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Every Friday, join us as we dive into the latest in real estate multifamily with David Moghavem, Head of East Coast Acquisitions at Trion Properties. David invites top experts who know the ins, outs, and trends shaping the real estate multifamily market across the nation!
Whether you’re a seasoned investor or just curious about where the next big opportunity might be, Deal Flow Friday brings you the weekly inside scoop on what’s hot, what’s not, and what to watch for in today’s ever-evolving real estate scene.
Speaker 1 (00:00.11)
People always ask me, how did you get into real estate? And I'm like, honestly, it's the only job I've ever known. I've been doing this since I was 18. So it's the only thing I've ever known. I have a very strong opinion. Brentwood is on fire right now. This is Brentwood. The coolest thing to happen to Brentwood was John and Vinny's, which is like to-go food. I creation juicery, I call it the creation effect.
That's why we have this pod for, you gotta share the strong opinion.
Speaker 1 (00:23.296)
Name me one tenant where you could literally have a Range Rover or a G-Wagon pull up and like literally it's a mom or a kid walk out with like $200 worth of juice in like one hand on any given day basis based on any economy. It's juice.
Right. LA is beautiful. And that's why there's so many people here.
LA is my favorite city on Earth. In LA, we don't have as many turns of a table as like a lot of other major cities. And you have really crazy rents. like, guys, we had a major fire. And people are forgetting like we had a major fire. I would love one, but it's not gonna happen. But retail is very competitive right now. And real estate in general, like almost every deal I've been a part of this year has had multiple offers.
Do you think there needs to be a correction?
It's not gonna happen.
Speaker 2 (01:02.476)
the creation, the R1, what do you categorize that type of retail today? What do you call? That's retail.
All that retail today. Yeah, that's retail today. I mean, that's an LA retail.
Speaker 2 (01:31.104)
All right, welcome to another episode of Dealful Friday. I'm your host, David Mogavam, and today we got Brandon Kohan from BCRE, founder and CEO. I'm so proud of you for what you've started and the brand that you've built for yourself. You've been crushing it. You've become a household name in high street retail in LA and West LA, and I know that the market can be challenging at times, which we're gonna discuss.
Pleasure.
Speaker 2 (02:00.51)
And, you've found a really nice niche and have dominated and, I'm really proud of you. I'm excited to have you on, you know, this visit in LA. You're actually my last pod, in LA. And I guess, you know, best for last, we'll see the audience will decide, but I think having you on is important. We talk a lot about multi here, but now we're going to talk retail. We're going to talk specifically about SoCal, about West LA and.
also talk a little bit about your trajectory because you came from CBRE and now you're BCRE. And so that branding and that the accolades you've earned from power brokers on CoStar and building that brand has been incredible to watch.
So thanks for having me. I appreciate it. Honestly, I love your show. Thank you. It's a lot of fun. Thank you. I love watching it on Instagram and on YouTube.
It was fun when I first started, you one of the first people reaching out saying you're crushing it, keep it up, keep it up. And I think in the beginning, it's hard to start something and you know better than anyone, BCRE, starting anything can be tough at first, but when you get that extra good work, keep it up, it helps, right? And then...
It's a grind, then once you get the momentum going, it starts flowing. So, yeah, yeah. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (03:32.974)
I'm excited. I think the LA podcast is well needed because I don't really know anyone that you do from New York or Miami. Yeah. So I'm like excited to see some familiar faces.
A lot of my friends were like, you need to get the LA people. A lot of my friends were like, you need to get Koan. A lot of them were like, you need to get Koan. We had ideas, we were floating ideas. So we're going back to the basics and did it here in the studio. next time I visit LA, we'll do some more. So yeah. So I wanted to start, and this is someone who's, I'm in the weeds in multi.
Bye.
Speaker 1 (04:01.218)
think for it.
Speaker 2 (04:09.816)
but I see what's happening in LA, I see what's happening in retail. And what I'm finding is that it's tough doing business as a restaurant or with labor costs and what you're seeing on data is in greater LA, MSA, you're seeing negative absorption, you're seeing higher vacancy rates. And then I even looked in West LA, kind of looking at the numbers and you're also seeing the same even
in places like Beverly Hills, which have some of the highest rents per square foot, you're still seeing some softness and vacancy. So I'd like to hear from you, Boots on the Ground. Is there more to the numbers? Is there opportunity behind the pain? Tell me a little bit about what you're seeing and what you're dealing with out there.
I mean, I think it's honestly depends like what part of town you're talking about. I have a saying, okay. And I think we're very lucky and blessed that we live in LA because the one thing I love about LA is that within a one hour drive, you can cover almost like every facet, every vicinity and see every demographic. You can go literally from
Malibu and palisades and see unfortunately what that has caused and you know my heart's Beginning of the year
Big time. I just drove past there last week and I was in shock. I was in shock. It still gives me the chills seeing what happened in the Palisades and Malibu.
Speaker 1 (05:46.84)
So when you see that and you see your city go coming from that and then you're, we're in Beverly Hills, West Hollywood and in Hollywood and LA and Brentwood and West LA and you see like daily life, it kind of just makes you wonder and you're like, wait a second, what, for anyone who's really driven by, it gives you a pause. So it really makes you, first of all, appreciate everything that we have and everything that.
how resilient of a city we are and where we're going and what we were and what we can be. So I do think that there is a great future in this city and that there's always ways to reinvent ourselves. Now, the one thing I will say is that, listen, there is tougher times, as you are saying. It's not that easy within any category of business that anyone is in, whether it's tariffs.
whether it's labor wages going up and hitting the restaurant industry, or whether the entertainment industry, which is our backbone of Los Angeles for many years growing up, completely evaporating within Los Angeles. So when you see these multi-factors, and this is all like, think about like a one-year, two-year, three-year, five-year sample size from post-COVID.
affect a city's economy. That gives you an overall sense of where is Los Angeles as a top city in the United States? Where are we going with this? And I think it really personalized every neighborhood and made it very regional. And that's why I think that as far as I could speak, as far as retail or real estate wise, locally, it made regional areas stronger.
and it kind of separated cities. So it made everyone look inward and work inward and see like what can they do on their infrastructure and local politicians and local cities and municipalities work together to fix whatever they had to do inwards before working outside.
Speaker 2 (07:59.414)
It's an interesting point, how you mentioned it, the stress from COVID and the rebound coming out of COVID has caused these pockets to reinvent themselves in their own way, it sounds like, where they're not just relying on the city as a whole, but they need to look within their own community and say, how can we recover? Where are the best pockets you're seeing right now that are kind of...
the phoenix out of the ashes that are really coming out and reinventing themselves.
I wouldn't say reinventing themselves, but you know,
I have very strong opinions that I'm always very like, you know.
have this pod for you gotta share the strong opinion.
Speaker 1 (08:46.966)
You know,
Speaker 1 (08:51.756)
It's unfortunate to see that I think, you know, I hate to say it, but like, yes, like obviously Beverly Hills is amazing. West Hollywood is amazing. Brentwood is on fire right now. It's just, you know, we have an incoming aloe yoga, you have community goods. You know, there's a new H Wood group restaurant opening and you know, Balterre is having a great Renaissance and the new great white, La La Land is opening. I Leila's Bagels is opening a new restaurant there.
Maloo coffee just like out the gate, lying out the door like, you know, this is Brentwood. know, the coolest thing that happened to Brentwood was John and Vinny's, which is like to go food. No offense, but like, you know, so I'm just kind of sitting here like.
Brownwoods really reinventing themselves.
It's about time. So it's like we're seeing that pocket of town. When you think about it, you have what? Starting home, $3 million, going up to what? $50 million homes. It's all families. It's all private schools, Brentwood, Archer. And it's like you see it's off of Main Freeway Path, 405. It's in Gateway to the City. And it's like they never really had a nightlife. They never had anything past 8 PM. never had any like
really cool chains and they just started getting like salt and straw was like a new ice cream that came. So it made you wonder, it's like how did that city for so long get overstepped and overlooked and then Palisades Village, that's the pocket that know, Recru so made that became like the new it town, but everywhere other city. just overlooked Brentwood and like that. Yeah. like what? Beverly Hills. in Brentwood. Brentwood is amazing. Yeah, exactly.
Speaker 2 (10:36.814)
You live there, you're like, you
Yeah, yeah, and you work a lot with creation, right? What are I guess how have Tenants like creation done in re reviving different streets in LA
Hey best.
Speaker 1 (10:58.766)
I think creation juicery, I call it the creation effect.
Yeah, good. Let's dive into that a little bit. What's the creation effect?
I say this is like, name me one tenant where you could literally have a Range Rover or a G Wagon pull up and like literally it's a mom or a kid walk out with like $200 worth of juice in like one hand like on any given day basis based on any economy. It's juice. It's literally like, you know, like that doesn't happen. And that's like constant and like it brings vibrant people. It's fun. It's exciting. It's healthy. It's post workout. It's like
you know, brings kids, there's dogs, now, know, creation now serves, you know, healthy organic dog food. So it's like a vibrant, like when you really think of real estate, you know, the old school mentality was I'm building this shopping center in, I don't know, God knows where, Midlands or whatever. And it's like, what am I bringing? Blockbuster. Okay. That's dead. I get it. So like now it's like, I'm bringing a really cool coffee shop. So it's like, that's like kind of what creation does. So like, you know, we have 30 creations all over Los Angeles.
And they did a great job of just bringing an excellent A plus product on a day in day out business. And it's like all homegrown, privately owned. And you can get a fresh smoothie, you can get fresh food and it's to go and it's like best locations. So I tip my hat to, you know, their quality and just running it on a, you know, private scale business. It's not easy to do. Right. Especially with all these things you're hearing about with like the restaurant industry and being ran like that.
Speaker 1 (12:33.77)
know, quality control is very important.
Yeah, so what I'm seeing, especially in LA, is just a shift to a healthier lifestyle. And I think that's what creation brings to these areas that people are younger, they're more health conscious. If they're looking for a quick lunch or something that's healthy or juice, creation is their first choice. You have the grab and go section, you have the juices. And I think people want to now invest in retail.
with that type of demographic that are Gen Z or millennial and creation kind of fits that bill.
I mean that's what Erwin is. It's kind of, Erwin's great. I Erwin's amazing.
The creation, the R1, what, I guess, what do you categorize that type of retail today? What do you call that? That's retail.
Speaker 1 (13:21.07)
retail today. That's retail today. I mean, that's in LA retail. Or in New York retail or in Miami retail. don't know about the rest of, know, I mean, yes, I think in Dallas it's like that too and the world is following, but it's hard. can't replicate that. like, middle America, it's a very niche market, I want to say. It's like high-end retail.
hard, mean, you're not going to see these type of tenants all across the US. So it'll be certain markets. There's only one Montecito, for example. So Montecito is not in Alabama.
Yeah. So I, and I know you don't play in that like big box. do.
Yeah, I mean, we signed, we brought REI to Marina Del Rey, 24,000 square feet. Amazing. Okay. I know that was like during COVID, we have brand new development off the water, 80,000 square foot shopping center. do that. We did that too.
I know that type of asset class is, I would say, struggling the most right now. And I think that's where you're really seeing the pain. What do we do? What do we do with that? Retail, is that big box, mid-size retail, functionally obsolete? is there church on Sunday? Yeah, exactly. Kenny saw on Saturday.
Speaker 1 (14:44.386)
You to go to church and pray.
Or. No, I think it's not obsolete. What do you mean? I don't think it's obsolete. I think that like people still need those, you know, boxes. I think it's like gyms. know, we just signed a Royal Personal Training gym in West Hollywood. It's 30,000 square feet. It's beautiful. Shaheen is amazing. It's on looking to be on the pier in Melrose. OK, nice. So you know where Great White is? Yeah. And Maxfield and James Purce and Craig's. Yeah.
So the La Pure Hotel right next door is gonna be a 30,000 square feet health and wellness club. Amazing. I mean like, so. I guess that's.
That's not like the big box or mid-size. That was the plug. That was the plug. That was a nice plug.
So how are going to fit in a box? So basically, I would probably say is like, no, it's going to come back. do think that if you ask me that that way of doing real estate is not necessary. I think that the way that we used to or that people used to build buildings was like, yes, costs was lower, land was cheaper.
Speaker 1 (15:57.548)
you know, it was like, okay, we could build it, we could do it, we could make it happen. And it's like, you don't need to do that now. Or it's like, it's too cost prohibitive. You know, bigger is better, but like you can't, you can't do that now. So it's like, you just have to downsize. What I think is like, when you're talking about big box, it depends where. Markets for sure. But like the Bed Bath and Beyonds and the Toys R Us, those concepts, I think are not there anymore because I think Amazon,
just took, like when you really obliterated that. What are you gonna go buy in a Bed Bath & Beyond you can't get off Amazon?
Look what happened to Rite Aid. Look what happened to Party City.
No, Rite Aid and CVS I think will be around. But Party City's like-
I'm saying like right it because you're right CVS is I think there's they've they've carved out their knees
Speaker 2 (16:47.85)
I guess that's more company specific, they've just been closing down all their shops. And then I feel like Party City.
is everything on Amazon.
And they used to take up so much space. I guess I always try to think, what are these, unless they're in good locations, forget the good located ones, the secondary markets, the feeder market type of retail spaces, what are we gonna do with those big boxes? And I guess what you're saying is, there's still a function, you make them more lifestyle driven.
You know how papyrus is still in there.
Speaker 1 (17:28.59)
It's not come down and build a farm building. But even adaptive views, I think this time for that. It's a great time. There's so much like they're always talking about the housing crisis. Okay, so here you go, go do it.
And that's
Speaker 2 (17:45.73)
Yeah. I had someone else on the pod who was looking, investing in B-class, C-class malls. And, and I'm like, I'm like, what are you doing? Adaptive reuse this that he's like, no, it's actually a 16 cap. I'm like, wow, how? And I don't know. I think there's also a part where you think so contrarian that something is so devalued that you're like, listen, if I just get this, this, and this tenant in there,
I'm at a double digit yield and it's back to basics. It's not sexy. It's not something people want to invest in. It's probably not liquid to sell, but it's cashflow. Are you seeing any of that or is that just really tough to do in this?
I mean, I'm seeing it. know, actually what I was going to say to you is actually a lot of my friends on the East Coast, and this is more on the high scale type, what they're doing with those centers is a little bit different. I wouldn't go as far as to say 16 caps, unless they're like really mom and pop, like shopping centers and markets and like more like, maybe that fits like a foreign market where it's like mom and pop ran and it's like not a
This is like a tertiary mark.
Speaker 1 (18:59.576)
like Ralph's type of market. But what people are doing on the East Coast, and I think what's the next wave, is outdoor high-end shopping centers. So kind of like think for everyone listening or watching is like think Palisades Village, but in urban B.
places in the East Coast. So suburban markets, not near, but still good areas, but not prime. So like, let's say for example, like, I don't know if you remember, have you been to New York, like that mall, American Manhattan, Chipolini and Herschlifers? No. Okay. So think like, Calabasas Commons. Have you been to Calabasas Commons?
No, I haven't. I don't really get to go to Calabasas much.
Dude, why is it in jewelry? Okay, you learn. So you gotta think like these really nice kind of like outdoor malls that cater to these suburban that are in near major cities, but aren't in the major cities, but let's say 45 minute drives that have like these nice brands, but they're nearby. And it might not be.
Yes,
Speaker 1 (20:14.358)
like the best brand, but it'll be a brand that sells those brands that are high end that are now going there. So let's say for example, Lee Swalker is at the commons or like brands like used to be there, but now the brand itself is going to open a store there. Like let's say for example, imagine like there was a shopping center and like, let's say Gucci was sold out of Fred Siegel, but now Gucci is now like, was open a store there now. So now when you're seeing this, like those shopping centers, what they're doing in the all over the East coast.
is they're buying these really shitty shopping centers and they're just turning them into a somewhat and it's really just making them completely nice, kicking out all the nastiness and just making it beautiful. And then they're just doing their best to just make it like super cool. So that's what it's like, it's just going the complete opposite.
in demographics.
Speaker 2 (21:05.108)
Extreme example of that is the design district in Miami, right? Yeah, like LVMH basically just bought like a bunch of shitty industrial and like teardowns and made it into Rodeo on steroids, you know, so I think that's is that kind of like the concept and like just doing it in near affluent demographics, but they don't have a destination just yet and you're making it a destination.
you're making it like destination retail.
Yeah, I remember when I first went to Miami Design District, this was 2016, 2017, it was like two streets. It was nothing.
Yeah. I don't even know if there was a yeah. That's why you were there. Yeah.
It was just a Chrome Heart store. Yeah. That was it. It was a Chrome Heart store and was Dave Grutman's coffee shop that sold matcha. That was it. And we literally went there, it was like me and my friends, and we literally just went there just to go to the Chrome Heart store and get matcha. And that was it. There was like four stores and it was all furniture stores. And then now you go there and you're like, is... hats off. All the New York guys.
Speaker 2 (22:06.349)
Right.
Speaker 2 (22:12.162)
Yeah. So I would say coming back to experiential retail, one concern I have kind of outside looking in is when you're in a downturn, I just feel like those aren't as resilient. The credit of the tenant not as good, not like a creation, but I'm just saying like some of these other maybe startup experiential that is what retail
is kind of hanging by a thread right now in LA somewhat, but I feel like in a downturn can be a little shaky. Are you seeing any of that? Do you think that's accurate or what's your sense of how some of these tenants are gonna be in a down cycle?
think the question is that, the really answer is do you think that that business makes sense? Does it actually go in today's world? For example, do you think all these Pilates concepts, I feel like every day there's a new Pilates concept. Where did this come from? What happened to soul cycle? That's my point. I feel like there's so many things. You gotta ask yourself, look at Office.
right?
Speaker 1 (23:32.846)
Okay, there's so many empty offices. There's so, and it's like, so there's a shift. So like what do you say about business? Like I also think though that there's just also like a change in the market. Like I also think people are just getting older. I also think that it's like people are retiring. I think there's fresh blood coming in. Like don't you see like there's so many more dentists coming out? Okay, and like when you think about it, if you're going to go see a dentist, who do you want to go see?
guy who has this beautiful marketing on Instagram and this great office with like Travertine or like the
Old school dentist. Yeah, who you dread. Yeah.
So I think that's coming into effect. So when you're saying, I think it's generational, has one thing to do with it. I think that's one. And I think business-wise, in terms of the economy, I think we're really in for some tough times because I've noticed that
Speaker 1 (24:35.822)
We are very blessed that where we live and the area that we're part of, but I could tell you when I travel and I go to like middle America and other places, they don't live the lifestyle and the life and...
99 % of America doesn't live like the
So you always have to keep a hat on and be humble and always realize like, like, you know, two different things.
Speaker 1 (25:05.262)
something doesn't make sense. know, when you have more renters than homeowners, when you have like home-warning costs, like I really just think about it like, okay, like what are people coming out of college? What are they doing? So when you say about businesses and I don't know this is going way off, you're like, you know, really safe, it's like, what do you, what do you,
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (25:32.184)
So how is like, and then you see like financials of certain businesses and like what they're doing. I feel like there's just a huge gap.
Yeah, and it goes back to what we were saying before is are they going to have the disposable income for that Pilates class or that they're spending it now, but like when times really get tough, how are those businesses going to survive? And then to slap it on top, I'm sure you're feeling it.
they'll spend it on
Speaker 1 (25:58.892)
I'm depressing today. This is a very depressing interview. What's going on?
Usually I go deeper to present. Yeah, I go really deep.
Like, you know, it's really sunny outside. I'm hauling.
I mean, honestly, the best thing going for LA is like my wife and I have been here for
You know it's really good outside, brother. It's really rosy. And we're...
Speaker 2 (26:17.632)
It's beautiful. We've been in LA for five weeks and if you're in anywhere else in America this time in August and for five weeks, in Miami it's disgusting, in New York it's muggy, in all the places we go, Colorado, Atlanta, it's not nice. LA is beautiful and that's why there's so many people here.
LA is my favorite city on earth. I was someone last night and she's like no, I love Miami, I love New York. I'm like dude LA is the sickest city on earth. This place is great. I love LA, it's beautiful. There's anything you want to do you could do. Maybe I'm biased because I grew up here.
Your mic.
Speaker 2 (27:03.66)
No, it's true and just living in Miami and living in the world, I see the benefits of just like being in LA hiking and just enjoying and I feel like people don't appreciate it when you're just here for so long. I know I got pretty dark with just like the retail because retail, is tough. Like higher labor costs right now is tough on restaurants, right? I just read an article that West Hollywood just closed its like ninth restaurant. Did you see that article?
other parties.
Speaker 2 (27:33.833)
Stella? Yeah. mean, and they put so much money, they put so much. That restaurant should.
I don't know how big your podcast is. Okay, first of all, who opens a restaurant in the basement? Okay. Have you been there? Yeah. Who goes to the basement? I don't want to go to a basement. I don't want to eat in a basement. Right. Okay. Two, I don't want to cut my... That's different. That was a vibe.
Let's talk about it. Let's talk about it.
Speaker 2 (27:49.112)
Yes, I've been there.
Was in a multiple
Speaker 2 (27:58.124)
in the pool.
Hey, Fepul. Yeah. It's money. I should have saved them money. Yeah. And then also it's like you go to restaurant and I want to cut scissors to eat pizza. Yeah. And their alcohol wasn't Casamigos. It was like some off brand. Right. It was like it's our own tequila brand. I'm like, dude, what is this? And it was never Grey Goose. But yeah, I get it.
So just bad decision making? that kind what you're saying?
I'll tell you what the real reason is. It's like, listen, think that restaurants in LA, I know this because I talk to obviously all the restaurants, it's very hard for them. The rising labor costs, it's not a fair argument because, they deserve it. The employees, they deserve it. What do mean? They deserve to get paid. They're working. Both could be true, No, I know, but they deserve it.
It's like you should pay your employees. God bless them. Like really, God bless them. They're the reason you're in business. They're the reason, like there's a reason why you exist is because of your employees. There's a reason your team, like I'm nothing without my team and the people I'm around. I'm nothing without my clients. I really appreciate the people I work with. I'm nothing without them. But I would say is that,
Speaker 2 (29:14.979)
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (29:22.39)
In LA, we don't have as many turns of a table as a lot of other major cities, and you have really crazy rents. Our rents are competing against national brands on high locations.
Do you think there needs to be a correction?
I would love one, but it's not going to happen. It's not going to happen. have landlords screaming on my phone all the time saying, hell no, kick him out. So it's not going to happen. I think that it's just, I think it's just an interesting time and I think it'll work itself out. I think we just had a mass exodus leave LA since COVID and that's just all that is. We've just had a lot of people leave. haven't had a lot of tourism come back and like
Guys, we had a major fire. I think people are forgetting that we had a major fire. We a major city go away. don't think people are forgetting that like, hello, do you guys not remember we used to go to Sunset Tower restaurants or be in LA, there used to be like celebrities every corner. were like, okay, like who is it? Like your dry cleaner, your tailor and all this in the movie industry. Wardrobe stylist, hair stylist, makeup artist.
These are fair points.
Speaker 1 (30:38.402)
These were all people who, you know, actors, waitress, server, know, writers. These were all people who contributed to the entertainment and restaurant industry. So you also took away a big, huge chunk of their seating class. So who are you serving to when you say like a West Hollywood Stella closed? Who is Stella serving to? Who are you serving to?
Yeah.
You're in prime West Hollywood on Beverly Boulevard. You took Midale's old space and like the most expensive condo building in the city. Right. Top 10 condo city. So who are you serving to? Beverly Hills, West Hollywood. I mean, you got to come correct. Yeah. What do you think you're going to? Yeah. OK. Then rework your deal with your developer. I don't have to tell you. I mean, that's just what it is. mean, everyone's having to do
So you tribute the...
And I don't say I want to Every restaurant is having issues. Even the best of the best. It's really hard right now. It's just tough. Think about it. If you're in LA, nobody's traveling to LA right now this summer to hang out. Everyone's going out of town.
Speaker 2 (31:44.622)
That's also what boggles my mind about LA. It's so beautiful. Everyone is out of
September is the highest shopping season. The best farmers market is September. Highest shopping and bar season, September. But honestly though, forget everything you said during the beginning of this podcast, I actually give LA a lot of credit. know, retail is very competitive right now. And real estate in general. Almost every deal I've been a part of this year has had multiple offers.
So you're seeing the, you're seeing things really.
They really ramp up. It's been very cutthroat. Yeah. It's been very competitive, especially in the high end sector. Yeah. I mean, you're just constantly like, just like out of nowhere, they're like, we got another offer. I'm like, who? The space has been vacant for one year. All of a sudden, you have another offer. And it's true. Yeah. And that's just like how it is. And there's a lot of brands coming from out of state, out of even out of country. We're bringing blank street coffee to.
Los Angeles, very excited about that. And, there's a lot of competition. mean, if you look at Rodeo, you know, $400 million sale. That's absurd. Yeah. I mean, that's just crazy. And then you look at like Beverly Beverly drive, you know, Chanel signing club, Monaco. And then you look at like Canon, like Canon drive is a street. Like I really work heavily on and, you know,
Speaker 1 (33:16.206)
We have some really good things in the works there, but it's restaurant row. But it was what historically a residential real estate office, street, restaurants, mom and clothing. Mom and pops, clothing brands of brands I've never heard before. Like, you know what I mean? It like hair salons. And now you're getting like, okay, really cool, saw on spot show the Lache and like James Purse.
Canada was always like the neighborhood street, right? But now it's even...
It's also, it's it's tough. know, like I least out Bosch, Thurmond or Gaggenau, 9,000 square foot, like West Coast showroom. But when you really think about it, like it's a great location, but historically you never really think like that's where they need to be or want to be, but it fits. But when you look at like Cannon's makeup, it's much different than the rest of the streets in the triangle. Bedford and Roxbury go to
you know, more medical and Camden is interesting. Camden, think is cool.
Camden's really having a, I had I had Paul Danish Rod last week and they own the Camden Wells Fargo building and they just put Gravitas on the ground floor of that Wells Fargo building. And yeah, I mean, Camden's really just having its Renaissance. It's having its moment. Go Greek is just, right? Go Greeks on Camden.
Speaker 1 (34:35.694)
So sick.
Speaker 1 (34:44.095)
Yeah, we just signed them on third Street next to Lala Land. Amazing.
amazing. You know, now we're getting in the weeds a little bit. Talk to me a little, you know, I lived on Third Street and I saw on its heyday pre-COVID and then I saw that it's low during the riots and COVID. And right now it's kind of like in limbo to me. Like it's not as bad as what it was after COVID, but it's not as good as it was pre-COVID. So like where, like what is the momentum right now on third? Do you see it getting back? Yeah.
We're fully leased. We're great. on top of the world. We have some amazing brands there. Creation closed. But that was by choice. We just no longer do the restaurants. Our lease was up and there was a 2,400 square foot space and it just wasn't, it's just too big for us. So it's just downsized. have two locations already in Meadows Place, Meadows La Cienega, but Lalo Land's doing great.
there too.
Speaker 2 (35:40.716)
Yeah, for sure. And there's a lot of young people there with all the Wiseman buildings that you attract a lot of younger demographic and they just want to enjoy third
Yeah, have Palms and Patties. This is opening I think like any month now. They're from the west side It's like very healthy like smash burgers. Carla Cafe is doing wonders. you know, they're really good. my god They're doing burgers at night, too. I think I
Really good.
Speaker 2 (36:03.827)
I think I get Carla Cafe at least once a week since I've been here.
Yeah, and then the creation and the Cassie club place were like in negotiations for those are two restaurants spaces on the street. And then the entire project on West third street that I was doing, we've pretty much finished that. everything's pretty much taken care of.
A Cassie club should have survived, no? You don't think it should have survived? You think they made some wrong decisions there?
It was the owners of Elefante and they just basically decided to just move towards west, towards like Santa Monica and then most of their money and time is in Las Vegas. Got A lot of these restaurant tours, I'll tell you the truth, is like the big ones. They don't make money in LA because think about it this way, okay? Like I'm going to go, I'm going to like, let's say for example, Tao Group. Great guy, I love Jason, he's the best guy ever.
I'm Tao Group. Why would I open a restaurant and spend $20 million on a bill in LA when I can go open at like the Palm in like Las Vegas or like in Dubai and like build like a sick restaurant that they pay for and all I have to do is like a management deal.
Speaker 2 (37:17.9)
Yeah, it feels like the bells and whistles of restaurants doesn't really work in LA. know, like people want good quality that doesn't really have like the whole bells and whistles.
or
Speaker 1 (37:27.47)
What's point? To what? Struggle to everything we just, your depressing list of everything we just went through for like an hour, where I could just go open in like a beautiful city, like Miami, and have a landlord pay for the whole thing, have Black Lion do the whole build out. You should get him on your show. Robert, he'd be great. Okay, should I right now?
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Make it happen.
after the show. I want to also ask you, don't know how much you work on like Robertson. What's going on there? what is? Is it?
Yes.
great. It's great. It's doing amazing. We just did a, you know,
Speaker 2 (38:08.278)
It just feels like it doesn't have the momentum that like a third has. They're pretty comparable, right? Wouldn't you compare the two or?
Listen, I think...
I think that,
Speaker 1 (38:19.802)
New is good, okay? What people have in their mind of what used to be and like try to get it back to that is not the correct way. You know, like everyone's like, this is... That's the wrong mentality. So like, let's say for example, like they're like, okay, sweet lady Jane.
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (38:35.022)
To be back to where it was, That's the wrong mentality.
Speaker 1 (38:45.87)
Sweet Lady Jane is a great cake. Don't get me wrong, it's a staple. There's nothing wrong with showing up to Shabbat with a new cake from a new part of town. Yes, Sweet Lady Jane is great. But what I mean by that is like, Robertson is great. It's not going to get back to like what it was 10 years ago, 15 years ago that everyone is dreaming about. But there's nothing wrong with it. You have tenants like Herman Miller on the street, know, James Purses.
you know, doing fine. Armani Casa is there. The IV is still strong. I go there like once in a few months. We were just there for like family dinner recently. So like Blue Bottle is still there. Sushi Tama, the owners of the taco stand guys, Julien and Hakeem, you know, that restaurant is still standing. Was it Box Union is in the corner in that shopping center. That sushi restaurant from Japan, like it was a hero's dream of sushi is there.
You your staples.
Speaker 1 (39:44.66)
Alfred Coffee took over LePan, he's doing great. I love Alfred Coffee.
For sure, of course Alfred is amazing. I mean, they've done an incredible job. Yeah.
So it's like, okay, like what's wrong with that? Like that's great. There's you don't need more than that. Okay, like, you know, it's kind of like I've always said it's like everyone says like what was the downfall of Robertson and everyone's like blaming it. it was a landlord. There was no is this I was like, well actually it's hello. Excuse me. It's called Melrose Robertson up there Melrose Melrose Melrose place
Beverly Hills, Beverly Center, The Grove. Like what are you talking about? look around. Just look around. what you're talking about, they're like, oh, it's like, dude, like the whole city around it grew up. like, I think that what people don't like, I call it like a short, I get frustrated when people allude to that and they're like, oh, like, is this going to happen? Like, like Robertson. And I'm like, that's a very short minded answer because if it's like, like,
Every single brand is in Beverly Center. All the brands are in Ding. It just happened that way. Like streets change, streets evolve. But there's nothing wrong with Robertson. Robertson is a great street. It's just a different street than what it is now.
Speaker 2 (41:07.084)
Yeah, I like that approach because I think people are stuck in, I remember when I walked by here 20 years ago and it was this and that, but it's now serving a different purpose and people also live in different places.
places. Silver Lake. Like Silver Lake, Echo Park. Yeah. I actually like spend time there. Echo Park is beautiful. Highland Park is sick. my.
We used to own some multifamily there.
There's this coffee shop, Comet Over Delphi, beautiful. Some restaurant there called Highly Likely Beautiful. I mean a lot of intricate build-outs. We do. Not as much on the landlord side, but beautiful. Really beautiful.
Did you do?
Speaker 2 (41:48.086)
Yeah. What are some, you know, just to kind of wrap things up, what are some other than, you know, the WeHo Beverly Hills that we've been talking about at Nausium, what are like these like emerging next Highland parks, next Echo parks that you're seeing in LA?
Oh no, mean there's so many, there's like Studio City, I love Marina Del Rey, we do a lot at Marina Del Rey.
Speaker 1 (42:12.616)
Pasadena is great. Burbank is amazing. look like I love to look like is a beautiful neighborhood to next to all the movie studios. So it's like every celebrities always there. Manhattan beach is amazing.
I don't know, mean, we're just kind of like, Malibu's great. We're now working like Northern Malibu, like Trankus Market's cool. Montecito I love. That's also like really becoming hot and heavy. yeah, I don't know, we just, everything just feels so interconnected. I know it just feels like Beverly Hills and West Hollywood, but it's not. Like we're doing a lot of deals on Hollywood, like right now on Hollywood Boulevard.
Yeah.
Like we're doing like a 15,000 experiential store on Hollywood Boulevard. We actually right now are- Hollywood and what? Hollywood, like on Hollywood Walk of Fame. We're actually like represent 15.
okay, I'll unlock a fan.
Speaker 1 (43:14.094)
60,000 square feet on a few different buildings. So that's kind of one thing I like to do is once we come into a certain area of town, is we just take over and try to take over market share. My goal is I really want to, I've always said this is, I want to really become the leader in market share and landlord side listings. And I believe so.
Our platform is amazing. My website is bar none, the most easy to read, easy to use. And my team is fantastic.
Yeah, talk to me about your team. How long have you've now had BCRE for? You started when?
Four years ago, honestly, people always ask me, they're like, how did you get into real estate? And I'm like, honestly, it's the only job I've ever known. I've been doing this since I was 18. So it's like the only thing I've ever known. I've never done anything else. And I think like, what was it, like a year or two ago, I had like a...
I was like, okay, I don't know if I want to do this for the rest of my life. I was like, I don't know, I've never done anything else. It's not challenging. I do developments and I do retail and it's fun, it's exciting and we do great at it. And I was just like, okay, and then I said I really want to kick it into high gear. So about two years ago, or a year ago, I really pushed it and have an amazing team, Brandon Zarabi and Vida Bhubani.
Speaker 1 (44:48.776)
And Brandon's great. He's an all-star. I think he's a true rising star, and he's like everything I can imagine and more. And I've taught him everything I could. I think our company is like, I've been through the best companies and worked around the best people. And I think my clients are my best teachers and my best mentors. I I work with the best developers who I think are the best leasing.
and you pick and choose who you want to work with and who are the best. And then you learn from them and you get their approach. And also we have the greatest network. I mean like our marketing blasts and my phone is probably the best database you can ever ask for in the world. mean, you name it, there's everyone in there. So I'm very proud and honored and appreciative. I've always learned that it's very important of the connections you have and the relationships you have with those people.
because that's what's more important to me is like your relationship with people. It's like if you need something from them and they need something from you is that they can count on you. You know, like I know that and my friends know that whenever they need anything from me or my clients or friends or business-wise, I don't expect anything in return. I'm just there for you to, I always believe I've paid for it. So I think like when it comes back to like our business model,
is we're just there to offer our services and I think we do great. I'm very pleased, I'm very happy and I love seeing it grow and I do think that four years ago it was a pretty big step when I started my own firm and left CB and it was pretty scary at the time but I'm very happy I did and...
I think that, know, respectfully, we're doing, you know, the same numbers as everybody else at all these firms. And we're very proud and very honored. And I love all the co-brokers and all the brokers in the industry. Like, they're my best friends. I get so excited whenever I call them and see them. Like, I genuinely have relationships with them. I go to their events. any time any of my colleagues in the industry, like, I actually, it's not that I like to do business with them. Like, I like to just learn about their day to day.
Speaker 1 (47:12.942)
Yeah, it's relationships. are you? How's your kids? How's your life? Business is second and life is first. Business is always gonna come in.
Yeah, I'm sure when you go to ICSC and you see all your colleagues, competitors, quote unquote, they're just like, it's not competition, it's friendliness. so much deals to go around and it's just about trading notes, working together and paths cross and.
I think you get to a certain point in life, you realize that like, it's not like there's no, listen, when it comes to business and negotiating, I always say is like, I'm not here to lose, I'm here to win. And when I say by here to win, I mean like, I'm here to like, you put the knife in and twist it. It's like, if it makes sure it's dead, make sure the deal is yours and you close and you want make sure the money's in and it's signed. That's what I always say is like, is the money in?
is the deal signed, it's not a job not finished. It's not finished. The knife isn't twisted. Right. It's like I put you put the knife in, but it's not twisted. So it's not dead. Yeah. So in business, when it comes like that, like make sure the deal is done and it's finished. But in terms of like actually like relationships wise, like no, like we always can be true. Yeah. Like we had a meeting yesterday and you could be
Be a killer and also be talking about life and colleagues and trading notes.
Speaker 1 (48:41.198)
It was so funny. We had a meeting yesterday and it was like a huge meeting and my client was like, Brendan, I'm not going to go. You go. It sends a better message if I don't come. I'm like, dude, are you okay? Sure. And so we go in and it's like the whole boardroom and it's like me and they're like, where's your client? And I'm like, honestly, we just decided like, just we'll just I'll just handle it. And he's like, you got to be kidding me. I'm like, listen, would you rather have me throw you outside the window or him? Because I think I'll catch you and throw you out. So
I think there comes a time where it's like you plug and play and those relationships come into effect.
Right. guess last question to wrap it up. We went deep into kind of some of these restaurants that have struggled and you gave a few comments. Grey Goose, they don't have Grey Goose is that, but I think the reality is when you're putting a restaurant into one of your spaces, what's like advice you would give them to make sure that they're in a position to succeed?
Speaker 1 (49:42.52)
Be part of the community. I think what people need to do...
This whole exclusivity thing in LA, I hate people who act hard. It's like, who the fuck do you think you are? That's not LA. This whole LA scene of trying to, that's not LA. hate that. That's not LA. You hit the nail on the head. It's like, dude, I deal with people who have done the craziest things in life, and yet they could sit down and, I think,
And that goes to show with anything in the world, you have to have a sense of humility. And I think that goes with business, that goes with restaurant industry, that goes with anything. If you want to be successful or go anywhere in life, I think you just have to have that mentality of like, have always an open hand, always have an open door, and that will take you a lot further in places and go. And I think that's why you see like,
a lot of these successful restaurants and places last long and why you always see like, you know, like when you see these like small restaurants and they're like, why they've been around for so long, it's because they have such loyal customers that are like there and they come in on a daily basis or a weekly basis or then their kids go and their generations go. That's what I think makes people and stories come alive. And I think that's kind of like my mantra in life is I just want to leave a story behind.
I think that's, you hit the nail on the head and that's what retail is today to wrap it up, right? Is be a part of the community, be giving back to the community, especially in LA that have gone through such hard times with the fire and this, like people want to support those businesses that are ingrained and supporting the community back. It's a two-way street. And yeah, there is an ugly side to LA with the whole scene and this and.
Speaker 2 (51:44.398)
exclusivity and as two LA natives, we're not in that. And we see like where the real value and the real people are that you want to be around. They're not that, they're not there. So I really, that really resonated. So thank you for that. Go on. This was awesome. I'm glad we made it happen. Thanks again. And let's go out in beautiful LA sunny weather right now. Perfect. See you.
You're having me.
Speaker 1 (52:12.118)
Love you. Love you.