FT. LAUDERDALE, FL-Marcus & Millichap Real Estate Investment Services has promoted Marc E. Strauss to first vice president of Investments. The promotion is one of the highest levels of recognition the firm awards to investment specialists.
A 27-year commercial real estate industry veteran, Strauss specializes in the sale of retail and office properties. He is a senior director of Marcus & Millichap’s National Retail Group. An active member of ICSC, Strauss has brokered the sale of more than $650 million in 220 transactions in 22 states since joining the company more than 14 years ago.
“My strategy moving forward will be to focus on realistic sellers and buyers albeit individuals, banks, or conduit lenders who have taken properties back through default,” Strauss tells GlobeSt.com. “2011 will be a year that property owners who are motivated to sell will by pricing their assets correctly.”
As Strauss sees it, sellers who continue to hold out for unrealistic prices and believe the 2006 real estate market will be back will continue to own their real estate. Banks will be disposing of assets that on their books and the market will see some of their “extend and pretend” mentality start to wane, he predicts.
“My philosophy remains the same: Work with private parties and intuitional owners who are realistic and are willing to meet the market in terms of pricing,” Strauss says. “Our role as brokers is to facilitate sales that mutually benefit all parties. After brokering the bankruptcy-foreclosure sale of Towers of Coral Springs for $9.7 million, my focus will also be to work in that arena which requires a level of expertise that I can now bring to the table.”
Strauss expects overall retail occupancy will improve slightly with rental rates rising slightly also. Vacancies in the small “mom and pop” strip centers along the major corridors will continue to be high as tenants struggle or move to larger, busier centers with similar rents to what they are currently paying. Because banks will sell their REOs and conduit lenders will be bringing properties to market, he says, capitalization rates will stay high, in the nine to 10 cap range.
Strauss predicts the office sector will also only slightly improve because the unemployment picture is still not promising. Building owners will continue to offer incentives such as free rent and full build-outs to lure tenants from competitive buildings, he says. Capitalizations rates for other than trophy assets will also range in the 9% range unless there is huge upside where buyers will be able to improve the net operating income dramatically.
“2011 will be a good year for the investment real estate markets as sellers have finally become rational in their pricing expectations and buyers are recognizing the opportunities to make sound investments now with future upside gains,” Strauss concludes. Most recently, Strauss held the title of vice president investments. After joining the firm in February 1997 as an associate, Strauss was promoted to senior associate in February 2000. He was then named a senior investment associate in 2003 and vice president investments in 2008. He has also received 16 sales awards from Marcus & Millichap.
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