In 2014, I wrote about my family’s spring break RV trip. That Quarterly Commentary drew more comments and was the most widely read of any we’ve published. I thought I’d reprise that portion of the commentary and then close with current market observations, enjoy:
After attending the Birmingham RV Super Show at the BJCC in February, the idea of taking my family on an RV adventure began to burrow into my brain like an earthworm in summer soil. I became obsessed with RVs. Websites with names like rvforum.com, rvtalk.com, and airstreamclassifieds.com consumed my free time.
The more I read, the more I could see my family vacationing this way. Vignettes of my children making lifelong memories while discovering crawdaddies in mountain streams and sleeping in compact bunk beds propelled me to rent a 36-foot Class A RV for our spring break trip. This would be a proof of concept test-run to show my wife how much we’d enjoy this new way of life. We’d then figure out which one to buy and hit every state in the union on an RV-fueled, memory-making march across America—cue Paul Simon.
For those of you who don’t know, my wife Rushton and I have 5 kids ages 10 and under. (we now have 6) Well, the trip didn’t exactly get off to the dreamy launch I’d imagined. We were behind schedule before we left Birmingham, which put me in a ‘tense’ mood. And a tense mood is probably not the best state of mind for piloting a 36-foot RV for the first time.
After a wrong turn in south Georgia onto an unmarked dirt road at dusk, my mood went from tense to toxic. Toxic Dad doesn’t equal happy childhood memories. We arrived at Georgia Veterans State Park at dark. The low that night was 42 degrees, and for some reason I could not get our gas to turn on, so we had neither heat nor hot water. Things got both better and worse as the trip rolled on. Better as I became more acquainted with the RV’s systems and how things worked. Worse as seven people living in such a tight space progressively adds more and more dirt and mess as the days add up. We visited an RV park directly on the beach in San Destin, and as much as I tried, I lost the battle with sandy feet.
The last destination of our trip was to be a two-night stay in south Alabama. I had read online about a kid-friendly RV park that decorated for each season. Upon arrival we felt like we’d found the Easter Bunny’s nest -if he lived in Gatlinburg. A little kitsch and a lot creepy. The next morning I texted a friend who had inquired about our trip: “It started out strong but today I woke up in a trailer park in Mobile with my five wild, shirtless kids running around me.”
Instead of spending the second night in Bunnyland, we drove home. On the way back, the air conditioning broke and I became the stereotypical shirtless RV driver with windows down and the curtains flapping in the breeze. Memories were made, mission accomplished.
I’m happy to report we have not so much as peeked inside an RV since that trip and have no plans to change it!
MARKET OBSERVATIONS:
As a firm, we do 3 things to earn revenue: manage properties, broker transactions & create investment opportunities through CRE ownership. I’ll review the past quarter through the lense of those 3 silos.
PROPERTY MANAGEMENT:
- During the quarter, we added nine new 3rd party properties, 1 fund property, and 1 portfolio property under our management.
- We started a few major projects including a facelift for the Colonnade, the redevelopment of the HESCO building in the Parkside district as well as redo of a campus of buildings located on 10th south.
- We’re also working on a project to ‘renovate’ an office building’s leases. Over the next 3 years we’ll be converting the leases from true gross leases to a leases that have an expense stop, which is industry standard.
- If we can ever help you with your properties, please reach out and let us know. We’re real estate nerds and like to see how much value we can add for the owner when securing a new assignment.
BROKERAGE:
- A majority of our brokers report that they are as busy as they’ve ever been, though there was a measurable drop-off during the December stock swoon.
- Locally, Downtown/Southside/Lakeview properties remain in high demand and dirt prices continue to increase.
- Office tenant rep brokers report a slight slowdown in leasing activity or at least the decision process is taking longer. Business owners seem to be thinking long and hard about where the economy is heading and how that might affect their business.
INVESTMENT:
- We put 3 properties under contract for the neighborhood center fund in Tampa, Atlanta & Nashville.
- We are seeing good deal flow, but it’s still super hard to find good assets at a fair price
- Despite that, if we work our broker relationships in the right way, we can still uncover some hidden gems.
As the calendar turns and we head into summer, I hope you and your families have a fun and safe close of the school year.
Very Truly Yours,
Derek R. Waltchack
On the way back, the air conditioning broke and I became the stereotypical shirtless RV driver with windows down and the curtains flapping in the breeze.
