353 Main Street

A former client reached out to us to discuss selling a building his ownership group was in the advanced stages of a purchase and sale agreement. In fact, the seller had a fully negotiated purchase and sale agreement that the group was ready to sign when he called our team. He wanted to see if the price he had negotiated was “market.” We immediately advised him not to sign the agreement as an unsolicited offer seldom gets price and terms that reflect “market” conditions. It was simply too early for them to be able to make an informed decision. We told them, “Don’t say yes yet.”

Within a day of that discussion, we presented a competing offer for $1 million over their previously negotiated “we’re happy at this price” deal to show the owners that there was an opportunity to sell the property for a significant amount over their expected selling price.

After their initial shock at hearing the increased price, our team advised the owners that they needed to run our process. The best terms, including price, would only result from the full marketing of the property to selected developers. This process would generate competition for the property, which would in turn ensure “market” pricing and the best set of terms and conditions under which the owners would sell.

We did our research with the City of Redwood City to confirm the general parameters under which a developer could entitle and build a new residential project. Our team then had an idea of the value of the property based on our prior development listings on the Peninsula. From this base of knowledge, we prepared the marketing materials and began our developer outreach. After receiving more than 10 offers for the property and interviewing a selected group of those offers, our team advised the owners to proceed to a best and final round with the remaining developers. Our process allowed for in-person interviews between the sellers and the buyers such that the sellers could make a choice among the final set. The group chosen by the sellers was the group that eventually closed escrow on the property.

During the above marketing process, the team also focused its efforts on getting the adjoining property owners to release our client’s site from the then existing CC & R’s restrictions (which limited the ability of the sellers to develop). Once this was completed and the City approved the 125 unit site, the developer was able to close on the site.

Our client achieved a 40% increase over the initial purchase price ($5M price increase over the prior unsolicited offer) by adhering to our advice and process. By not saying yes until the process was complete, our clients succeeded. The site is currently under construction.

Back in the mid 1990’s, the vacant 79K SF parcel was adjacent to Redwood City’s downtown core designation. It was located in an old retail center that housed two restaurants and in a separate building, a soon-to-be vacant Arron Brothers, a physical therapist’s office and a small gym.

When the owner decided to sell the property, Brett was also working with 3 separate buyers. When he realized this property would be a perfect fit for his 3 clients, he introduced each individual owner to see if they would consider joining together to purchase this 18,500 SF building on a 79K SF parcel. They all agreed.

The newly formed group purchased the asset in 2003 for approximately $3.5 million. Fast forward 16 years. In 2019 they sold it to a developer for $17.5 million. The three owner’s total rate of return was 500 percent, but with financing in place their cash on cash return was over 1000 percent.