Are Micro-Units the Next BIG thing in Commercial Real Estate?
The buzzword in many commercial real estate circles over the last economic cycle has been “affordable housing.” As costs of living have continued to increase, developers, government officials, and special interest groups have been fighting to figure out how can we continue to provide affordable and attainable housing for those in need. But no one is talking about the affordability crisis for entrepreneurs and startups. The cost of commercial space has also risen dramatically - sometimes 50% or more in some cases around Nashville. Micro-units may be the way for entrepreneurship to continue thriving in an evermore expensive environment - here’s why.
Everybody in commercial real estate is fighting over the same apartment buildings at 5 caps. Frank Rolfe went the other direction and built one of the largest mobile home park portfolios in the country out of the one asset class most investors won't touch.
Everybody in commercial real estate is fighting over the same apartment buildings at 5 caps. Frank Rolfe went the other direction and built one of the largest mobile home park portfolios in the country out of the one asset class most investors won't touch. The mechanics are nothing like apartments. You own the land, the tenant owns the home, and moving that home costs more than the home is worth, so almost nobody leaves. Average tenancy in a park is 14 years. That one detail is why investors love this asset class, and it's exactly what critics point at. We get into both sides, including the Waffle House quote that landed Frank on John Oliver.
The seller’s numbers are only the starting point. In this Office Hours, I'll break down how to pressure-test a commercial real estate deal, spot missing expenses, and uncover what a property is actually worth.
We’ll cover management, reserves, vacancy, and the underwriting mistakes that can make an average deal look like a great one. Three missing line items can change the price by six figures. If you’re buying or underwriting commercial real estate, this is one you don’t want to miss.
Retail vacancy just hit 4.4% (almost as low as industrial) and nobody's built meaningful supply since 2008.
So why does everyone still believe Amazon killed retail? James Cook, who runs retail research for the Americas at JLL, brings the actual data: the barbell economy hollowing out the middle, the tenants that should scare you on a rent roll (and the ones that should make you pay more), Chick-fil-A's site-selection playbook, and the one number that tells us in 12 months who was right.
Six months ago my team started testing a piece of software inside the Accelerator Mastermind to kill the spreadsheet for good. This week I turned the cameras on and ran it live, on air, to find and underwrite a real commercial deal for under $250,000.
Thirteen years ago I was leasing space for a landlord who paid me almost nothing.
This week there are a hundred thousand of you in here. So instead of another deal breakdown, I'm compressing everything those thirteen years taught me into five lessons, one from each hat I've worn: broker, property manager, investor and developer. Real deals behind every lesson.
For decades, if you wanted to analyze a commercial real estate deal, you needed Excel. Hours of formulas.
Tabs on top of tabs.
A model you probably didn't even build yourself and definitely don't fully trust.
That era is over.
Everyone wants the highest cap rate. But what if that 8% cap rate is actually a warning sign? In this live session, we break down why experienced commercial real estate investors don't simply chase yield. Instead, they focus on understanding the risk behind the return and that's where most buyers get it wrong.
Your bank charges you 7%. Your equity investors are costing you 20%. Here's why that's not a mistake. If that math surprised you, this session will change how you finance every deal you do from here on out. This is the full recording of Capital Stack 101, one session from our most recent CRE Central Mastermind weekend in Nashville.
I break down the four layers of financing in every commercial deal, why the "cheapest" money isn't always the smartest money, and why the order you stack it in decides your returns as much as the deal itself.
Chick-fil-A spends millions researching a single street corner before they commit analyzing traffic counts, daytime population, growth trajectory, co-tenancy, and then they publish the answer for free. It's the restaurant.
Everybody asks how developers make money on affordable housing, so I sat down with Evan Holladay of Holladay Ventures inside Stonebridge Lofts, his $70M, 311-unit community in Goodlettsville, to walk through the entire playbook.

