A week ago last Thursday, we lost one of the most vibrant sports reporters a basketball court has ever known, when Craig Sager passed away at the age of 65. Here was a man who rose from a small-town Midwestern upbringing to become one of the most recognizable sports reporters on the basketball scene. He …
I’ve been in the middle of estate planning the last year or so, and in the summer 2015, purchased some substantial life insurance. It was a hefty premium indeed. The agent bugged me for months, repeatedly showing up at the office unannounced to ask for the order. I finally signed the papers, and can you …
I just returned from the ICSC National show, the 2nd largest retail show in the country. Optimism was fairly decent, but then again it’s a retail conference. A few things I heard on the floor and in the taxi lines: If investors are willing to risk secondary equity at 12%, we may be closer to …
A few months ago, I attended a ULI-sponsored lunch where Anita Kramer, their SVP of Capital Markets and Real Estate, shared her thoughts on Emerging Trends in Real Estate. I was seated at her table, and as we talked, she shared that she believes there will be a shortage of unskilled and skilled workers in …
Over the years, I have heard contractors, and for that matter, the many service providers in this industry, say something like, “I’m not interested. That job/customer is just too small for me.” While this can certainly be wise strategy, to me, a decision to exclude work needs to be approached with much wisdom. The reality …
I’m a morning person, so I usually come to work all fired up. Then lunch time hits. As the afternoon progresses, I sometimes go from turbo to first gear. I have found a walk outside around our place, even if it’s only 15 minutes, can move the gear up a bit. Here’s my quick value …
I was recently invited to a dinner as a guest of Alan Fuller and my daughter Chappell, both of Alliance Real Estate, to hear Alliance’s thoughts on what is happening in the CRE world along with those of Suzanne Mulvee, Director of Research for Costar Group. It was nice that they chose the mountains of …
A couple of weeks ago, I had a brush with death. Well, not really, but it felt that way for a few seconds. I was in Asheville, NC at the intersection of Airport Road and I-26, a “diverging diamond interchange.” This video shows you exactly how traffic flow works, where one is essentially crisscrossing …
One of our jobs in Somerset, KY is set to turn over soon. Because it is a new prototype for our customer, I went to visit this week and to meet with our project superintendent. He and I talked over dinner about problem solving and management skills. I was lamenting that sometimes it’s hard to …
Earlier in the week I was meeting with an equity firm we’ve partnered with over the years. They are experienced, and just solid folks. We have worked on several projects together, where they provide the equity to the developer sponsor, and we build the project, sort of like a 3-legged stool. That morning, we were …
Every year, there are more regulatory boxes to check and forms to fill out for a job site. However, our number one job is always to ensure anyone who enters our site remains safe. Our project superintendents are on the front line, and we ask them to walk their job “more than once,” looking for …
We would all like to weigh our words carefully before we speak, and only say things we’ll be proud of 24-hours later. In reality, this doesn’t always happen. Earlier this week, toward the end of a tough, stressful day, I had a disagreement with a couple of our managers over something minor. I told them …