NPC Welcomes Chas McIntyre

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Close up photo of Chas McIntyre, smiling.

NPC is pleased to welcome Chas McIntyre to the team.  Chas will serve as a Project Manager for Building Automation System controls upgrades. He has operated his own building controls company and managed every aspect of projects from estimates to RFPs. Chas was brought on board both for his big-picture project stewardship and also for his ability to fine-tune details of projects for precise outcomes.

NPC’s vision is to be able to support our clients through every step of their property maintenance or improvement plans.  You can read more about Chas and how he complements our team here.

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NPC Welcomes Ken Winship

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Close up photo of Ken Winship, smiling.

NPC is pleased to welcome Ken Winship, PE, CEM to our team as a Project Development Lead.  According to Rusty Friend, Director of Energy Engineering Services, Ken stood out from the pack due to his vast ESCO experience. Over his 16 years as a program manager, Ken has taken many projects from investigation to commissioning, with his duties including measurement and verification.

Ken’s clients can be confident that their energy efficiency projects will be efficiently managed and provide returns on investment as projected.  You can read more about Ken and how he complements our team here.

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NPC Welcomes William Slone

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Close up photo of William Slone, smiling.

NPC is pleased to welcome William Slone to the team.  William is a University of Cincinnati graduate and a Registered Architect and LEED AP.

According to managing partner Pete Madson, “It was easy to tell that William has the attention to detail and passion about existing buildings that would allow him to excel in our company.”

You can read more about William and how he complements our team here.

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NPC Welcomes Paige Chapman

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NPC is pleased to welcome Project Engineer Paige Chapman to the team.  Paige is an Ohio State University graduate and has earned her Professional Engineering credential.

According to managing partner Pete Madson, “Hiring Paige was an easy decision to make.  She was obviously super smart and driven, but what really sealed the deal was that she has this natural curiosity that is so important in the best engineers.”

You can read more about Paige and how she complements our team here.

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Careers

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RECRUITING ENGINEERS & ARCHITECTS NATIONWIDE!

National Property Consulting Group (NPC) is currently hiring experienced engineers and architects to perform equity level Property Condition Assessments across the country. Deep experience in hotels, warehouses, or affordable housing is preferred. Experience performing full ADA surveys of hotel properties is another plus. The ability to work independently and travel is required.

NPC is an 11-year old boutique firm with offices in Cincinnati and Chicago, but employees can be based anywhere in the U.S. NPC employees receive:

  • Benefits package
  • Flexible family oriented work hours
  • Availability to work from a home office
  • Competitive salary
  • Continuing education opportunities
  • An opportunity to be an integral part of the growth of a boutique firm with a solid and growing roster of world-class clients

If interested, please forward a cover letter and resume to Pete Madson at pmadson@npcg.net. NPC Group is proud to be an Equal Opportunity Employer. This position will be open until filled.

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Efficiency in Building Due Diligence

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The Project
22-Warehouse PortfolioIn early March 2015, National Property Consulting Group’s long-time client, Cabot Properties, needed due diligence services for a large industrial portfolio they were considering refinancing along with several additional properties they were considering purchasing. The portfolio was composed of 22 warehouse buildings representing nearly three-million rentable square feet -2,972,334-sf to be exact – located throughout the United States.

Three Million Square Feet in Three Weeks
– NPC quickly dispatched a team of engineers and architects to the 13 cities in 9 states where the 22 warehouse buildings were located.
– All site visits, review of all relevant data, cost tables, and reports were completed within three weeks from authorization.
– NPC performed a comprehensive review of thousands of construction drawings, inspections, and engineering reports, surveys, CapEx plans, and other relevant documents.
– All assessments and findings were documented in 22 reports representing nearly 1,100 pages. Over 2,200 pictures were taken during the site visits to document the current condition of the warehouses as well support NPC’s recommendations.

The Team
The project was led and coordinated by NPC’s Principal, Ben Bartel, PE, who also conducted some of the field assessments and reviewed all of the reports. Ben ws assisted by a five-person team including NPC’s Pete Madson, Michael Waelder, Femi Oyelese, Ralph Stephenson, and Michael Lindemann.

About NPC
National Property Consulting (NPC) is building assessment and advisory firm that specializes in performing Property Condition Assessments and Energy Consulting focusing on the hospitality, industrial, and multi-family housing industries.

For more information about National Property Consulting Group, please visit www.npcg.net or contact:

Pete Madson, PE
Principal
pmadson@npcg.net | 513.478.6569

Ben Bartel, PE, LEED AP
Principal
bbartel@npcg.net | 847.421.6120

 

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NPC Project in the News: The Diplomat Resort & Spa

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The Project

Westin Diplomat FullIn 2014, NPC was contracted by long-time client, Thayer Lodging Group, to conduct a detailed and thorough Property Condition Assessment (PCA) and Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) survey of the Diplomat Resort & Spa. Thayer Lodging was considering purchasing the property. Located in Hollywood, Florida, the Diplomat is considered a premier resort and spa and is composed of twin 41-story towers, 998 guestrooms and suites, a 200,000 square foot convention center, spa, numerous restaurants, pools, golf course, and tennis courts.In April 2014, NPC’s team spent about a week onsite to complete an extensive evaluation of the expansive resort and grounds including all of the building systems (façade, roofing, MEP, etc.) as well as conducted interviews with key engineering, management, and maintenance personnel. NPC also performed a comprehensive review of thousands of construction drawings, inspection and engineering reports, surveys, CapEx plans, recent capital improvement expenditures, and other relevant reports. Over 600 pictures were taken to document the current condition of the property. The purpose of these extensive assessments and reviews was to understand the condition of the property as well as determine current capital needs and capital budgets over the next 10 years.
NPC generated a 293-page report, which played a critical role in Thayer’s decision to move forward with the purchase of the property as well as guide their negotiations.

An Award-winning Transaction

In September 2014, Thayer Lodging Group, acquired the Diplomat Resort and Spa for $535,000 million in an off-market transaction.

The Diplomat Resort and Spa received the prestigious Single Asset Transaction of the Year at the Americas Lodging Investment Summit (ALIS) conference that was held in Los Angeles on January 25-27, 2015. ALIS is the largest hotel investment conference in the world.

The Team

The project was led and coordinated by NPC’s Principal, Pete Madson, PE, who also conducted all field assessments and was assisted by NPC’s Ben Bartel, PE, and Michael Waelder, Senior Architect. Specialist façade, MEP, elevator, and fire protection inspections were performed by NPC’s extended network of experts.

About National Property Consulting Group, LLC

NPC is a building assessment and advisory firm that specializes in performing property condition assessments and energy consulting focusing on the industrial, hospitality, and housing sectors. For more information about National Property Consulting Group (NPC), please visit www.npcg.net or contact:

Pete Madson, PE
Principal  
pmadson@npcg.net | 513.478.6569

Ben Bartel, PE, LEED AP
Principal 
bbartel@npcg.net | 847.421.6120

NPC Project in the News: The Diplomat Resort & Spa Read More »

Benjamin Bartel, NPC Group’s Partner, Named President of CREC for 2015

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Over 150 commercial real estate professionals were in attendance on January 23 where Benjamin Bartel was announced as the 2015 President of the Chicago Real Estate Council (CREC). The event took place during the  2015 CREC Economic Forecast luncheon held at Maggiano’s Little Italy and featured speakers Robert Bach, Director of Research, Americas Newmark Grubb Knight Frank and Robert Kramp, Senior Vice President, Americas, Midwest and Great Lakes Regional Director at Jones Lang LaSalle. This was a joint session with the Certified Commercial Investment Member (CCIM) Chicago Chapter.
Mr. Bartel (right) will be serving a one-year term and is succeeding Ms. Marianne Rivera (left), Associate Publisher with WealthManagement.com. “I’ve been a member of CREC since the good old days (pre-recession) and I am honored to be the 2015 CREC President. I look forward to taking an even more active role in this well-established and respected organization,” said Bartel. “I am also excited to help organize some of the monthly CREC events including a tour of the new Virgin Hotel as well as introduce a new charity event in partnership with Habitat for Humanity.”

Due Diligence PCA Specialist, Mechanical Engineer and Energy Expert 

A member of CREC since 2007, Mr. Bartel is also a Partner in National Property Consulting Group, LLC (NPC) and currently serves as a Principal Mechanical Engineer in the company’s Chicago branch office. For nearly 15 years, Mr. Bartel has been providing engineering and energy consulting services for many commercial real estate clients including Cabot Properties, HEI Hotels and Resorts, and Thayer Lodging. With an impressive list of technical accomplishments which spans over 700 small to large-scale projects, Mr. Bartel has developed considerable experience performing Property Condition Assessments, specialty mechanical/electrical/plumbing assessments, Energy Audits, green or sustainable building consulting, construction loan monitoring/draw reviews, and accessibility compliance assessments (ADA).

CREC – 66 Years and Thriving

Established in 1949, the Chicago Real Estate Council (CREC) is one of the oldest and most established real estate networking groups in the country. With over 200 current members, CREC is composed of a broad and diverse group of Chicago’s real estate professionals and features monthly luncheons as well as social, educational, and charitable events.

What’s Next?

CREC participants can look forward to the February 20 luncheon event, which is open to members as well as non-members. “We have a Chicago all-star industrial panel event featuring Matt Goode from Venture One, Cary Goldman from Sitex Group, and Mike Powers from Molto Properties and will be moderated by Ted Staszak with CBRE,” concluded Bartel. For more information about this event, please visit www.chicagorec.org.

Contact

For more information about this panel discussion, please contact Ben Bartel, PE, CEM, LEED AP, Principal, at bbartel@npcg.net or 847-421-6120.

About National Property Consulting Group, LLC

NPC is a building assessment and advisory firm that specializes in performing property condition assessments and energy consulting focusing on the industrial, hospitality, and housing sectors. For more information about National Property Consulting Group (NPC), please visit www.npcg.net or contact:

Ben Bartel, PE, LEED AP
Principal 
bbartel@npcg.net | 847.421.6120

Pete Madson, PE
Principal  
pmadson@npcg.net | 513.478.6569

Benjamin Bartel, NPC Group’s Partner, Named President of CREC for 2015 Read More »

Why a Seller’s PCA is Always a Good Idea

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When buying a building, you usually hire your go-to PCA consultant to review the building for you. But what about when you sell a building? Let’s say you’ve owned it for five years. You know everything about it, right? You know what is good, you know

what needs to be fixed, and you also know that it is up to the buyers to find the problems on their own. But what you don’t have is the eyes of the PCA consultant and you don’t necessarily know what the buyer’s PCA consultant will make an issue of. You don’t know what that little crack in the wall will mean to the PCA consultant or you don’t know what the PCA consultant will decide is the problem because you have two or three roof leaks per year. You don’t know if the PCA consultant will decide that the small, isolated mold issue you have in a few guestrooms is somehow a much larger and involved issue than it really is. You don’t know how the PCA consultant will interpret what your property engineer tells them,which sometimes can be an exaggeration. 

What if you could know this in advance?

Would it help you better prepare your property for sale? Would it help you decide what to fix now or what to leave for the seller to fix? 

Could it get you a better price for the building?

The answer is most likely “yes”. By not getting a PCA when you sell a property, you actually run the risk of letting the buyer’s PCA consultant draw unnecessary attention to some of those grey areas rather than mitigating them or addressing them before they impact your transaction. As PCA consultants to many large CRE investors, sellers often hire us to perform PCAs and we’ve come across issues that would have gone undetected or unaddressed until we reviewed the property. Let’s consider a few scenarios:

  • $300,000 Savings on Fan Coil Units: You have old noisy fan coil units in guestrooms that break down all the time. The buyer’s PCA will most likely recommend to “Replace all in Year 1 at $2,500 each”. But what if you can actually refurbish them for $1,500 each and end up with like-new units that will last another 15-20 years? That’s a $300,000 difference for a 300-room hotel. If you knew that before you put the property on the market, you could either begin the repair program, or have the plan in place and make the buyer’s argument moot.
  • Build a Solid Argument for Postponing a $450,000 Repair: You have a 25-year old chiller. Many PCA consultants for the buyer will look at the ASHRAE median life table and say that the chiller has a 23-year life…better replace it now for $450,000! But what if this particular model of chiller is very robust and has a good performance history (just like cars, some chillers are more reliable than others)? What if your property staff has done a very good job maintaining this chiller? What if that actually means that there really isn’t a reason to budget to replace this chiller for another 5 years? Can that help you in a sale?
  • Achieve Significant Savings by Fine-tuning the Replacement Recommendation: Now what if that same chiller really is in bad shape and needs to be replaced soon. The buyer’s PCA will assume replacing it with a similar model…”like-for-like”. But what if that chiller was originally oversized at say 500 tons, but in all reality only needs to be 400 tons?  What if knowing that saves you $50,000? What if you just go ahead and replace it, and what if the new chiller is expected to save you 25% on electricity? Would that increase the value of your building?
  • Spend $100,000 Now to Repair Rather than $1,000,000 to Replace: What if you have a 250,000sf warehouse with a 20-year old roof. Many buyers’ PCAs will automatically recommend replacing the roof now because it is 20 years old. What if that is expected to cost $1,000,000 and the buyer pushes you to lower the sale price by that amount? How would your deal change if you knew that in all reality, this particular roof could be made to last another five to seven years by making $100,000 worth of repairs now?

These are just some examples of the types of issues we’ve encountered before, but I think you get the point.

Bottom Line

As a seller, getting your own PCA gives you the information you need to help you decide how to best position and prepare your building for sale.

About National Property Consulting Group, LLC

NPC is a building assessment and advisory firm that specializes in performing property condition assessments and energy consulting focusing on the industrial, hospitality, and housing sectors. For more information about National Property Consulting Group (NPC), please visit www.npcg.net or contact:

Ben Bartel, PE, LEED AP
Principal 
bbartel@npcg.net | 847.421.6120

Pete Madson, PE
Principal  
pmadson@npcg.net | 513.478.6569

Why a Seller’s PCA is Always a Good Idea Read More »

CREC Industrial Market Panel Finds Reasons to be Optimistic

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NPC Industrial Markets Panel
A panel composed of Andrew Ebbott, Chief Investment Officer, Cabot Properties; James Clewlow, Chief Investment Officer, CenterPoint Properties; and Donald Schoenheider, Vice President, City Manager and Co-Leader National Industrial Practice Group, Liberty Property Trust met on February 25 in Chicago to discuss the state of industrial markets. Over 100 commercial real estate professionals attended.

Key Indicators Are Improving

Market research by Colliers International and CBRE found that 2013 was the best year for industrial markets since 2007 with many indicators giving investors reasons to be optimistic:

  • Net absorption has been positive for about four years.
  • The national average of industrial availability went down to 11.3% during the 4th quarter of 2013.
  • The overall vacancy for Chicagoland was near pre-recession lows, ending 2013 at around 8.5% or 9%.
  • The national average net asking rent rate finished the year up at $5.74/SF, which is a 3% increase over 2012. Nationwide, rents ranged from a low of $2.63/SF in Memphis, TN to a high of $19/SF in San Francisco. The average asking rent rates in Chicago edged slightly higher to around $4.38/SF.
  • The national sales activity volume increased to almost $46 billion, which is up 12% over 2012 levels, while the Chicagoland sales activity increased 14% to $2.1 billion with prices ranging from $45/SF to $95/SF.
  • At the end of 2013 the national average cap rate held steady at 7.5% with the average Chicagoland cap rate ending slightly below at 7.1%.

Industrial Demand and Rents Expected to Continue to Improveth warehouse

Although investment demand remained strongest for assets in primary distribution and port markets such as Chicago, Los Angeles, Dallas, and Houston, industrial markets are picking up nationwide. “Things certainly seem to be heading in the right direction,” said Andy Ebbott, Chief Investment Officer of Cabot Properties. The company is seeing more tenant demand and rents are also firming up. “At the end of 2013, there was around 63 to 65 million square feet of industrial speculative development, which is less than 1% of the total industrial volume,” commented Mr. Schoenheider. Liberty believes that rents will continue to grow and over supply is not expected to overtake the rent growth.

Large Projects in the Works for Cabot, CenterPoint, and Liberty

Cabot is now on Investment Fund IV with plans to invest in the next three to four years all across the U.S. including in Chicago and LA, but also in secondary markets like Phoenix or Cincinnati.

CenterPoint has generally invested in major coastal and inland port logistics markets. “Anywhere there is a port or intermodal, CenterPoint is there,” said Mr. Clewlow. This includes Seattle, Oakland, LA, New Jersey, Houston, Savannah, and Norfolk, but the company is also excited about their other intermodal related holdings. CenterPoint currently has up to 6,000 acres located in Crete, Joliet and Elwood, IL.

Liberty just finished construction of a 1.2-million SF building located in Bethlehem, PA, for Walmart.com. Liberty also has a 1.7-million SF building under construction in Pennsylvania for Procter & Gamble. Mr. Schoenheider reported that ”logistics is changing and companies are trying to figure out how to squeeze money out of their supply chains.”

Liberty Expands its Industrial Portfolio with the Acquisition of Cabot Industrial Value Fund III

Primarily an office building investor, Liberty’s acquisition strategy changed in 2007, as the company shifted its focus to industrial buildings and kept some office assets. In October 2013, Liberty completed the acquisition of the operating partnership of Cabot Industrial Value Fund III, for a purchase price of $1.475 billion. The transaction included approximately 23-million SF and 177 properties located in 24 markets and the United Kingdom. The strategic acquisition of Cabot’s Fund was ideal for Liberty because 63% of the assets were already in markets where Liberty owned buildings, and 84% of the assets were in markets where Liberty owned buildings or had plans to in the next five years. This was a transformational acquisition for Liberty as it gave them ownership in 24 markets – from 14 markets pre-acquisition – including 8 of the top 10 markets for industrial properties.

Demand for Warehouses is Increasing

E-commerce business is continuing to affect industrial markets as larger buildings are needed to house growing inventories. “Inventory is being taken away from traditional brick-and-mortar stores and being placed in large warehouses,” confirmed Mr. Ebbott.

LEED-certified and EnergyStar Buildings – A Focus for Liberty

Efficiency and sustainability will continue to play a very important role for Liberty. The company built more LEED-certified buildings and has more EnergyStar rated buildings than any other developer in the country. “Our clients are asking for it and it is the right thing to do,” said Donald Schoenheider.

Contact

For more information about this panel discussion, please contact Ben Bartel, PE, CEM, LEED AP, Principal, at bbartel@npcg.net or 847-421-6120.

About National Property Consulting Group, LLC

NPC is a building assessment and advisory firm that specializes in performing property condition assessments and energy consulting focusing on the industrial, hospitality, and housing sectors. For more information about National Property Consulting Group (NPC), please visit www.npcg.net or contact:

Ben Bartel, PE, LEED AP
Principal 
bbartel@npcg.net | 847.421.6120

Pete Madson, PE
Principal  
pmadson@npcg.net | 513.478.6569

 

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