MCE/MCE+1 – Blog Post Prompt – Thursday July 25, 2019 – Andrew Reichert
Your Name: Connor Damon
Real Estate and Opportunities for Commercial Development: The interesting aspect of Andrew’s real estate career is that he was born and raised in Eastern Pennsylvania near Philadelphia (ask him if he grew up near Doylestown). While at Pitt Business, he started to see potential in Pittsburgh’s real estate market, which has led him to build a large portfolio of apartment buildings and commercial properties in the North Side, the South Hills, Moon Township (near the airport) and the West End (among others). Given what you know about local real estate in an area that you are familiar with, which specific neighborhoods would you target for your portfolio (i.e. what is the commercial potential?)
Specifically, in the Pittsburgh area, I think the areas with the most commercial potential are the trendy and gentrified areas around Pittsburgh. Areas like East Liberty, Lawrenceville, Shadyside, and the South Side are all high traffic areas with a plethora of restaurants, bars, and stores, so as far as a commercial property goes the owner could turn a real profit off the rent of the apartments. Areas like these are especially great for apartments as they attract younger people who may not be planning on starting a family or buying a house just yet, only strengthening the market for apartments in these areas.
The Social Impact of Real Estate: In addition to the commercial opportunities in the Pittsburgh real estate market, Andrew also emphasizes that real estate has tremendous potential to generate a positive social impact by supporting a stock of good quality apartments at affordable prices – with an emphasis on supporting financial literacy among his tenants. Based on the area you wrote about above, which neighborhoods that you know of could benefit from this combination of good quality apartments with reasonable rent (plus an attention to financial literacy)?
In Pittsburgh, I think that some areas that could really benefit from good quality apartments and reasonable rent include Homewood and Oakland, each for different reasons. For years, Homewood has been a troubled neighborhood, and a lot of the infrastructure is not up to date, so a brand new, good quality apartment can help bring other people to Homewood and inspire the development of the Homewood area. In Oakland, however, thanks to the numerous universities in the area, an apartment complex with a reasonable rent will be ideal for college students looking to live off campus, but not looking to spend a fortune on rent. Both would benefit from the financial literacy as it would encourage more efficiency with the finances in Homewood as well as teach students how to be responsible with their money.
Other Examples Like This?: Based on your review of real estate as an area for opportunities in commercial development and social impact, how do you see real estate being relevant in the work you want to do in the future?
Real estate to me is very interesting in terms of business because it is an integral part of society that is important in the lives of all people, because every business needs a place to operate and every person needs a place to live. My goal is to work in the entertainment industry, but if I were to take a different path I would want to work in real estate. Regardless of whichever path I end up taking though, real estate is going to be important to my personal life, as I will need a place to live, as well as my employer, because they will need a place to operate and run their business from.