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9+ ways to reuse and redevelop a former gas station

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There are lots of ways to approach gas station redevelopment and there are lots of examples of gas station reuse.The two primary things we look at when looking to redo a gas station are:

  1. environmental risk: were  there any leaks, are the tanks still there, what type of tanks and equipment is in existence?
  2. The lot size: many former gas stations are on small lots ranging from .15 to .5 acre. Many of these lots are too small to do much with at all. 

For environmental checks we do a quick search, Phase I or Phase II. The results of these reports determine the risk and next steps. Highly desirable sites can have higher environmental risk that can be dealt with due to the extra dollars in the deal. Sites that are not as desirable and have enviro risk are harder to deal with unless the seller can kick in more than a few bucks or unless the state/Feds have dollars available for remediation. 

Small sites are predicated on the lot size, building footprint and zoning. What can be built? Is there enough parking? What is the current highest and best use for the site. These are physical and legal limitations. 

Ideal sites for gas station reuse and redevelopment have:

  • Over .5 acres of land
  • Lighted intersection
  • High traffic counts
  • No or low enviro issues

As for what use to put there, the market will dictate. What were previous gas sales at the location? Are there other newer gas stations nearby? What are the day and night traffic patterns? Is there a better use altogether like fast food, coffee, retail or even mixed use?

Here are examples of gas station reuse and redevelopment:

  • Another gas station (duh)
  • Cafe or diner
  • Sandwich shop
  • Retail
  • art gallery
  • Visitors center
  • Fast food
  • Scrape: drug store, fast food, banks, residential 
  • Maybe nothing. Some sites just can't be reused

If you have a gas station and are in need of gas station reuse or redevelopment advice or want to sell it, give us a ring at 1-866-538-1777 or email us. 

We can and would love to help with your former gas station. 

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25 Things My Clients Know

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50 Things Your Customers Wish You Knew | Remarkable Communication One of my favorite posts floating around online about customer service is from Sonia Simone titled "50 things your customers wish you knew".

It is quite the opposite of what many business books teach and tout about mission statement, features and benefits etc.

The full list of 50 can be found here.  I left 25 or so that I know my commercial investment real estate clients certainly represent.  No insults intended; just a bit of psychotherapy.

Client speaking/thinking:

1.  I don’t need you to be perfect, but I do need to know I can rely on you.

2.  Telling me what you don’t know makes me trust you.

4.  You don’t need to do all that much to be a superhero. Just do exactly what you say you will do.

7.  I don’t mind spending the money, as long as I feel I’m getting real value.

8.  My life is really stressful. If you can reduce that stress, you become immensely valuable to me.

11.  My life is very complicated. If you make it easy for me to just buy a simple all-in-one package that I can use without learning anything, I’ll take it and be grateful. (I’ll even pay a premium for it.)

12.  I want to trust you, but it’s hard for me to trust anyone.

13.  Once you’ve won my trust and loyalty, the truth is you can screw up once in awhile and I will forgive you. If I don’t think you’re taking me for granted, that is.

15.  I spend an awful lot of time being scared to death.

16.  The wealthier I get, the more I like free stuff.

18.  I’m lousy at admitting I was wrong, but I respect you when you do it.

22.  Our relationship isn’t equal and it never will be.

24.  I don’t have any interest in your excuses. In fact, I usually don’t notice them at all, and if I do, they annoy me.

27.  I only like to communicate over the phone/Web/mail and I hate when you try to make me communicate with you over the mail/phone/Web.

28.  I want to buy your product, but I need you to help me justify it to myself.

29.  There’s something in my life I’m afraid of losing. If you can make me feel like you’ve protected it for me, my gratitude will be intense and eternal.

31.  I want you to do the hard work for me. Even better if I can get all the credit.

34.  I have the attention span of a goldfish. Go too long without contacting me and I’ll simply forget you exist.

35.  Money is no object when it comes to my obsessions.

38.  It infuriates me when you answer the phone while I’m talking with you face-to-face.

39.  Embarrassment scares me more than death.

46.  I want to tell you everything you need to know in order to sell to me, but I’m lazy. Make it easy enough and I will. (Especially if you flatter me a little.)

47.  I don’t know what I want most of the time. You need to figure it out for me.

48.  I mostly daydream about making life better for myself, but I’ll take action to keep from losing what’s mine.

49.  I believe that most of what’s wrong in my life is someone else’s fault. Let me keep that cozy illusion and I’ll believe anything you say.

50.  It really is all about me.

Yes, we are trained in business school to pitch ourselves and sell us and our product/service.   Really it is not about the product service, it is about the customer/client.

Change the perspective from me to you; or maybe keep it on me (meaning you).  Right?  Got it?

credit:  50 Things Your Customers Wish You Knew | Remarkable Communication.

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1031 replacement property- try a NNN net leased property

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Need a 1031 replacement property for your 1031 Exchange? Forever leave the day to day management of your office building, apartment building or other gross-leased property behind.

Invest in a "hands-free" net leased property and spend your time doing what you want rather than dealing with tenant's needs.  Triple net leased properties (NNN) provide long term cashflow without the headaches of management.  Let the property work for you rather than you working for the property and enjoy the benefits of "mail box money".

Contact TMO to find out more about the benefits of Triple Net Leased Real Estate Investments. 1.866.539.1777

Here are just a few of the reasons why you should buy a NNN property for your 1031 exchange:

  • armchair investment- ease of management with tenant maintaining and operating the property
  • mail box money-  your monthly rent is yours, net to you, no expenses to pay
  • long term cash flow-  leases usually range from 10 to 25 years
  • high credit tenant- financially strong tenants usually publicly traded
  • good appreciation-  regular rent increases provide for increase in future value
  • non-recourse financing- lenders will loan on credit of tenant and strength of lease, waiving a personal guarantee by you as buyer
  • easier to sell- when time comes to sell, demand is almost always strong for a NNN leased property, even in down markets
  • higher residual value- net leased real estate is usually built-to-suit for retailers who have researched the market and location to find the best site to do business

Contact TMO to find out more about the benefits of Triple Net Leased Real Estate Investments for your 1031 exchange.

What is Triple Net NNN? Here is triple net lease definition

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Stroll by the river #old #bridge #aspen

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A little family outing a few weeks ago. Visited the final exhibit at the old Aspen Art Museum: Ernesto Neto - Gratitude
Stroll by the river #old #bridge #aspen
from Instagram http://bit.ly/1xYQmRy

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CVS NNN For Sale - Available NNN deals

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NET LEASED PROPERTIES for saleCVS NNN deals continue to be in hot demand. Long term net leases of 20 or more years with a solid credit rated and no landlord responsibilities. CVS NNN make great 1031 Exchange replacement properties.

Here is a quick list of CVS NNN properties for sale that have been of interest to our NNN clients and may be of interest to as well.

CVS NNN Properties For Sale

CVS NNN Memphis For Sale

CVS NNN FL For Sale

CVS NNN TX For Sale

CVS NNN FL For Sale 2

Call 1-970-618-4086 for more info on these CVS NNN Properties For Sale.

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Mountain View #mural #streetart #publicart #art #building #windows

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Mountain View #mural #streetart #publicart #art #building #windows
from Instagram http://bit.ly/1m8y5tg

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Always Doing Both

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“The master in the art of living makes little distinction between his work and his play, his labor and his leisure, his mind and his body, his information and his recreation, his love and his religion. He hardly knows which is which. He simply pursues his vision of excellence at whatever he does, leaving others to decide whether he is working or playing. To him he's always doing both. ” ~James A. Michener~

as seen on Instagram via solo_with_gopro

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#color #palette #vintage #wood #white

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I am a sucker for old wood, faded color and texture. Add an old tin can patch and I'm sold. Taken in an alley downtown Carbondale, CO.

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#color #palette #vintage #wood #white
from Instagram http://bit.ly/1mb8KMS

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We all need a big carrot to chase.

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carrot
We all need carrots to chase. #publicart #outdoorart #carbondale #co
from Instagram http://bit.ly/1oNmx0R

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Public Art: LOVE

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Featured public art of the day.

Robert Indiana LOVE sculpture in Tokyo

LOVE

from Instagram http://bit.ly/1lJLo2r
via danap07
LOVE #robertindiana #publicart #tokyo #shinjuku

List of LOVE sculptures can be found here.

LOVE is an iconic Pop Art image by American artist Robert Indiana. It consists of the letters LO over the letters VE; the O is canted sideways so that its oblong negative space creates a line leading to the V. The original image, with green and blue spaces backing red lettering, served as a print image for a Museum of Modern Art Christmas card in 1964. In much this same form the design soon graced a popular US postage stamp. Its original rendering in sculpture was made in 1970 and is displayed in Indiana at the Indianapolis Museum of Art. The material is COR-TEN steel Indiana's LOVE design has since been reproduced in a variety of formats for rendering in displays around the world.

MoMA historian Deborah Wye describes Indiana's image as "full of erotic, religious, autobiographical, and political underpinnings" that make it "both accessible and complex in meaning". Megan Wilde offered more detail about the autobiographical origins in an article for Mental Floss magazine, "The word love was connected to [the artist's] childhood experiences attending a Christian Science church, where the only decoration was the wall inscription God is Love. The colors were an homage to his father, who worked at a Phillips 66 gas station during the Depression." She quotes Robert Indiana as describing the original colors as "the red and green of that sign against the blue Hoosier sky." via Wikipedia