About the Contractor
I love n othing more than to create physical spaces where Charlotte business owners and entrepreneurs can take action – and turn their dream into a reality.  My name is Rick Mabe and I operate in a very tight specialization of Commercial General Contracting, the tenant improvement or tenant upfit.  Rather than attempt to be all things to all people, I decided early on to focus on my strengths – helping business owners create the best spaces in which to do what they do – and I’m having a blast.

After a decade-long career in the financial services business, dealing with spreadsheets, balance sheets and proformas, I eagerly migrated back to the physical – where the rubber meets the road.  I manage a team of professionals whose sole purpose is to take full responsibility for the physical space needed by a business whether it is a relocation, expansion, new branch or new venture altogether.  There is so much involved in preparing to enter or expand in the marketplace – why should the owner be worried about their space? – or their Contractor?  Call me at 704-288-3422 x105 and let’s discuss how the right contractor can can make all the difference. Check out a few of my tenant improvement recommendations on LinkedIn.

About the Contractor

I love nothing more than to create physical spaces where Charlotte business owners and entrepreneurs can take action – and turn their dream into a reality.  My name is Rick Mabe and I operate in a very tight specialization of Commercial General Contracting, the tenant upfit or tenant improvement.  Rather than attempt to be all things to all people, I decided early on to focus on my strengths – helping business owners create the best spaces in which to do what they do – and I’m having a blast.

After a decade-long career in the financial services business, dealing with spreadsheets, balance sheets and proformas, I eagerly migrated back to the physical – where the rubber meets the road.  I manage a team of professionals whose sole purpose is to take full responsibility for the physical space needed by a business whether it is a relocation, expansion, new branch or new venture altogether.  There is so much involved in preparing to enter or expand in the marketplace – why should the owner be worried about their space? – or their Contractor?  Call me at 704-288-3422 x105 and let’s discuss how the right contractor can can make all the difference. Check out a few of my tenant upfit recommendations on LinkedIn.

Maybe.

What did you expect me to say? Although I make my living as a commercial General Contractor and would welcome a little more work for the guys, I’m not about to insist that you hire a GC for every project. Property Managers and leasing agents know what I am talking about. Most of them have their handyman-type crews who paint and put down carpet on the cheap and many times, that’s all they need for smaller projects.

So, I guess that it depends on what the meaning of the word “small” is. Painting a wall or two is small. Freshening up the ceiling tiles in two offices is small. Adding in an extra wall receptacle is small, but dangerous if you don’t have an electrician. Mecklenburg County wants you to have a permit for any commercial work over $5,000 (really, they do), so they must think anything under $5,000 is small. North Carolina requires that any project over $30,000 be performed under the supervision (and liability….) of a licensed General Contractor, so they must think anything under $30,000 is small. The entry-level General Contractor’s license in NC allows GC’s to perform work up to $500,000 per contract, so they must think half a million dollars is small.

For me, a “small” tenant upfit is a function of the amount of risk the building owner/manager or the tenant is willing to take on. Painting those two rooms – little risk, small job. Ceiling tiles, same deal. New electric outlet – well, that is another matter. You may not need a General Contractor, but you will need a licensed electrician. He’s going to want to know what that tenant wants to do there. Plug in a radio, no problem. Plug in a toaster, possible problem. You need to know – and you need the expertise of the licensed professional. The few bucks you will save today could have enormous impact on the safety and longevity of the property – not to mention the people who work or shop there.

We are starting some work on some second generation space for an office/flex tenant. All properly designed, stamped and permitted. As I was talking with the tenant, I found out that the landlord was replacing some HVAC units, moving some walls, new carpet and paint, etc. before we got there. Now, sure, I’m a little ticked that they’re taking work from my guys and a little bit off my table as well. Of course, there will be no permitting and therefore, no inspections. Now, when my inspector goes on the roof, and happens to notice those three new units along side the 20+ older ones on the roof, what am I to say? I don’t like it. How safe is it all? There is a reason for building codes, just ask the people in Chile. (Umm, no, the reason is not to just make things more difficult, or to generate more fees).

Bottom line here is THINK about it. Whether you are a building owner, property manager or tenant, you have a responsibility to each-other, other tenants and the community at large to make it safe, used licensed people, do no harm!

I invite comments, and agreement is not required!

About the Contractor
I love nothing more than to create physical spaces where Charlotte business owners and entrepreneurs can take action – and turn their dream into a reality. My name is Rick Mabe and I operate in a very tight specialization of Commercial General Contracting, the tenant improvement or upfit. Rather than attempt to be all things to all people, I decided early on to focus on my strengths – helping business owners create the best spaces in which to do what they do – and I’m having a blast.

After a decade-long career in the financial services business, dealing with spreadsheets, balance sheets and proformas, I eagerly migrated back to the physical – where the rubber meets the road. I manage a team of professionals whose sole purpose is to take full responsibility for the physical space needed by a business whether it is a relocation, expansion, new branch or new venture altogether. There is so much involved in preparing to enter or expand in the marketplace – why should the owner be worried about their space? – or their Contractor? Call me at 704-288-3422 x105 and let’s discuss how the right contractor can can make all the difference. Check out a few of my recommendations on LinkedIn.

You know the old rule of thumb for new retail – open well ahead of “Black Friday,” have a brisk holiday season, and build up cash for what will surely be a long winter.  Throw in the malaise in the overall economy and you’ve got a recipe for disaster if you’re trying to get started in February 2009.

Or maybe you don’t.

NOT if you have one of the hottest product lines in all of retail – video games!  NOT if you have one of the hottest franchise concepts.  NOT if you have a cool, hip store where your customers can hang out and play games together!

Check out this story from Dow Jones on January Video Game Sales.

SAN FRANCISCO -(Dow Jones)- Video game sales got off to a better-than-expected start in 2009, according to the NPD Group, which suggests the industry is on track so far this year to meet expectations for modest growth.

Total revenue from sales of video game sales rose 9% in January, while game console sales rose a more modest 2% from a year ago, NPD reported. Both results exceeded expectations by analysts bracing for marginal, if any sales growth following a particularly robust holiday sales season, at least for this sector.

The report’s findings “speaks to the continued strength of video games as one of the leading entertainment industries in the U.S.,” said NPD analyst Anita Frazier.

Nintendo Co. Ltd. (NTDOY) continued its dominance of late. Nintendo of America, a Nintendo division, published five of the top 10 selling games, including the month’s top three sellers, according to the data.

At 5.9 million, sales of Nintendo’s Wii motion-controlled game console and the DS portable represented nearly half of all consoles sold in January. Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) said Xbox 360 sales rose 33% from a year earlier to 309,000 units in January, which was slightly above expectations.

Activision Blizzard Inc. (ATVI) also fared well. It had three games in the top 10, including No. 2 seller “Call of Duty: World At War.” Electronic Arts Inc.’s (ERTS) troubles breaking into the top 10 continued in January. The Redwood City, Calif. company had just one top seller, No. 7 ranked “Left 4 Dead” for the Xbox 360, according to NPD.

-By Ben Charny, Dow Jones Newswires

It is amazing.  People will spend money on THIS STUFF even in a down economy.  They will find the cash.  Plus, at Play n Trade, they can trade in their old stuff!  Or maybe even BUY some old, ahem, RETRO stuff!

On a personal note, we spent about five weeks on the upfit (buildout) so I was on site several hours each week.  Even before they had a sign, before any advertising, people were finding out about the store.  It was viral! And you can only imagine the number of questions I got about “are they hiring??”  Stopped by in the middle of the day with a banker friend from Blue Harbor bank in Huntersville, NC.  He couldn’t believe that there were people in the store hanging out, playing games and BUYING games!

So maybe you’re thinking you need to own one of these franchises?  They are growing fast, but there are definitely still prime retail locations out there.  This is the best time in a long while to negotiate with shopping center landlords for great lease rates.  Be a part of something that is growing – despite the overall economy!  Contact me and I’ll get you in touch with my buddies over at Play n Trade.

About the Contractor
I love nothing more than to create physical spaces where business owners and entrepreneurs can take action – and turn their dream into a reality.  My name is Rick Mabe and I operate in a very tight specialization of Commercial General Contracting, the tenant upfit .  Rather than attempt to be all things to all people, I decided early on to focus on my strengths – helping business owners create the best spaces in which to do what they do.

After a decade-long career in the financial services business, dealing with spreadsheets, balance sheets and proformas, I eagerly migrated back to the physical – where the rubber meets the road.  I manage a team of professionals whose sole purpose is to take full responsibility for the physical space needed by a business whether it is a relocation, expansion, new branch or new venture altogether.  There is so much involved in preparing to enter or expand in the marketplace – why should the owner be worried about their space? – or their Contractor?  Want to know more?  Contact me!

In my five years of building out commercial space, the 1st quarter has never represented more than 10% of our annual revenues.  The 2nd quarter has rarely exceeded 15% of annual revenues.  That’s right, I expect to do 75% of my business in the last half of the year.

Commercial building permits hit 6-year low

Commercial building permits issued by Mecklenburg County plunged last month to the lowest level in six years for the month of January.

Developers pulled 12 permits for projects such as offices and stores. The last time January permits fell that low was in 2003, when seven were issued.

This January’s volume declined 80 percent from January 2008′s 61 permits. Permit value of projects also tumbled 80percent, to $15.4 million.

Development activity is typically slow in January, but the new numbers are more evidence that the residential malaise has spread to commercial.

“The underlying theme is everybody is sitting on the same fence,” said Rob Pressley, president of the Charlotte Region Commercial Board of Realtors. “Traffic is really down for both for-lease and for-sale properties.”

He said retail “is the first to feel the impact of a poor housing market. Consumer confidence is down; people are holding on to their money.”

Two big issues affecting the market, Pressley said, are the uncertainty swirling around Charlotte’s banking giants and the tight lending climate.

“Developers are not getting the type of loan they would have gotten just weeks ago,” he said. “Lenders are requiring more equity, and rates aren’t as competitive.”

Colliers Pinkard noted in its fourth-quarter report on Charlotte that “new announcements for speculative construction have all but stopped … Both the investment and the user sale markets have slowed to only a handful of closings.”

The report said “many investors are sitting on the sidelines waiting for the ‘deals’ to hit the market in 2009.”

Want to read the full article?  http://www.charlotteobserver.com/dougsmith/story/536837.html

I’m not so concerned about the number of permits pulled in Mecklenburg County for January.  I am more concerned that developers are able to adjust their proformas to recognize the devalued market.  Right-pricing will always spur on a market.

About the Contractor – Rick Mabe : I love nothing more than to create physical spaces where business owners and entrepreneurs can take action – and turn their dream into a reality.  I operate in a very tight specialization of Commercial General Contracting, the tenant upfit .  Rather than attempt to be all things to all people, I decided early on to focus on my strengths – helping business owners create the best spaces in which to do what they do.  Check out some of our past projects .