughter so long ago kept on returning back to bless him again and again. And Bob May learned the lesson, just like his dear friend Rudolph, that being different isn’t so bad. In fact, being different can be a blessing.
