Reminder that we are having our monthly networking call on Monday, Sept 28th from 4:00-5:00 EDT. Join us for great conversations -> Networking Call Link

Frank Forte (Lucern Capital Partners) walked us through a deal his team dropped a few months back. Under contract on a small bay park in Hampton, VA, right by the Port of Virginia. Twenty years old, red brick, sharp landscaping, NASA down the street. On paper, a layup. Then the leases came in and didn't match the story. Then survey and title came back with a problem nobody saw coming. Frank asked the sellers to make it right. They said no. Deal's dead, and he tells you exactly where it fell apart. He also names the one red flag killing more deals than anything else in this market right now, and it's not what you'd guess.

I have been going back-and-forth on a 96,000 SF development. I did my due diligence, but the market data that I could find was sparse at best. So I delayed...and delayed. I just couldn't get comfortable and my lender was asking questions that I just didn't have data to support. Finally I engaged Wayne Bares and Cody Payne at Small Bay Feasibility to build a feasibility study that would give me the data that I needed to feel confident with the project. The Feasibility study they provided is very comprehensive. It supported many of my assumptions, and provided a list of conditions that I need to address to improve the chance of success. My lender loved it and I now have real data, provided by an industry leader, to support my investor pitch deck (not just assumptions). I have always been a value-add investor and have that process down. Now I have the resources and confidence to jump into developing a larger small bay complex. If you are experiencing the same challenges finding real data in your market to support your small bay development, reach out to Wayne and Cody. It is worth the conversation. wS