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?)
Coming from the college town of Bloomsburg, I would target the downtown area where Bloomsburg University is located. I would build more apartment buildings for the students as there always seems to be a demand. In addition, I would try to increase the number of retail stores in our local mall. Most of the stores have left the mall over the years due to high costs of rent. If I could get buy the mall’s property and advertise, I’m sure stores would move back into the mall. Bloomsburg residents must drive at least half an hour or hour to go shopping, so having a mall again would be exciting for the town.
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)?
The apartments for college students at Bloomsburg University could benefit from reasonable rent. College students typically can’t afford super-luxurious housing, but if the apartments were good quality at a lower cost, the student would be very happy and have the opportunity to develop financial literacy.
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?
In the future as a manager, I believe I may have to make decisions about real estate if my company relocates or opens a new branch office. If I can buy property at a lower cost, renovate and use the space for a few years, and sell the property to relocate, I can make a profit for my company. Alternatively, I could buy an office building, use one or more floors for my company, and rent the other floors to make a profit. I could set the rent at a lower cost to financially help my tenants, thus making a social impact on the community in which my company is based.