Another solid week in the books. Many meaningful updates, as well as a ton of ongoing dialogue with retailers, institutions, developers, lenders and brokers, just to name a few. We owe it to ourselves to stay informed and educated, and I’m making a serious effort to do just that.
Confidence:
Market confidence feels to be picking up. I believe that is largely in part to some businesses and states making plans to reopen. While our new reality will undoubtedly be a different one, I do think smart and solid companies will find increased opportunities moving forward. Personally, I hope we go slow and cautious with these re-openings. Let’s get it right.
PPP Loans:
Congress approved a second wave of loans this week, which I think was a good move for the industry. Many landlords confirmed a lot of their tenants were successful in getting PPP money, which let’s hope gets put to good use.
Deal Flow:
Dollar General focus continues with pending and proposed deals. Our marketing and research team has been continually busy with DG. We’re also seeing a few institutional clients inquire about current DG’s as well. That is a change compared to previous weeks.
Buyers: We have a few buyers in exchange, as well as other groups looking for credit specific products. A sample of wants include: Gas Stations under long term lease, Harbor Freight, Aspen Dental and Tractor Supply.
Listings:
We just listed a high profile NNN CVS in Minneapolis with around 12 years of term. An excellent performer that will definitely get a lot of early looks in this market. The property also has a drive thru, which is rare for such an urban store.
Additionally, we are re-introducing our Scheels Sports ground lease opportunity to the market. It was slated to open on July 11th. We took a pause with marketing until we got clarity on an opening date. We were just informed that Scheels is keeping with their schedule to open as planned. This superstore will be exciting for the Twin Cities and I personally can’t wait to check it out. We have been monitoring Scheels Covid-19 policies. They have been deemed essential at most locations and are doing a great job of implementing safety measures.
Interesting Observations
Tractor Supply:
I watched an interview with Tractor Supply’s CEO, who did a nice job of explaining what TSC is doing in this current climate. Some positive takeaways include: a big spike in curbside pickup business and next day local deliveries. Also, he commented how TSC is the nation’s largest bagged feed seller. A fact I did not know, and I think it speaks to how essential they are as a retailer.
Re-Development/Re-Purpose/Re-Use:
We saw an uptick in inquiries where buyers are looking at acquiring existing businesses to change the use. We have some restaurant and movie theater properties that could make sense to repurpose.
Restaurants:
I had an interesting thought this week with regard to restaurants. Could this pandemic spell opportunity for some of the large chain restaurants who’ve lost market share in recent years? Most are better capitalized and could arguably implement safety policies on a more streamlined basis. If the American consumer does feel safer at a particular chain restaurant that might impact their purchase decisions – We shall see.
Looking forward to another productive week here @ Brisky!
All the best,
Brian
