Faith Hope Consolo, renowned commercial broker and vice chairman of Garrick-Aug Worldwide, Ltd. was the guest speaker at the April monthly membership meeting of the New York Association of Realty Managers (NYARM). The lunch meeting was held at the famed New York restaurant, Tavern on the Green on Wednesday, April 25, 2001. Nearly 100 NYARM members and guests were in attendance to hear the celebrated top deal maker in New York City explain the effect of retail on residential property.

The types of stores that appear on the ground floor of a residential building should reflect the demographics of the neighborhood and contribute to the value of the property. The right ground level retail will not only enhance the value of the property it's situated at but will uplift the neighborhood itself. MOM AND POPS ARE OUT

"What we are dealing with now is we, Garrick-Aug, are getting a lot more assignments by the co-ops and condos to reposition the tenants that have been in these buildings the last ten to twenty years. You know the 'mom and pops,' the butchers, bakers, etc. Not only to change the vision of that retailer as we see it on main street, but to get better tenants that are going to remain if we have a recession," stated Ms. Consolo.

According to Ms. Consolo the retail rental market has not slowed down since the beginning of the year. "The momentum continues," declares Faith, "on behalf of the retailers demanding retail space. They are negotiating better deals and taking a longer time to close. They are still stepping up to the numbers, but pushing the landlords, owners and managers a little more."

THE OUTER BOROUGHS

Ms. Consolo predicts that "the neighborhoods" are going to do just as well as Madison Avenue and Soho, "the backbone" of Manhattan retail. With plenty of business on Broadway in the heart of the upper West Side, on Third Avenue, First and Second Avenues, Ms. Consolo claims to be getting assignments in the outer boroughs as well. Fulton and 86th Streets in Brooklyn, Fordham Road in the Bronx and Queens Boulevard are just a few neighborhoods she "dropped" as viable, up and coming retail spots.

"We are going to see a lot more regional retailers versus national," predicts Ms. Consolo. "There won't be so many Gaps. When Starbucks went to 104th Street and Broadway, I said that's it…that was the dividing line. 125th Street is a benchmark. I think in these times we are going to see a lot of good local retailers." LOCAL VS. NATIONAL

Will retailers indigenous to the City or even the Northeast measure up to the name recognition and confidence consumers have in national chain stores they see advertised constantly on television? Absolutely, says the maven of retail space. "We are just going to have a chance for our local tri-state area tenants to grow and come into the neighborhoods. Some of the tenants from New Jersey will go to Brooklyn, from Brooklyn they'll go to Queens, etc."

The local entrepreneur with six, eight, ten stores really serves the community according to Faith. "He may not have the sexy use," she says but he provides the services that are necessary to those that populate the neighborhood.

Another advantage to the turn over of retail space is the opportunity to redesign the property. "Now that means you [referring to the managers in the audience] have to convince your boards to dig into their pockets and spend a little money." And, we all know how difficult a job that can be!