By Elizabeth W. Pearce
In Southwest Florida, the term “family owned and operated” often refers to small, mom-and-pop businesses. While the commercial real estate firm of Leffler & Associates is family owned and operated, it is also one of the area’s most sophisticated and comprehensive companies of its kind.
Based in Fort Myers, Leffler & Associates employs a professional staff of 20 who work under the direction of commercial broker Ryan Leffler (company owner), his sister, Lynn LaFlamme (administrator and broker of record), father Walter Leffler (partner and experienced commercial developer/builder) and mother Alice Leffler (who has 20 years of experience in commercial real estate accounting). Having worked in essentially every aspect of commercial real estate, the family has earned the respect of owners and investors throughout the local commercial community.
“A lot of agents get complacent and will kind of wait for things to come to them, but not Ryan,” says Mark Scarola, a commercial investor from Fort Myers Beach. Although Scarola manages his own properties, Leffler & Associates has assisted him with buying, selling and leasing in recent years. “Ryan has helped me a lot because he’s very proactive and very thorough. In the process, he’s made both of us money. It’s a win-win situation.”
Value-Added Services
In addition to commercial property sales, leasing, management and land brokerage, Leffler & Associates also offers construction and renovation, site redevelopment and bookkeeping/accounting services. Although the bulk of its rehab work involves office, industrial/flex and retail properties, the company works with owners of all types of commercial property, including multi-family.
“I think our experience enhances our credibility with clients because we’re not just going to sell their property and walk away,” says Leffler. “We look to establish long-term relationships, from purchase and renovation to lease-up, as well as final disposition of the property if they want to sell.”
The Atrium on College Parkway in Fort Myers exemplifies the firm’s full-service approach. In 2003, while working for RE/MAX Realty Group’s Commercial Division, Leffler co-brokered the sale of the 100,500sf mall-turned-office complex. As the buyer’s representative, he not only negotiated a bargain sale price of $4.5 million, he kept the space fully leased until International College vacated 30,000sf there last year – something that Leffler and his team anticipated. To Leffler, it was the perfect opportunity to renovate the property and work more closely with his family again.
“The owner and my father worked very hard to come up with a concept that would be its highest and best use,” says Leffler, noting the former mall’s abundant common area. “We determined that offices in conjunction with executive suites would have the highest revenue potential.”
Renamed The Atrium, the property has been completely revitalized inside and out, with new paint, flooring, signage and landscaping. Also, the vacant space has been built out to offer executive offices and suites ranging from 80sf to 750sf, and standard offices ranging from 1000sf to 4000sf. “Businesses can start there, grow and stay there because the building can accommodate them. And that was part of the overall plan in looking at this from a different angle when we were analyzing how we could stop turnover and increase revenues,” says Leffler. He expects full lease-up by the end of March.
Such success is nothing new to Leffler & Associates, which closed out 2005 as the top-selling commercial team of all RE/MAX commercial teams in the U.S. In addition to Leffler, the team includes commercial agents Dara Goren, Michael Komar, Ron Dallas and Catherine Novak.
In early March, Leffler & Associates left RE/MAX to go out on its own. “The only reason we left was because we wanted the ability to offer an overall package of commercial services, including contracting,” which most brokerage firms aren’t staffed to offer. “But we have nothing but kind words for RE/MAX,” adds Leffler. “They were very good to us.”
Focus on Management
Now, as an independent, Leffler & Associates approaches business a little differently than other area firms. Rather than view brokerage as “a function of what you can sell it for right now,” Leffler says his team approaches sales from a management perspective. “That allows us to judge whether a deal is fair as-is or whether it would be a much better deal if the owner made improvements.”
Leffler notes that while having an in-house construction department is unusual in his business, it benefits clients tremendously. “Part of our platform is that we can negotiate a sale price based on projected renovation costs as well as projected operating costs. That’s a real challenge in this market, with so many buildings being redeveloped, and with land and material costs continuing to escalate.”
In a tight labor market, having on-staff carpenters, licensed contractors and other top tradesmen under the Leffler banner allows the company to provide timely modifications to existing facilities, along with other maintenance services. That’s a major plus when tropical storms threaten. “Our staff will be there before the fact to protect your property and they’ll be there afterwards,” says Leffler. “That way, if anything happens, owners and tenants will be able to get back to business quickly.”
Beyond overseeing repairs and maintenance, Leffler & Associates’ property management division is always seeking ways to add value to a property. “It can be a combination of cutting maintenance costs, raising or restructuring lease rates or renovating the property. Our experience in property management, along with our development and construction history, gives us the ability to do all three.”
That rare combination is why investor Jamey Liddell and his partner/father have chosen Leffler to manage several of their renovated industrial and office properties, including The Atrium. “Having a manager involved with the construction has been pretty critical. Without Ryan, it would have been extremely difficult to do the renovations,” says Liddell. “In terms of construction or management, we couldn’t ask for more in any way, shape or form. (Leffler & Associates) really helped us turn that place around with the right tenants and an emphasis on office space.”
Leffler & Associates also works with owners of new commercial properties, such as the Carrollwood Shopping Center on Bonita Beach Road in Bonita Springs. In addition to managing and leasing the 19,500sf retail center, the team has contracted with the owner to do some interior buildouts. “Our goal is not to be a full general contracting firm, but to provide those services exclusively to our management clients,” emphasizes Leffler.
Emerging Trends
Low interest rates and high rents are prompting the conversion of more office buildings and retail centers to condominiums, Leffler says. Consequently, a growing number of business owners who have no experience and limited time are acting as property managers and overseeing commercial condo associations.
“But it’s a complicated business involving many legal aspects,” says Leffler. “You have to be aware of the various Sunshine Laws and taxation aspects, and understand how the association works.” That’s why Leffler & Associates employs an on-staff property manager who is licensed specifically to manage commercial condominium associations. In a short time, the service has evolved into a lucrative and beneficial arm of the firm’s business.
Going forward, Leffler expects the company to focus more on infill development and redevelopment. “I think it’s going to be more of a trend here in Lee and Collier counties as land prices keep going up and development in outlying areas becomes more difficult,” he predicts. “It’s a function of the numbers and when it’s so expensive to build new, we’re exploring other avenues.” Among them: Expanding sales into the Port Charlotte area and management services south into Naples.
Regardless of the firm’s size, its nucleus is unlikely to change. “The focal point of our business is family, surrounded by the best staff available,” says Leffler. “We’ve never had a family battle over business. We’re pretty lucky that we all get along great and have the same goals. Personally, I wouldn’t have it any other way.”
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