OTR Reader Comments:
Manhattan’s Retail Landscape
Following
are a few of the comments I received from OTR readers about my piece on the
significant retail space vacancy in Manhattan:
Lots of wisdom here but the issue isn't confined to Manhattan.
Stores on 7th Avenue, where I live in Park Slope, are vacant in great
profusion, some for more than a year or two. Only new tenants are two
nail salons directly across the street from each other, and a Chipotle!
Highest and best use in the neighborhood: real estate offices.
**
Thanks for
this. The future of the whole of commercial real estate, not just retail
in Manhattan, is very concerning to me because of Internet induced
disintermediation, with regard to both space and services/products. It’s almost
that nobody has to be anywhere, at least as much of the time as before, so any
particular place is important less frequently. It also costs a landlord, or a
space user, some money to be innovative, and maybe more valuable, versus the
competition, but this innovation costs money/rent, which must come out of the
real estate/business. Now, interest rates are going up too, which reduces
available cash for innovative competition. And we better keep the immigrants
coming because the natives are not growing larger households for the most part.
I see, generally, long-term commercial real estate trouble.
**
And now Payless 400 stores
= which will affect more urban streetscapes.
On a kindred subject, this past week in the New
York Times there was a story about “Zombie Malls.” In one of my seemingly 19 lives in the
commercial real estate industry, I worked on turning around (i.e. saving)
shopping centers and malls. Some projects were
successful. Others not.
The mall industry has always been
dramatically segmented and it’s more now than ever. It may end up that there are only 6 super-regional enclosed malls left in the country (perhaps a slight exaggeration); then, for
lack of a better word, second-tier malls, which are able to maintain enough tenancy
(baring more and more department store closures) to still be relevant. And then there are the others, which, in many
cases, should never have been built. What happens to those properties – and I’m not talking about the structure but
rather the land – will be in the hands of today’s generation of turnaround
specialists – that is, after the lender forecloses and doesn’t know what the
heck to do with the property.
We are in some very interesting times, people. Not just in retail but also in how we live
our lives and how technology is impacting society. Change is exciting and sometimes frightening. I’m certain that’s one of the things
that have kept me youthful – not being afraid to embrace chance. Well, that and the good genes that I
inherited from my dad, Manney ‘the’ Felix.
Dr. Brian Felix
This past week my son, Dr. Brian Felix was awarded
tenure in his position as Assistant Professor of Music at The University of
North Carolina – Asheville. Brian and
all those who love him were looking forward to this moment, as it appeared that
tenure would be coming. Like a lot of things we look forward to, the
thrill of it actually happening tops all the anticipation. There was no formal ceremony, however the
party was fab!
Going to Australia - finally!
Yesterday, I finalized my plan to go to
Australia in August! I’ve wanted to visit that country for a long time and
what stimulated this trip is a music festival in which my friends The
Heart Collectors, play a significant role. “O Heart Fest”
is billed as ‘Conscious Awakening Indie Folk Festival.’ It’ll take place on
August 25, 26 & 27 in Tyalgum Village, New South Wales (Population: 300).
The United
Airlines rep did an incredible job of helping me make the reservation, which
includes getting me an overnight stay in Sydney on the return trip. Interested in joining me?
Inspirational Quotes
I’ve always
loved inspiration quotes. Serendipitously, I discovered
(and bought) a book called, “It always seems impossible until it’s done.”
Here are some
of the entries that resonated with me; I hope you find something here for
yourself or someone you know or love…
“Your life is
precious. You’ve only got one. Don’t waste it on bad relationships, on bad
marriages, on bad jobs, on bad people.
Waste it wisely on what you want to do.”
Eric Idle, actor.
“I couldn’t
wait for success so I went on without it.”
Jonathan Winters, comedian
“Whatever you
do, don’t stop. Just keep on going. Because one way or the other, if you want to
find reasons why you shouldn’t keep on, you’ll find ‘em. The obstacles are all there; there are a
million of ‘em. But if you do want to do
something, you do it anyway, and handle the obstacles as they come.”
Benny Goodman, musician
“Be true do
yourself and keep things simple. People
complicate things.”
Jay Z, musician and businessman
“Go for the
moon. If you don’t get it, you’ll still
be heading for a star. Happiness lies
not in the mere possession of money, it leads in the joy of achievement, in the
thrill of the creative effort.”
Franklin D. Roosevelt, U.S. President
“When you
learn to harness the power of your fears, it can take you places beyond your
wildest dreams.”
Jimmy Iovine, music producer
“It’s hard to
beat a person who never gives up.”
Babe Ruth, baseball player
“Nothing is
particularly hard if you divide it into small jobs.”
Henry Ford, industrialist
“Don’t give
up. There are too many nay-sayers out
there who will try to discourage you. Don’t
listen to them. The only one who can
make you give up is yourself.”
Sidney Sheldon, writer
“When you
believe you can – you can!”
Maxwell Malta, doctor and writer
“Anyone who
has never made a mistake has never tried anything new.” Albert Einstein,
physicist
“I want to
stay as close to the edge as I can without going over. Out on the edge you see all kinds of things
you can’t see from the center.”
Kurt Vonnegut Jr., author
“Don’t become
something just because someone else wants you to, or because it’s easy; you won’t
be happy. You have to do what you
really, really, really, really want to do, even if it scares the shit out of
you.”
Kristen Wiig, actress and comedian
“I don’t know
where I’m going from here but I promise it won’t be boring.” David Bowie,
musician
On the Road
April 23 – 27:
London, UK
June 5-7:
Chicago
June 25 – 27: IMN’s U.S. Real Estate Opportunityand Private Funds Investing Forum,
Newport, Rhode Island. There’s a great lineup of speakers already announced and
I’ll be moderating my signature panel which, thanks to the creativity of Steve
Glener of IMN, is being billed as, “Woke up, got out of bed, dragged a comb
across my head – A Day in the Life of an LP.”
Music note:
Great progress is being made on my 3rd album (I mean CD) of
original songs. This will be a
fund-raising project for a non-profit.
Some musicians from the commercial real estate industry will be featured
on the album – recently in Boston a couple of those folks added vocals and
guitar to two of the tracks, “When I Wasn’t Looking” and “Shoot for the
Moon.” As the production of the album
continues, others will add their magic to the project. My plan is to release the CD for Christmas,
2017. The album title of is “Light of
Day.”
 |
| A bold seagull in Boston who turned to me when I talked to him |
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