Commercial development has occupied local headlines recently, a healthy side effect to a recovered national economy and a localized effort to bootstrap urban neighborhoods within the Capital District.
Troy’s Monument Square, Schenectady’s State Street corridor and Albany’s warehouse district are some of the epicenters spurring commercial investors to rehabilitate century old buildings into modernized hubs for business. A localized phenomenon started roughly 20 years ago with the development of centralized non-for-profits focused on the promotion and restoration of neighborhoods, business improvement districts or BIDs for short. It has since helped turn municipal governments around to create a more friendly environment for businesses.
“Local community development agencies have been more involved and willing to help with loans,” said Jessica Richer, RealtyUSA licensed
associate real estate broker. “Some municipalities have specific micro-loans to help businesses get started.” Richer said she has observed an increase in banks’ eagerness to finance loans, commercial loans in particular.
Richer specializes in commercial properties. She handles all aspects of land development, representation of landlords and tenants for leasing of retail, office and warehouse space and selling of real estate property such as mixed-use buildings, multi-family apartment buildings and all types of commercial real estate.
With more than 65 offices and nearly 2,000 agents, RealtyUSA closed on $3.4 billion in sales last year, statewide.
“RealtyUSA is the No. 1 independently owned real estate company in upstate New York, and is ranked in the Top 10 nationally based on closed transaction sales,” said Richer, who has been affiliated with the real estate company since 2007 after starting her career as a private real estate developer nearly 15 years ago.
Richer said her agency’s success is dependent upon a team approach, where there are other real estate professionals who collaborate on multiple projects.
“I ask [clients] about their current location — what do they like and what would they want to do differently,” said Richer. From there, she said the two sides work together to assess the needs for the ideal work space: energy demands, safety precautions, docking requirements and traffic requirements for the parking lot. “Parking for employees and customers is important,” she said. “A key location factor can be proximity to the highway system. Some businesses want exposure and signage on a main road while others do not need to be on a main road.”
On the other side of the table, property owners are sometimes faced with the debate over whether to sell or lease out the property to a potential tenant.
“When a user is going to lease space, we do an analysis on the costs associated for the space,” said Richer. How much to charge for rent takes planning. The price includes a base rent and costs associated with taxes, insurance and maintenance. Other costs, like utilities, refuse, landscaping, snow plowing and janitorial maintenance should also be considered. Ultimately, if a sale is in order, “we will meet with the owners, conduct a site review and look at comparable properties that are currently on the market, and those that have sold in the last two years,” said Richer.
“If the sale involves a business, it is more complicated because we have to look at financial statements, profit and loss, good will, equipment and if the owners are willing to stay and train the new owners so they can maintain the business.”
In January, Richer was installed as president of the Commercial and Industrial Real Estate Brokers, Inc. (CIREB), a professional trade association established by a small group of commercial realtors in 1967. CIREB maintains the country’s oldest and most advanced commercial multiple listing service.
“We are very fortunate to have the Commercial and Industrial Real Estate Brokers, Inc.,” said Richer. “[CIREB] is unique to our area and allows for the commercial realtors to have a separate and distinct multiple listing service.”
Jessica Richer can be reached by calling 364-7406 or by e-mail at [email protected].
