The Rust Belt Apartment Podcast: Recent Episodes
Peter Grealis
A deep dive into the multifamily market across the Midwest. Brought to you by Peter Grealis and the Cooper Multifamily Team at Colliers in Cleveland.
In this 13th episode of the Rust Belt Apartment Podcast, the team sits down with Colliers' family Mehdi Star and Kourosh Bakhtvar of the Net Lease Exchange Experts, or NLX for short, to discuss the 1031 and DST exchange process.
In the twelfth episode of the Rust Belt Apartment podcast the team sits down with capital markets professionals Dan Eibler and Kathryn Cassidy to peek behind the curtain on commercial real estate lending.
In this eleventh episode of the podcast the team sits down with Ken Prendergast, the journalist and author behind the very popular real estate blog NEOtrans.
0:00 Introduction
1:55 Background in Railways and Journalism
3:50 Birth of the NEOtrans Blog
8:30 Team Effort
10:15 Editorial Process
11:05 Usually First and Always Free
12:48 Accuracy of Information and Sources
15:45 Scooping the Sherwin Williams HQ
20:10 Industry Reception of the Blog
22:15 Thoughts on the Past 10 Years of CLE Development
29:10 Midtown, University Circle and Hough Developments
37:50 Leasing Activity on New Developments
41:45 Multifamily Measuring Stick
43:20 University Circle vs the CBD
46:18 What is the NEXT BIG Project?
51:35 Closing Remarks
In the tenth episode of the Rust Belt Apartment podcast, the team sits down with leasing professional Jourdan Poore of Village Green to discuss the current state of the apartment leasing market and where it's headed in the future.
In this episode of the Rust Belt Apartment podcast the team sits down with Ralph McGreevy, Executive Director and COO of the Northern Ohio Apartment Association.
In the eighth episode of the Rust Belt Apartment podcast, the team sits down with Bryan McCann and Willis Croker of the Colliers Pittsburgh office to discuss both the similarities and differences of two Rust Belt Submarkets: Cleveland and Pittsburgh.
0:00 – Guest introductions, Bryan McCann and Willis Croker
3:00 - Is Pittsburgh actually in the Midwest?
4:50 – Guest Backgrounds and Eventual Journey into Real Estate
11:44 – Golfing with Arnold Palmer
13:08 – Pittsburgh roots
14:30 – Quick Stats: Cleveland vs. Pittsburgh
16:00 – State of the Multifamily Market: Pittsburgh
22:35 – Spurring Growth through Synergy & Policy
23:48 – The Importance of Universities and Biotech in Pittsburgh
25:41 – Concentric Circle of Transportation and Logistics leading to Growth
29:00 – Ground-up, New Construction in both Cleveland and Pittsburgh
31:24 – The Blend of Hospitality and Apartments
39:12 – Who is the Typical Buyer in Pittsburgh? Where do the opportunities exist?
44:30 – The synergy of Cleveland and Pittsbugh
47:36 – Closing Remarks
In this seventh episode, the team sits down with CEO and Founder of Ecosystms, Ricard Lamondin to discuss water and energy conservation for apartment owners.
0:00 Guest Introduction, Richard Lamondin, Ecosystems
1:40 Water and Energy Conservation 101
6:30 Ohio Water Usage – 5 Trillion Gallons per Year
7:14 The history behind the genesis of Ecosytems
10:20 The process of an Ecosystems Conservation Study
15:56 Proof of Concept through Client Education and Engagement
20:10 Case Study: Columbus, Ohio
24:15 Dealing with Objections from Owners
26:05 Different States present Different Challenges
29:14 Who does Ecosystems Work With?
33:25 Where is water and energy conservation headed?
37:45 Supply Chain Challenges
40:25 How Often Should Owners be Looking into Conservation?
43:35 Closing Remarks
In this 6th EP of the Rust Belt Apartment podcast the team sits down with Bhavin Patel and Michael Smith of Green Harvest Capital to discuss past, present and future plans for this extremely successful NE Ohio apartment group.
00:00 - Guest Intro and Background: Bhavin Patel and Michael Smith of Green Harvest Capital
6:36 - Early beginnings in Extended Stay
11:05 - Proving out the Green Harvest Thesis & Scaling Up
13:105 - Third Party Management and the GHC Business Model
16:35 - Hyper-focus on workforce housing
21:51 - What does value-add mean to GHC?
23:40 - Blending of multifamily amenities with hospitality amenities
26:50 - The future of GHC asset amenities: tenant focus
31:00 - Partnerships with Advisors
32:45 - Northern Ohio Apartment Association
34:00 - GHC approach to financing & debt
36:50 - Tenant voucher programs
37:33 - What is it about NE Ohio?
39:20 - Michael’s Top 5
41:00 - Bhavin’s Long-term view on NE Ohio
45:00 - Impact of inflation on Multifamily
48:20 - More NE Ohio talk!
51:10 - What’s next in the multifamily markets?
54:00 - Closing Remarks
In this fifth episiode of The Rust Belt Apartment Podcast the team sits down with John MacFarland of Cost Segregation Services to take a deep dive into past, present and future of cost segregation in real estate.
00:00 - John MacFarland Intro
2:35 - Gary’s History Lesson
3:20 - Component Depreciation
4:55 – The Tax Reform Act of 1986
5:50 - Hospital Corporation of America vs Commissioner
6:25 - Cost Segregation
11:22 - Definition of the Cost Segregation process
12:50 - 5 Year and 15 Year Depreciation
15:25 - Processes & Guidelines
16:45 - Engineering Study of the Asset
18:18 - Can I conduct a cost segregation study myself?
20:30 - Defense of methodology
22:50 - Return on Investment
24:35 - The Look Back Study
26:25 - Predictive Analysis
28:00 - CSSI, the IRS and Audits
32:21 - OK John, what is the catch? This sounds too good to be true
36:38 - Size and scope of CSSI Cost Segregation Studies
41:45 - Bonus Depreciation vs Cost Segregation
45:25 - Post-Sale Cost Segregation
50:21 - Predictive Analysis Reviews
51:00 - $50 Million Dollar Case Study
1:00:15 - $15 Million Dollar Case Study
1:01:00 - $6 Million Dollar Case Study
1:03:16 - Closing Remarks
In this fourth episode of The Rust Belt Apartment Podcast, the team sits down with investor, owner, coach and podcaster Agostino Pintus. Over the course of the past 5 years Agostino and his team have made big moves in NE Ohio real estate and we are honored to have him on the show.
00:38 - Agostino Pintus intro
01:12 - Personal and Professional Background
05:00 - The Leap from Active Spectator to Active Participant
08:06 - Why Cleveland?
11:10 - The Fundamentals of Scaling and Management
12:01 - Culture Matters, Presence Matters
13:25 - The Power of the Brand and Team Building
15:45 - Understanding the Markets You Operate In: Cash Flow vs. Appreciation
17:40 - The Importance of Partnerships in Business
22:35 - Kenny Wolfe and the Dallas Connection
24:27 - Looking at both On-Market and Off-Market Opportunities
26:50 - The blueprint of a workforce housing rebrand - Las Colinas case study
33:20 - Can Anyone Do It? Operations and Third Party Management
37:50 - Buying the Asset is the Easy Part
40:00 - What is Important to a Broker?
42:25 - What Separates Closers from Flakes?
44:30 - Navigating the Unknown in 2022 and Beyond
55:30 - The “Rockefeller Guy”
1:00:35 - Diversifying the Portfolio
1:03:07 - Closing Remarks
Is this episode of The Rust Belt Apartment Podcast the team again sits down with property tax expert Kieran Jennings of Siegel Jennings to discuss the passage of Ohio House Bill 126 and what that means for multifamily property owners in Ohio.
0:00 - Episode & Guest introduction
1:55 - What is actually in the recently passed HB 126?
5:10 - What did not get included?
7:10 - Private Pay agreements
8:55 - Drop & Swap explained
10:55 - Has the Drop & Swap been eliminated in Ohio?
12:30 - Who WON with passage of House Bill 126?
14:15 - The Mortgage Barometer
17:15 - Refinancing Silver Lining
19:02 -Retroactive Property Tax Valuation Appeals
20:55 - Does HB 126 lead to more Fair & Uniform Taxation?
26:39 - Who LOST with passage of House Bill 126?
28:49 - Closing Remarks
In the second episode of The Rust Belt Apartment Podcast the team is joined by Steve Medinger and Aaron Massara of BlueMark Capital to discuss the current state of the financial markets.
BlueMark Intro 0:42
Episode Topic Overview 2:15
What Inning are we in? 4:30
What product is out there for Buyers? 6:15
How are deals being Underwritten? What is the Stress Test? 8:00
Where are Interest Rates headed? 12:25
Where is the ideal balance in term, rate and yield maintenance? 18:40
Life Company lending options 21:25
Debt Fund lending options 25:05
Mezzanine and Bridge options 26:55
How is the finance market looking at Ohio? 29:00
The power of marketing knoweldge 33:00
Cleveland Cap Rates and Cash Flow 35:50
Rent Growth 38:45
Transactional Timing in 2022 44:00
Is Multifamily the true darling of today's market? 48:45
Closing Remarks 50:40
In this inaugural episode the team sits down the Kieran Jennings to discuss property taxes in the state of Ohio. Kieran Jennings is the managing partner at Seigel Jennings a property tax law firm headquartered in Cleveland with offices in Columbus, Pittsburgh and Chicago.
The conversation covered the basics of property tax law in Ohio, the valuation and appeals process along with perspectives on the positives and negatives of Ohio House Bill 126. Whether an established owner or new to the Ohio market, this episode has something for everyone!