NEW YORK CITY-Speakers at the Rooftops Conference, held Friday at the New York Law School, certainly had wisdom to impart on matters of real estate for not-for-profit organizations, but they also spoke of lessons they've learned while being the owners of—and consultants on—the organizations' space.
“We learned that not-for-profits like to be under the same roof because they can share information and resources,” says Jeremy Moss, SVP and director of leasing, Silverstein Properties, Inc., referring to experience gained with 120 Wall Street, which features a city-run program that essentially waives real estate taxes for not-for-profit tenants. “We've also learned how to deal with financial issues creatively when necessary, like by restructuring leases and building out space affordably.”
Richard Warshauer, senior managing director, Colliers International, gained some know-how while working beyond Manhattan, having done commercial real estate deals in all five boroughs, he said. “It's difficult to even find information on where the space is outside of Manhattan. Also, most space is mom-and-pop operated, so that creates a challenge too. It's important to do due diligence, ask what else does the landlord own, what's their financial standing, etc.,” he suggested. “It takes two or three times more digging than Manhattan, where there's tons of data at your fingertips.”
Speakers offered up a number of ways for staff at not-for-profits to successfully work on real estate transactions when they need to find new space or renew a lease.
“If real estate is part of the organization's strategy, it may be useful to have someone on the board who handles that,” said Alice Korngold, president and CEO, Korngold Consulting, “but he or she should be thinking about real estate within the context of the organization and its mission.”
Added Andrew Herz, partner, Patterson Belknap Webb & Tyler LLP, “The real estate needs of non-profits vary greatly; it's important to make sure they're organized cohesively. The last thing the organization needs is to interview brokers,” he noted.
“The first thing they should do is designate someone to work with brokers,” Herz advised. “Then, one person needs to be the liason with lawyers, architects and other service providers and have the authority to call people in the organization who deal with finance and other departments,” he said, “rather than having the real estate company try to speak to the non-profit's various departments.”
Most importantly, said several speakers, is to go to the experts. “Our added value is to sit down with the board and fashion a strategy,” Warshauer said. “The biggest problem with not-for-profits is a lack of focus. So my advice to you is to get professional help.”
Added Moss, “Make sure you have good advisors. You may do a real estate transaction once every 10 to 15 years but real estate professionals do it every day.”
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Rayna Katz
Rayna Katz is a seasoned business journalist whose extensive experience includes coverage of the lodging sector, travel and the culinary space. She was most recently content director for a business-to-business publisher, overseeing four publications. While at Meeting News, a travel trade publication, she received a Best Reporting award for a story on meeting cancellations in New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina.
