Do You Know Your Real Estate?

Do you know your properties, buildings, vacant lots, and other real estate assets well? Unless you do a comprehensive overview, you may miss some opportunities.?

As I drive around my Midwest city, an industrial town that has seen its share of manufacturing decline and hollowing out of the middle class, I see a lot of vacancies. Of course, some parts of the community are doing better than others, but there are places in the community that could use a lot of help.?

Storefronts are the most visible and easy to see. Still, if I go into some of the older industrial areas, I see once proud manufacturing buildings empty, falling down, or non-existent. On the one hand, these buildings and locations don’t meet the needs of modern manufacturing, making it difficult to attract a new company to an inner city location. On the other, it would be an excellent place for home-grown businesses to set up shop.?

Here is what the TenStep Checklist has to say about empty buildings and sites:

“Many economic development groups and communities have a business location inventory. It is often for more significant industrial sites that are interesting to site location consultants. Having a complete and robust business location inventory with a database of property owners, current users, zoning, location, and any available incentives is crucial.”

I worked with a community recently that had their “big” and “mega” sites outlined and developed into beautiful colored brochures and maps. But they didn’t have the rest of the available properties accounted for. Sure, it takes some work, but remember who this is for (mostly). It's for your local start-ups and new businesses.?

Here are some steps to take for those marginal retail and manufacturing sites.?

First, develop a map of all retail locations, active and inactive. Are some retail areas, such as old strip centers and similar locations, that doesn’t work for retail anymore still zoned that way? Keep them on the list with an asterisk. They could potentially be an adaptive reuse project.?

Sizeable regional shopping centers are increasingly becoming eligible for this list. If you can make a list interactive with a map, generate data such as vacancy rates, time vacant, rents, average rents, etc. Most importantly, know the owner and their predisposition towards creative alternatives to existing uses.

Do the same for industrial sites. Are there opportunities to get a local developer to purchase an older industrial building and adopt adaptive reuse principles and turn the space into retail, office, residential, or small-scale manufacturing? Be creative in your efforts to inventory these assets.?

Creativity and innovation in recreating or leveling up your economy are always needed. It is even more crucial when your community has seen its manufacturing or retail peak.?

I have published the Ten Step Checklist for Business Formation Support that provides this information, and it is absolutely FREE. You can?download it here.

As a companion to this guidebook, I have also developed a webinar you can attend on May 18th, 2023, at 11:00 CDT. This is also FREE! So sign up by?clicking this link.

If you join us at the webinar, you will learn the following:

1. The detailed steps to creating the start-up atmosphere you want.
2. How to create an online resource guide
3. Why this strategy can become part of your attraction strategy as well.?

The deadline for sign-up by May 12th. Hope to see you there!