REAL ESTATE TECHNOLOGY,REAL ESTATE INVESTMENT
Grace Hill and Ellis | January 02, 2023
Grace Hill, a pioneer in talent and customer management solutions for commercial and multi-family real estate, recently announced that it acquired Ellis Partners in Management Solutions (Ellis), a provider of mystery shopping and resident and employee survey solutions, and Edge2Learn, an e-learning company offering training and policy management solutions in the multifamily industry. However, the financial details of the transaction weren't revealed.
To aid property owners and operators in retaining top talent and enhancing the financial performance of their properties, Edge2Learn and Ellis offer online training in addition to policy, survey, mystery shopping, and data-driven insights. Over 600 online training courses catering to the needs of multi-family rental communities in the conventional, affordable, student, and senior markets have been developed by the companies. The merged business will offer a cutting-edge employee and property intelligence platform that improves productivity and profitability.
Grace Hill stated that both Edge2Learn and Ellis share the company's dedication to creating world-class training, mystery shopping, and management solutions to assist industry-leading real estate operators and owners in maximizing property performance, mitigating operational risk, and cultivating the talents of their workforce.
Among real estate training and feedback providers, Grace Hill, Edge2Learn, and Ellis have earned a well-earned reputation as industry leaders. Edge2Learn and Ellis are thrilled to join forces with Grace Hill and Aurora groups to form a truly innovative business that meets their combined clientele's current and future needs.
According to Aurora, Grace Hill is a market leader in its own right with enormous expansion potential, and this is the kind of game-changing deal it would like to close early in its hold period.
Since forming a strategic partnership with Aurora in May 2021, Grace Hill has added Kendall Pretzer as CEO, Charles Loop as CFO, Todd Harkness as CRO, Rob Beauchamp as CPO, and Traci Johnson as CMO to its executive ranks. Grace Hill was assisted by the law firms of Massumi + Consoli LLP and Gibson Dunn & Crutcher LLP.
About Grace Hill
Grace Hill offers cutting-edge SaaS technology solutions for the real estate market, intending to improve people's daily lives in their communities. By drawing on its extensive background in the real estate industry and its knowledge that 'people are better together', Grace Hill assists property owners and managers in boosting their properties' profitability, decreasing operational risk, and training future leaders. Grace Hill's talent performance solutions include policy, training, assessment, survey, and data-driven insights, and are relied on by over 500,000 professionals at over 1,700 businesses.
About Ellis
Ellis, Partners in Management Solutions (EPMS) has helped multi-family housing companies evaluate their sales and marketing effectiveness for over 35 years through its Apartment Mystery Shopping program. Using a multi-step process that captures the customer experience as a whole – from objective technique (shops) to subjective feedback (surveys) to emotional impact (social media) – Ellis offers customers easily attainable solutions that drive customer loyalty, resident retention, and profits.
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REAL ESTATE TECHNOLOGY
Pacaso | November 01, 2022
Pacaso, the leading technology-enabled real estate marketplace that helps people buy and co-own a luxury second home, today launches its Pacaso Second Home Specialist Certification program that enables agents to grow their business, expand their knowledge of co-ownership and unlock exclusive benefits.
The Pacaso Second Home Specialist Certification program is an easy five-step process that includes learning co-ownership best practices via the Pacaso Agent Playbook, garnering resources and tips for sharing co-ownership with agents' networks and experiencing a live virtual tour of a Pacaso home during an overview webinar, as well as submitting a referral.
In addition to a 3% referral commission and Pacaso equity on each closed referral and additional 1% commission on resales for life, agents who complete the program will receive a Pacaso Second Home Specialist badge, free enrollment in Pacaso Access for agents ($1,000 value), and more exclusive opportunities to expand their business. Since the company's October 2020 launch, Pacaso has paid agents more than $21 million in total gross commission income (GCI).
"By taking a short time to complete our new Second Home Specialist Certification program, agents will have the knowledge they need to discuss co-ownership, as well as create further trust with their clients on home ownership options, The process is so easy to complete and sets agents' business up for growth in 2023, I cannot wait to be at the next industry conference and see agents sporting their Pacaso Second Home Specialist badge."
-Vice President of Industry Relations Marnie Blanco
The debut of the Pacaso Second Home Specialist Certification comes on the heels of the Pacaso Agent Referral Dashboard launch, which enables agents to seamlessly refer potential second home buyers, track the status of their referrals and commission, and get transparent updates on the referral every step of the way.
With the uncertainty of the market, successful agents are already creating business plans for next year. The best plans always include continued education and exploring new ways to grow their business – making this certification a 'must have' for agents. The buyers that purchase high-end second homes typically have friends that also buy high-end second homes. If you don't tell your clients about co-ownership and Pacaso, someone else will, said Jeff Kennedy, vice president of Leading Real Estate Companies of the World.
Pacaso partners closely with all interested real estate agents and brokerages to help clients buy and sell a second home. Agents earn a 3% referral commission on the share price and Pacaso equity in the form of 500 restricted stock units (RSUs), when helping clients co-own a luxury second home in destinations regardless of where they're based or licensed. Pacaso manages the entire process to make it simple for agents from scheduling tours to answering questions, or managing inspections and escrow.
The real estate industry is embracing co-ownership as Real Estate Standards Organization and its members defined co-ownership as a property type in 2021. Engel & Vӧlkers, RE/MAX, and Better Homes and Gardens® Real Estate introduced Pacaso and co-ownership to the already full-service luxury brokerages and networks, and Leading Real Estate Companies of the World® selected Pacaso for its Solutions Group program.
About Pacaso
Pacaso® is a technology-enabled marketplace that modernizes real estate co-ownership to make owning a second home possible and enjoyable for more people. Pacaso curates luxury listings with premium amenities and high-end contemporary interior design, offers ⅛ to ½ ownership with integrated financing, and, after purchase, professionally manages the home and supports seamless resale. Co-founded by Austin Allison and Spencer Rascoff in 2020, Pacaso operates in top second home destinations around the world. Pacaso has been certified as a Great Place to Work and is recognized as one of Glassdoor's 2022 Best Places to Work.
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REAL ESTATE INVESTMENT
Kimco Realty | November 14, 2022
Kimco Realty® (NYSE: KIM), North America’s largest publicly traded owner and operator of open-air, grocery-anchored shopping centers, and a growing portfolio of mixed-use assets, today announced it acquired a private, multi-generationally-owned portfolio of eight Long Island, NY shopping centers for $375.8 million. The acquisition was funded by the issuance of a combination of cash and redeemable units and the assumption of $88.8 million of 4.1% mortgage debt with a remaining term of approximately six years. As of September 30, 2022, the company had $123.5 million in cash and cash equivalents on its balance sheet and subsequently received approximately $301.1 million of proceeds from the sale of 11.5 million shares of its Albertsons common shares.
These eight high-quality centers are located in one of the most desirable markets in the United States and within a drive time of approximately 15 minutes from Kimco’s corporate headquarters in Jericho, NY. The ultra-infill markets of Long Island are high barrier to entry and offer a highly captive consumer base boasting some of the best demographic profiles in the country. The portfolio, which boasts a three-mile estimated population and average household income of 95,000 and $187,000, respectively, is 94.4% leased with significant mark-to-market and merchandising enhancement opportunities. The portfolio, which includes The Gardens at Great Neck, Woodbury Common, The Market Place, Stop & Shop Shopping Center, Southgate Shopping Center, Green Cove Plaza and Syosset Corners in Nassau County, and Sequams Shopping Center in Suffolk County, features five grocery anchored centers and a strong collection of necessity-based tenants and retailers offering everyday goods and services. Tenants include TJMaxx, GoHealth Urgent Care, Rite Aid, Starbucks, Dunkin’ Donuts, and Chipotle.
“This acquisition was a rare chance to expand our presence in one of Kimco’s most highly desired markets, with a portfolio of irreplaceable real estate located in one of the most heavily trafficked, densely populated, suburbs that offers high barriers to entry and affluent communities, The strength of our balance sheet, ample liquidity and ability to provide a tax efficient transaction for the seller put us in a prime position to be opportunistic when this multi-generational portfolio emerged. The acquisition also brings us closer to our target of 85% of the company’s annual base rent coming from grocery anchored centers.”
-Conor Flynn, Kimco’s Chief Executive Officer
At the end of September 2022, Kimco Realty owned 28 centers totaling 3.0 million square feet with an average occupancy rate of 97.8% in the dominant Long Island market. The addition of this eight-property portfolio, which comprises 540,000 square feet of retail space, will further Kimco’s position as one of Long Island’s largest owners of grocery-anchored shopping centers with 36 assets totaling over 3.5 million square feet.
About Kimco Realty®
Kimco Realty® (NYSE:KIM) is a real estate investment trust (REIT) headquartered in Jericho, N.Y. that is North America’s largest publicly traded owner and operator of open-air, grocery-anchored shopping centers, including mixed-use assets. The company’s portfolio is primarily concentrated in the first-ring suburbs of the top major metropolitan markets, including those in high-barrier-to-entry coastal markets and rapidly expanding Sun Belt cities, with a tenant mix focused on essential, necessity-based goods and services that drive multiple shopping trips per week. Kimco Realty is also committed to leadership in environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues and is a recognized industry leader in these areas. Publicly traded on the NYSE since 1991, and included in the S&P 500 Index, the company has specialized in shopping center ownership, management, acquisitions, and value enhancing redevelopment activities for more than 60 years. As of September 30, 2022, the company owned interests in 526 U.S. shopping centers and mixed-use assets comprising 91 million square feet of gross leasable space.
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