Why You Shouldn’t Worry About the Next Downturn

We are likely approaching the peak of this cycle—although most commercial real estate professionals and economists agree that there are likely two years of runway left—but the end of the cycle might not be bad news. Stream Realty Partners is heading into an expansion phase to grow its Southern California platform, and has hired veteran Martin Pupil to spearhead the charge. Pupil, who joins the firm from Colliers International and will serve as executive managing director of the firm’s Orange County, Los Angeles and Inland Empire platforms, says that a downturn could potentially accelerate growth.

“There is still time left in this cycle. We are two to three years out in that regard,” Pupil tells GlobeSt.com. “We are also not looking at this from a purely cycle perspective. Cycles are more important to developers than they are to owners and investors. For us, the cycle is less important, and we have been very disciplined this cycle. The ability to deploy when things change is also exciting. So, on the investment and principal side, a slow down is a good thing if you are well capitalized and well positioned. On the services side, I think the best time to grow a services platform is in a downturn. At Colliers, we almost tripled in size in 2008, 2009 and 2010. I think there are opportunities all around, but I think that might help us accelerate our growth and come out on the other side a better company.”

Pupil has joined the firm to build a strong platform, and he is taking on all asset classes and commercial real estate niches—from investment sales and development to leasing and property management. Of course, he is planning to recruit a team to execute the strategy. “I was intrigued by the opportunity to build something. Southern California is a huge market, and this was an opportunity to build a full-service offering for our clients from deployment to execution of strategy to leasing and property management,” he explains. “That was really appealing to me.”

While Pupil says that the timing is perfect to grow the platform, he is taking on a large geographic region and a broad range of services, but he says there is one commonality: technology. “The commonality between all of the different product types is technology,” explains Pupil. “Technology has really impacted office, retail, industrial and even multifamily. We are understanding how technology is changing the use of space by the end user, and any time something has created disruption to the degree that it has, it is an opportunity for users and investors alike.”

As a result, Southern California, with its diversity and access, will allow the firm to leverage and forge industry relationships to accommodate the growth. “Southern California offers us the ability to partner with various people in the CRE tech space and pick their brains,” says Pupil. “Partnering with those people to gain their knowledge and engage them on assignments with us is huge. Ideally, we are going to be bringing on a team of people that are curious, creative and want to figure out this space and find people to help them do that.”

Growth and recruiting are currently the firm’s focus, rather than specific volume goals. “It is all about getting the right people on the bus and getting the right geographic coverage,” he adds. It is too early to focus on volume and market share. We need to get the right people on board first.”