Commercial real estate issues explored at NAI conference

Thursday, Feb. 12, 2004 | 11:12 a.m.

Las Vegas has joined the ranks of cities that have grown large enough to merit specialized commercial real estate experts to handle transactions.

The specialization of the industry is a topic being discussed at the five-day 2004 NAI international convention in Las Vegas. The event has attracted nearly 800 NAI real estate professionals from around the world. Because the event has drawn about 300 people more than at most of the company's past annual meetings, organizers say they plan to continue to meet every year in Las Vegas.

"Las Vegas has grown to a certain size and sophistication that it has become important for commercial real estate professionals to pick a niche and become an expert at it," said Ron McMenemy, chief executive of investments and corporate services for NAI's Las Vegas office, known as NAI Horizon.

McMenemy said NAI and competitors like CB Richard Ellis and Colliers International can no longer have expertise only in the traditional categories of land, office, retail and industrial property development.

"In our retail section, we have a petroleum division," McMenemy said. "All they do is gas stations and convenience stores."

He said his company's office section has experts in medical and single-user offices and there are niche experts in the categories of mines and rock quarries. Biotechnology and logistics also are growing categories and McMenemy said the Las Vegas office, which has 35 agents, also has a NAFTA group to deal exclusively with companies that warehouse or transport goods that are shipped to and from Canada or Mexico.

The reason for the attention to specialization is that competition is heating up to provide better service, said John Schottenstein, Phoenix, chairman of the NAI Members' Leadership Board, the organizer of the conference.

"Gone are the days that all we do is negotiate property deals and sign leases," Schottenstein said. "It's all about long-term relationships."

Schottenstein explained that in addition to handling property transactions, commercial real estate brokers are helping companies develop real estate acquisition strategies so that the customer relationship is ongoing. NAI uses a proprietary computer platform called RealTrac to help brokers meet their customers' needs.

"We had a client in Dallas who wanted to enter the market in Tokyo and with this platform, we were able to show him a wide selection of real estate within 2 1/2 weeks," Schottenstein said.

Because RealTrac uses relationships developed over the Internet, conferences like the one that runs through Friday are important for agents to network with partners they talk to by phone and communicate with by e-mail. Convention delegates also are taught how to use the RealTrac platform and about other industry trends.

Schottenstein and McMenemy say the educational programs are particularly valuable now, since both foresee a booming real estate market globally this year as well as in Las Vegas.

Both feel business will continue to flourish as long as the economy keeps on track and interest rates stay affordable. But there are always risks, they warned. Schottenstein said commercial real estate leaders will look to large companies like Wal-Mart to project trends.

"What's going to happen at Wal-Mart?" he asked. "Wal-Mart is the nation's largest retailer, so there's a lot at stake in communities all over the world with tax revenue tied to gross sales. Will Wal-Mart continue to get even bigger or will it have to make adjustments? These are some of the things we have to watch.