“Valentine’s cards say stuff on them that we’d like to say ourselves, but we wouldn’t be caught dead saying.” – Mike age 8
Happy Lunar New Year and the year of the rat! I must tell you; I was scheduled to run the Hong Kong marathon on February 9th, but it was canceled this week due to the Coronavirus epidemic. This was to be my 5th Continent to race on – lots of training, lots of logistics and planning. Needless to say – disappointing. To add insult to injury, we received our masks this week and of course, they are made in China! Another thing that is growing logarithmically in China is lawyers. Ten years ago, there were virtually zero attorneys and now there are 250,000. That’s compared to about a 15% increase in the U.S. where we now have 1,338,678(sounds like an untapped U.S. export to me ☺!).
While I mourn the impact of the coronavirus on my travel and goals, you may be interested that the cure may come out of Inovio Pharmaceuticals, a San Diego based company that has already sequenced the virus and is testing the cure. You might be surprised but San Diego is the #1 metro for NIH (National Institute of Health) research dollars to research institutes. It is also the #3 life sciences hub according to Business Facilities Magazine (2015).
With Valentines Day and Cupid just around the corner, it made me think about cubic as in cubic square feet. The trend has already started in industrial warehouse, but I expect it may carry into office and retail. It isn’t just floor footage anymore but the total area that counts. We are seeing industrial buildings going as high as 36-foot clear heights! Robots, conveyor belts, and better fire suppression lead to smaller isles and higher rack storage leading to the new importance of cubic feet.
Whatever your gender might be or profess to be, we all need to go to the bathroom. Property and business owners should all know that single-use toilet facilities must be identified as “All Gender”. Assembly Bill #1732 dictates that all single-use restrooms in any business, public accommodation or government agency must immediately change identification symbols and comply with Chapter 11B of the California Building Code (CBC).
Speaking of the building code, for the past 30+ years, the statute has stipulated that a building permit was good for six months and extensions were up to administrative code (city). With severe labor shortages, project delays are more common. AB2913 extends the fuse on a building permit to one year and codifies one or more extensions for just cause.
The real estate industry has been hit by a rash of money wiring scams. On a recent deal, we saw and thwarted one, so I think it is time for everyone to be on the alert (these aren’t just some guy in Nigeria trying to get you to wire some money). We had someone try and spoof being the escrow company on a deal.
Here’s how these scams usually go down: a thief hacks into a real estate or title company’s computer system and then studies the transactions, from the language used to the format of the wiring instructions. When the scammer strikes, he or she will often pose as someone from the real estate or titling company to instruct the buyer to wire funds to them.
The buyer doesn’t have reason to question the request since it’s coming from what appears to be a legitimate entity that is part of the buying process.
Never heard of these scams?
There’s a reason for that. Business email compromise scams don’t get a lot of press, because usually, the parties involved want to keep it as private as possible. That means most people never get their money back!
Whether it be record stores, video stores or department stores, things keep changing and evolving. Landlords must continually re-invent themselves and their properties. In Miami, a Bloomingdales is being replaced with an athletic resort and beach club. This isn’t your normal 35,000 sf athletic club. No, it is 140,000 sf fitness, training, spa, basketball courts, indoor aquatic center and 40,000 sf outdoor beach club akin to a Vegas pool deck.
I’m telling you as much as people are cocooning and having Amazon deliver everything to the house, there is a pent-up demand for people to BEG! Yes, this is my new term (I haven’t copyrighted it yet!) it stands for; Browse, Experience, Get Out (BEG). People are getting tired of their screens and their couch and they are begging to get out. People are shopping on Amazon, but they want to get out and browse and see what others are wearing. BEG explains the rising popularity of Breweries and Wineries.
And now from the other corner of our office, here are Nick’s numbers for the month;
Nick’s Numbers
Poway – Current Market Statistics:
Retail
Office
Industrial
(Costar)
Please give me a call or email me if you would like more in-depth info on Poway or other San Diego and North County sub-markets (Nick Zech, 858-232-2100, nzech@cdccommercial.com).
I can only hope that in the month ahead, your CRE BEG’s, your bathrooms have the right sign on them, and you enjoy the love of Valentines Day. I hope you enjoy the story…
LOVE
A group of professional people posed this question to a group of 4 to 8-year olds, “What does love mean?” The answers they got were broader and deeper than anyone could have imagined.
Rebecca- age 8 – “When my grandmother got arthritis she couldn’t bend over and paint her toenails anymore. So, my grandfather does it for her all the time, even when his hands got arthritis too. That’s love.”
Billy – age 4 – “When someone loves you, the way they say your name is different. You know that your name is safe in their mouth.”
Chrissy – age 6 – “Love is when you go out to eat and give somebody most of your French fries without making them give you any of theirs.”
Terri – age 4 – “Love is what makes you smile when you’re tired.”
Danny – age 7 – “Love is when my mommy makes coffee for my daddy and she takes a sip before giving it to him, to make sure the taste is OK.”
Emily – age 8 – “Love is when you kiss all the time. Then when you get tired of kissing, you still want to be together and you talk more. My mommy and daddy are like that. They look gross when they kiss.”
Bobby – age 7 – “Love is what’s in the room with you at Christmas if you stop opening presents and listen.” (Wow!)
Noelle – age 7 – “Love is when you tell a guy you like his shirt, then he wears it every day.”
An author and lecturer once talked about a contest he was asked to judge. The purpose of the contest was to find the most caring child. The winner was a 4-year-old child whose next-door neighbor was an elderly gentleman who had recently lost his wife. Upon seeing the man cry, the little boy went into the old gentleman’s yard, climbed into his lap, and just sat there. When his mother asked him what he had said to the neighbor, the little boy said, “Nothing, I just helped him cry.”
