Going Green, Saving Money

Sustainability is a vital and recurring topic discussed throughout the commercial real estate realm. According to CoStar Group article about "Green Buildings", green practices are “reducing long-term operating and occupancy costs, improving occupant health and boosting employee productivity.” The study also found that “green building demonstrated higher average occupancy levels.” These findings show how sustainability is an essential feature in environmental and cultural preservation. Also, maintaining a healthy community and environment is an invaluable practice in commercial real estate.

BRES makes next round of the KCBJ Social Madness Challenge

Block Real Estate Services (BRES) is thrilled to have made the next round of the Social Madness challenge in the small company size bracket (fewer than 100 employees) and we are the only CRE firm. We started out among 400 companies and now we are a part of the top eight performing companies in Kansas City competing in head-to-head match ups.

The Importance of Giving Back to Your Community: BRES in the Community

Supporting a charity or non-profit is a great way to give back to those who have supported and helped sustain your business's success. Giving back to your community has many intangible benefits such as the feeling of connectives, community pride and satisfaction of helping others. There are also tangible benefits to giving back to the community. For example, giving back can raise your business profile and bring in more customers or clients.

BRES Pushing CRE Edge in Social Madness

It’s been an exciting and competitive two weeks, since starting the Business Journal Social Madness challenge and we are proud to report that we’ve been able to successfully stay within the top eight spots throughout this entire competition.

I’m sure many people are thinking “What is this social madness?” This unique corporate media challenge measures the growth of a company’s social presence. The top eight local businesses will move on to face off in the nationwide Business Journal Social Madness Challenge. Block Real Estate Services (BRES) was chosen out of 400 other companies to compete in this challenge. What's even more exciting is that BRES is one of few CRE (Commercial Real Estate)  companies competing and we are proud to bring some social media to CRE.

Developer Success Found With Flexibility

One of the key words, if not THE key word, to describe a successful developer is flexibility.  In today’s ever changing economic times, it has never been more true that the only constant is change.  A developer that can’t adjust to change encounters, puts them or their development in a position to fail on multiple fronts. That means they are one step closer to losing trust with key investment partners, one step closer to failed construction projects, one step closer to facing lender recourse.

On the flip side, building a development project that doesn’t just look good on paper, but actually has the ability to be flexible in case of the development “curve balls” that will be thrown your way, will allow for a successful project, bringing solid returns to your investors and provide the foundation for long-term peace of mind.

Innovation In A Recession Leads To Success

At Block Real Estate Services, LLC (BRES) our priority is to continuously improve the quality and range of services provided to our clients and investors.  By focusing on innovation for the future we have emerged from the recession stronger than ever.  Following are a few examples of new services we have introduced:

Offering New Services to Clients While Others Cut Back
BRES added a new division to provide IT needed services to our clients and tenants called Block Technology Solutions (BTS). This new division:

How To Work Networking as a CRE Professional

As a CRE professional, your connections are everything. Your contacts are an important factor that supplies the business from which you sustain your living. Without your “rolodex”, you may as well roll out of real estate. Social individuals thrive in CRE because when you get down to it: it’s all about networking. However, time is money, so one must be sure to invest in the areas that are going to get a good return in the future.

BRES Breaks Through The Barriers: Block Multifamily Group

As Real Estate begins to emerge out of a tumultuous economic downturn, individuals seeking housing are less willing to buy and commit themselves to purchasing a house. Also, baby boomers are retiring out of the workforce, seeking condos and senior apartment living. While office, industrial and retail sometimes struggle with a weaker demand, a strong fundamental recovery in rental housing demand has propelled apartments to a broad recovery in occupancy, rental rates and investor pricing.

According to the Block Real Estate 2012 Market Report, “With more than 3 million foreclosures since 2009, profound shifts in demographic, economic and social patterns have changed the way many Americans, particularly those of the millennial generation, feel about home ownership. This, combined with the entry of the first wave of ‘echo boomers’ graduating from college, has resulted in the addition of an estimated 1.4 million renter households.” (Read more from the 2012 Multi-Family blog post).