Notes From My Desk: Five Things on My Radar this Month

Here are five things that caught my eye this month around Northeast Ohio real estate and the wider market. Some are deals, some are just things I’m thinking about. Reply if any of it is useful to you.

1. A deal worth watching. KPR Centers of New York paid $28.2 million for Westwood Town Center in Rocky River, sitting at $124.69 per square foot. It’s easy to see the appeal. Durable income, an affluent trade area, and real room to push value through leasing in a Cleveland market that isn’t building much new retail. Also, the Halloween pop-up store is a personal favorite for my annual costume.

2. News you may have missed. b.a. Sweetie Candy went employee-owned for its 75th anniversary. Owner Tom Scheiman looked at a private equity sale and instead, set up an ESOP, so a big share of his roughly 70 employees now own a piece of the largest candy store in North America out on Brookpark Road. Nothing against private equity, it’s everywhere right now for good reason. But it’s a good reminder that succession has more than one exit door, and the one you pick can shape what the business becomes.

3. A trend from my desk. Cushman & Wakefield recently published its spring national construction report. A couple of things that stood out to me: cost pressures narrowed to metals and anything electrical. Switchgear is up more than 17% over two years and nonferrous metals are close to 37% year over year, while lumber is flat to down. If you’re building, order the long-lead electrical gear early and budget above last year. One other thing worth noting: the Midwest was the only region in the country where commercial starts fell last quarter.

4. What I’ve been listening to. The Freakonomics episode with Gary Gensler, former chair of the SEC and CFTC. He walks through all the money pouring into AI and where he thinks the risk sits. He’s not a doomsayer about it, he’s actually an optimist on the technology over the long haul, he just doubts the near-term spending and revenue line up. I don’t take it as gospel. It’s one perspective, but a thoughtful one, and a useful counterweight when everyone’s leaning the same optimistic direction. Might be worth an hour on your next drive, walk, yard work or gym time.

5. A quote I’ve been sitting with. “Strong opinions, weakly held.” There’s no shortage of the strong-opinion part out there right now. I think there’s benefits to loosening the grip from time to time.

And that’s my five. Like I said up top, reply and let me know if any of this was useful. And if you think I’ve got one wrong, tell me that too. Strong opinions, weakly held, right?

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