Dr. Roger Kula had to temper his expectations. He had no other choice.
A Chicago native now living in New York, Kula and his younger sister, also a New York resident, welcomed their aging mother to the Big Apple in 2005. A permanent move, the siblings debated what they would do with their mother's Downers Grove home, a residence that held fond childhood memories for both. Initially, they elected to keep the property, using it as a Chicago area retreat and gradually clearing the space for a future sale.
In May 2008, against the threat of capital gains taxes, Kula listed the home with Downers Grove-based agent Jill Luckett of Coldwell Banker. While aware of the real estate market's downward trend, Kula and his sister still anticipated a $300,000-plus sale for the 3-bedroom, 1-bathroom brick ranch in one of the suburb's stable residential communities.
"Jill told us off the bat that we were probably too high given the area's inventory levels, but we gave it a shot at $289,000 to start," Kula said. "In retrospect we probably hit on the worst of the wave because the market has only gone further south."
With few lookers and even fewer offers, Luckett and Kula sat down to re-examine their price as summer approached, a challenging feat given that the area held few comparable sales. In a scene repeated throughout the Chicagoland real estate market, Kula was forced to face a sobering, unkind reality: he wasn't going to get the dollar figure he desired. To sell his boyhood home, Kula would have to confront the most recent data, measure his motivation to sell, and "reposition" the home.
A term once used sparingly by real estate insiders, repositioning has increasingly entered the American lexicon as the housing market captures headlines. No longer can Chicagoland sellers ignore the market's tumult. To secure a deal, today's home sellers must be realistic, responsive and open to repositioning.
"When a seller puts their home on the market on day one, they very well could be the best priced home in the best condition," said Tricia McEneaney of Coldwell Banker's Gold Coast office. "But if over the next 30 days 10 more competitively priced homes come on the market, then the seller's home may no longer be in a position to sell."
Today's real estate market is more fluid than in any recent era and tough love -- a k a repositioning -- awaits many sellers.
"The market doesn't come to you any more; it's going the other way right now and that's a reality throughout Chicagoland," said David Hanna, president of the Chicago Association of Realtors and owner of Prudential SourceOne Realty in Chicago and Hinsdale.
What is it? How's it done?
In its simplest form, repositioning consists of accessing current data, noting the market's movement, and reassessing a given home's price, condition and promotion. Some Realtors sit with sellers and interpret the latest info as often as every two to three weeks, specifically with the most motivated sellers; others, particularly in a community frigid on sales numbers, might analyze the info every 60-90 days. Either way, such conversations have emerged a common slice of the Realtor-seller relationship.
"We're repositioning now more than ever before," said Dean Rouso, owner of Prime Property Partners in La Grange. "We're meeting with sellers, gauging their motivation, and providing the most recent data to help hit the right price point."
Repositioning shines a consistent light on a specific area's real estate market. Rouso, who spoke about pricing at November's National Association of Realtors convention in Orlando, advises his staff to look at contracts generated in the last 90 days -- first in the neighborhood, then in the greater community. Such data shows the demand surrounding a community, even if the deals never closed.
"If we have a home that's been successful and similar to ours, then we need to take a strong look at that sale as well as the homes priced lower," Rouso said, adding that the Realtor's task is to interpret the information for sellers rather than simply handing them printouts.
For repositioning to be most effective, data must be collected in as narrow and near a time frame as possible. The real estate market's longtime adversary has been its inability to foresee the future; Realtors have access only to historical data. Packing that data into the latest window soothes the market's evolving wrath and provides a more insightful portrait of housing trends. It's a reactive treatment, the industry pros admit, but it remains the best tool available.
With timely data in hand, sellers encounter their options, frequently choosing between a lower price or patience. Some sellers might also decide to offer incentives, make repairs or even pull the home off the market. Most Realtors agree that the current housing market is not a dangle-your-toes-in-the-water time. Today's housing world is only for the most motivated, reasonable sellers and repositioning forces many sellers to reconsider.
"If you're not motivated to sell, then it's best to wait; you'll only frustrate yourself," Rouso said. "There are enough 'have-to-sell folks' out there that they'll keep dropping their prices to the detriment of your bottom line."
We've repositioned. Now what?
After the initial repositioning and its most frequent outcome -- a price drop -- sellers do the one thing they're learning to do best in these challenging real estate times: wait. In some instances, a Realtor will lower the price incrementally over a period of time (say, $1,000 a day for five days) to get the property on hot sheets, a list of homes that have entered the market or changed price in a given day.
"The idea is to maximize the presentation of that price reduction," Hanna said. "It's about getting the maximum amount of exposure to the maximum amount of people."
Then, return the home to the prospective buyers' attention. Have a new open house. Record the number of showings and hits on the Web site to assess if interest in the property has surged. If progress doesn't arrive in 30 days, it could be time for more tough love. Sadly but realistically over the last year, the market likely took another dive in that time.
"Property values are declining, yet too many sellers think their property is the exception," Hanna said. "Hope is not a business plan. When we see prices move in either direction, we need to adjust."
But sellers and their Realtors should also re-examine other parts of the home's public face because price isn't always the culprit. A home sells thanks to the convergence of three points -- price, condition, and promotion. If the home isn't marketed well with expanded information, vibrant photos, and accurate information, then change must occur. Sellers should also take a close look at the home's condition, making sure that cleanliness and clutter-free characterize the space. Such tasks are as much a part of repositioning as slashing prices.
"In today's market we're in a price war and a beauty contest. The home must win both to sell," said Coldwell Banker's McEneaney.
A happy ending?
Pre-AIG, government bailouts, and daily foreclosure reports, Kula might have hoped for a $300,000 sales price on his boyhood home. As autumn unraveled, however, he understood that the market had him cornered. Realities had shifted and he needed to counter the momentum.
He sat with Luckett and discovered the grim truth. If he wanted to move the house, he would need to lower the price.
"The year was closing and it was a rush to the finish line," he said.
He joined Coldwell Banker's nationwide October promotion. For 10 days, he lowered his price 10 percent to $252,000. Multiple offers arrived, including an as-is purchase for $235,000, which he and his sister accepted.
"We could see what was going on," Kula said. "You think you should be getting more, but you also know it could be worse. At some point, we had to face the realization that this was the going rate."
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Monday, November 10, 2008
Writing Sample #15: November Cheat Sheet (QSR, November 2008)
Oh, how the times have changed.
Last January, QSR took a closer look at the presidential frontrunners and their thoughts on key restaurant industry issues. At the time, Senator Barack Obama was largely seen as a longshot while Senator John McCain’s candidacy appeared in ruin.
But the winds of change swirled and tossed around one of the most anticipated presidential elections in decades. Beginning with the Iowa caucuses, Obama surged and held off a Hillary Clinton charge while McCain resurrected his campaign and locked up the Republican nod in quick time.
With the rookie Senator from Illinois and the veteran legislator from Arizona earning their respective parties’ presidential nominations, a heated contest commands the nation’s attention. As the race for the White House intensifies and voting day nears, we revisit Senator Obama and Senator McCain, taking a closer look at each man’s views on critical industry issues.
American with Disabilities Amendments Act and Notification Act
The ADA Amendments Act, a compromise reached following on the heels of the more drastic Americans with Disabilities Restoration Act, maintains the previous definition of a disability as well as the requirement that an individual must demonstrate that he or she is qualified for the job. After passing the House in June, the ADA Amendments Act now sits in the Senate.
Both Obama and McCain, a co-sponsor of the ADA in 1990, have voiced support for expanding the landmark legislation and strengthening its implementation. While McCain has cited a more thorough, specific definition of “disability,” Obama favors the aforementioned ADA Restoration Act, which seeks to redefine what constitutes a protected impairment under the ADA—a redefinition many employers feel is far too loose as it could apply to employees with neck strains, eyeglasses, or even tennis elbow.
The ADA Notification Act, meanwhile, would provide restaurants up to 90 days to review and repair alleged accessibility issues while helping to protect restaurants from frivolous ADA violation lawsuits. McCain has maintained his support for the cause, which would allow business owners the opportunity to become ADA compliant without the threat of costly legal tussles. While Obama, a former civil rights lawyer, has not spoken exclusively on the ADA Notification Act, he has repeatedly indicated his desire to appoint judges and justices who uphold the “essential message of liberty and inclusion.”
Biofuels
Since his election to the U.S. Senate in 2004, Obama trumpeted his support for biofuels, citing Brazil as a nation that has quickly escaped its complete reliance on crude oil from outside nations. Obama has been consistent in his message to find new energy sources and weaken the dependence on foreign oil. Even prior to the start of the primary season, Obama proposed a $150 billion fund to finance new biorefineries and stated his desire to see all new cars run on E85.
Today, Obama’s campaign site hosts this message: “Advances in biofuels…and other new technologies that produce synthetic petroleum from sustainable feedstocks offer tremendous potential to break our addiction to oil. Barack Obama will work to ensure that these clean alternative fuels are developed and incorporated into our national supply as soon as possible.”
While McCain, once a critic of ethanol, supports wider use of biofuels, he rejects any mention of subsidies or mandates for ethanol production; instead, McCain favors such money traveling to increased research and development of renewable energies. In particular, McCain worried that biofuel mandates would challenge the simple economic rules of supply-and-demand. When the 2007 Senate energy bill called for a five-fold increase in ethanol production by 2022, McCain shot back that ethanol was on its way to divulging one-third of the nation’s corn crop in 2008.
“This subsidized (ethanol) program—paid for by taxpayer dollars—has contributed to pain at the cash register, at the dining room table, and a devastating food crisis throughout the world,” he said.
Food Safety
In February 2008, the U.S. Department of Agriculture led a recall of 143 million pounds of frozen beef, a move that prompted Obama to release this statement: “When I am President, it will not be business as usual when it comes to food safety. I will provide additional resources to hire more federal food inspectors. I will also call on the Department of Agriculture to examine whether federal food safety laws need to be strengthened, in particular to provide greater protections against tainted food being used in the National School Lunch Program.”
Obama soon followed with the introduction of a Senate bill in July aimed at further addressing food safety. While he did not suggest any changes at the procedural level of food processing, he did propose a $25 million grant for state and local food safety agencies to boost capacity in order to improve detection, outbreak communication and coordination, and surveillance.
McCain, who spoke at this year’s NRA convention in May, has not addressed the food safety issue and his campaign office did not offer comment on the issue.
Health Care
Obama has pledged to create a national health care plan, one which includes: guaranteed eligibility; comprehensive benefits; affordable premiums, co-pays, and deductibles; and the creation of a National Health Insurance Exchange to help those individuals who wish to purchase a private insurance plan. He has also discussed expanding Medicaid and creating a Small Business Health Tax Credit to provide, his campaign says, “small businesses with a refundable tax credit of up to 50 percent on premiums paid by small businesses on behalf of their employees.” The new credit, he feels, “will provide a strong incentive to small businesses to offer high quality health care to their workers and help improve the competitiveness of America’s small businesses.” He has said he would demand employers make a meaningful contribution to their employees’ health care needs.
In contrast, McCain has repeatedly insisted that Americans themselves should be in charge of their health care needs, believing that competition would restore control to the patients and allow them to select the plan that best fills their needs. Striking against universal health care plans, McCain charged, “We will replace the inefficiency, irrationality, and uncontrolled costs of the current system with the inefficiency, irrationality, and uncontrolled costs of a government monopoly.”
McCain has also championed portability in health care, plans that would move with the individual from job to job. He has also trumpeted the benefits of Health Savings Accounts, tax-preferred accounts used to pay insurance premiums and other health costs. He believes affordable health care is possible without a federal mandate and has indicated his wish to provide $2,500 refundable tax credits for individuals and $5,000 for families.
Immigration Reform
Few issues evoke as much debate and chatter among industry insiders than immigration, given that immigrants—both legal and illegal—constitute a healthy chunk of the restaurant industry’s workforce. That reality has continually pushed immigration to the front of the 2008 presidential election, leading both McCain and Obama to articulate clear positions on the issue.
McCain, no stranger to the issue as his home state of Arizona borders Mexico, sponsored the bi-partisan Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act of 2006, one that promised to increase security along the U.S.-Mexican border, allow long-time, law abiding illegal immigrants a path to citizenship, and increase the number of guest workers. Obama, in fact, voted in favor of that bill.
Today, McCain sings a similar tune, though he insists amnesty has never been a part of the discussion. At a Republican debate in January, McCain outlined his priorities.
“We will secure the borders first when I am president,” he said. “Then we will move onto the other aspects of this issue, as importantly as tamper-proof biometric documents, which then, unless an employer hires someone with those documents, that employer will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”
Obama has vowed to “fix the system” in such a way that it eliminates the need to address the immigration problem again in the near future. He has proposed tougher policies on employers who hire illegal immigrants. During a Democratic primary radio debate on NPR, Obama summarized his overall position, noting specifically his belief that immigrants—illegal or not—should have a pathway to citizenship and share in basic American rights.
“I think that if [the immigrants] are illegal, then they should not be able to work in this country. That is part of the principle of comprehensive reform, which we're going to crack down on employers who are hiring them and taking advantage of them,” he said. “But I also want to give them a pathway, so that they can earn citizenship, earn a legal status, start learning English, pay a significant fine, and go to the back of the line. But they can then stay here and they can have the ability to enforce a minimum wage that they're paid, make sure the worker safety laws are available, make sure that they can join a union.”
Minimum Wage Increase
If elected president, Obama has said he will raise the minimum wage, something he often prefers to call a “living wage,” to $9.50 an hour by 2011 and index it to inflation. He has repeatedly championed minimum wage increases.
“We shouldn't raise the minimum wage every 10 years,” Obama told a Wisconsin crowd during the primary season. “We should raise it every year to keep up with inflation. If you work in this country, you should not be poor.”
In his August speech at the Democratic National Convention, vice presidential nominee Joe Biden chided McCain, his longtime Senate colleague, for voting against Democratic-led minimum wage hikes a total of 19 times. In truth, McCain’s Senatorial career is peppered with various positive votes in favor of a minimum wage increase, including one that would lift the figure to $7.25 per hour. As is common on Capitol Hill, some of his votes for or against the minimum wage were tucked inside other bills, such as a 2007 one on war funding.
In general, McCain has supported minimum wage hikes, just at a more modest rate than his colleagues to the left. In 2007, he joined 27 other Republicans in voting—unsuccessfully—to allow individual States the rights and flexibility to determine minimum wage. The Arizona Senator has frequently said his rejection to a more robust minimum wage increase arrives from his concern that it would boost employers’ labor costs and thereby limit the creation of new jobs.
Paid Sick Leave
While up to 46 million American workers do not receive paid sick days, legislators in a dozen states have proposed laws requiring employers to provide them. Current federal legislation, called the Healthy Families Acts, remains on the table that would require businesses to provide seven paid sick days each year to employees who work at least 30 hours a week. Obama has touted his support for such legislation while McCain, true to his form of opposing federal mandates, has said such rules further stifle employers, particularly during challenging economic times.
Restaurant Depreciation
While depreciation schedules for restaurants have remained rather consistent over recent years, the NRA continues to work for a depreciation schedule that would fall to 15 years from the current 39 ½ year threshold. In April, Maryland restaurant owner and NRA member Fred Rosenthal told a Congressional hearing that “shortening the write-off of restaurant buildings and improvements to 15 years would create immediate economic activity within the industry, which in turn would reverberate throughout the economy.”
Neither McCain nor Obama have clarified their positions on restaurant depreciation. Yet, McCain has said he would allow businesses to immediately expense the full cost of three- and five-year business equipment purchased between 2009 and 2013. After 2013, businesses would again have to depreciate equipment over time. His campaign, however, offered no further comment on the matter. Obama’s camp did not respond to QSR’s request for the Democratic nominee’s stance on the issue.
Last January, QSR took a closer look at the presidential frontrunners and their thoughts on key restaurant industry issues. At the time, Senator Barack Obama was largely seen as a longshot while Senator John McCain’s candidacy appeared in ruin.
But the winds of change swirled and tossed around one of the most anticipated presidential elections in decades. Beginning with the Iowa caucuses, Obama surged and held off a Hillary Clinton charge while McCain resurrected his campaign and locked up the Republican nod in quick time.
With the rookie Senator from Illinois and the veteran legislator from Arizona earning their respective parties’ presidential nominations, a heated contest commands the nation’s attention. As the race for the White House intensifies and voting day nears, we revisit Senator Obama and Senator McCain, taking a closer look at each man’s views on critical industry issues.
American with Disabilities Amendments Act and Notification Act
The ADA Amendments Act, a compromise reached following on the heels of the more drastic Americans with Disabilities Restoration Act, maintains the previous definition of a disability as well as the requirement that an individual must demonstrate that he or she is qualified for the job. After passing the House in June, the ADA Amendments Act now sits in the Senate.
Both Obama and McCain, a co-sponsor of the ADA in 1990, have voiced support for expanding the landmark legislation and strengthening its implementation. While McCain has cited a more thorough, specific definition of “disability,” Obama favors the aforementioned ADA Restoration Act, which seeks to redefine what constitutes a protected impairment under the ADA—a redefinition many employers feel is far too loose as it could apply to employees with neck strains, eyeglasses, or even tennis elbow.
The ADA Notification Act, meanwhile, would provide restaurants up to 90 days to review and repair alleged accessibility issues while helping to protect restaurants from frivolous ADA violation lawsuits. McCain has maintained his support for the cause, which would allow business owners the opportunity to become ADA compliant without the threat of costly legal tussles. While Obama, a former civil rights lawyer, has not spoken exclusively on the ADA Notification Act, he has repeatedly indicated his desire to appoint judges and justices who uphold the “essential message of liberty and inclusion.”
Biofuels
Since his election to the U.S. Senate in 2004, Obama trumpeted his support for biofuels, citing Brazil as a nation that has quickly escaped its complete reliance on crude oil from outside nations. Obama has been consistent in his message to find new energy sources and weaken the dependence on foreign oil. Even prior to the start of the primary season, Obama proposed a $150 billion fund to finance new biorefineries and stated his desire to see all new cars run on E85.
Today, Obama’s campaign site hosts this message: “Advances in biofuels…and other new technologies that produce synthetic petroleum from sustainable feedstocks offer tremendous potential to break our addiction to oil. Barack Obama will work to ensure that these clean alternative fuels are developed and incorporated into our national supply as soon as possible.”
While McCain, once a critic of ethanol, supports wider use of biofuels, he rejects any mention of subsidies or mandates for ethanol production; instead, McCain favors such money traveling to increased research and development of renewable energies. In particular, McCain worried that biofuel mandates would challenge the simple economic rules of supply-and-demand. When the 2007 Senate energy bill called for a five-fold increase in ethanol production by 2022, McCain shot back that ethanol was on its way to divulging one-third of the nation’s corn crop in 2008.
“This subsidized (ethanol) program—paid for by taxpayer dollars—has contributed to pain at the cash register, at the dining room table, and a devastating food crisis throughout the world,” he said.
Food Safety
In February 2008, the U.S. Department of Agriculture led a recall of 143 million pounds of frozen beef, a move that prompted Obama to release this statement: “When I am President, it will not be business as usual when it comes to food safety. I will provide additional resources to hire more federal food inspectors. I will also call on the Department of Agriculture to examine whether federal food safety laws need to be strengthened, in particular to provide greater protections against tainted food being used in the National School Lunch Program.”
Obama soon followed with the introduction of a Senate bill in July aimed at further addressing food safety. While he did not suggest any changes at the procedural level of food processing, he did propose a $25 million grant for state and local food safety agencies to boost capacity in order to improve detection, outbreak communication and coordination, and surveillance.
McCain, who spoke at this year’s NRA convention in May, has not addressed the food safety issue and his campaign office did not offer comment on the issue.
Health Care
Obama has pledged to create a national health care plan, one which includes: guaranteed eligibility; comprehensive benefits; affordable premiums, co-pays, and deductibles; and the creation of a National Health Insurance Exchange to help those individuals who wish to purchase a private insurance plan. He has also discussed expanding Medicaid and creating a Small Business Health Tax Credit to provide, his campaign says, “small businesses with a refundable tax credit of up to 50 percent on premiums paid by small businesses on behalf of their employees.” The new credit, he feels, “will provide a strong incentive to small businesses to offer high quality health care to their workers and help improve the competitiveness of America’s small businesses.” He has said he would demand employers make a meaningful contribution to their employees’ health care needs.
In contrast, McCain has repeatedly insisted that Americans themselves should be in charge of their health care needs, believing that competition would restore control to the patients and allow them to select the plan that best fills their needs. Striking against universal health care plans, McCain charged, “We will replace the inefficiency, irrationality, and uncontrolled costs of the current system with the inefficiency, irrationality, and uncontrolled costs of a government monopoly.”
McCain has also championed portability in health care, plans that would move with the individual from job to job. He has also trumpeted the benefits of Health Savings Accounts, tax-preferred accounts used to pay insurance premiums and other health costs. He believes affordable health care is possible without a federal mandate and has indicated his wish to provide $2,500 refundable tax credits for individuals and $5,000 for families.
Immigration Reform
Few issues evoke as much debate and chatter among industry insiders than immigration, given that immigrants—both legal and illegal—constitute a healthy chunk of the restaurant industry’s workforce. That reality has continually pushed immigration to the front of the 2008 presidential election, leading both McCain and Obama to articulate clear positions on the issue.
McCain, no stranger to the issue as his home state of Arizona borders Mexico, sponsored the bi-partisan Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act of 2006, one that promised to increase security along the U.S.-Mexican border, allow long-time, law abiding illegal immigrants a path to citizenship, and increase the number of guest workers. Obama, in fact, voted in favor of that bill.
Today, McCain sings a similar tune, though he insists amnesty has never been a part of the discussion. At a Republican debate in January, McCain outlined his priorities.
“We will secure the borders first when I am president,” he said. “Then we will move onto the other aspects of this issue, as importantly as tamper-proof biometric documents, which then, unless an employer hires someone with those documents, that employer will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”
Obama has vowed to “fix the system” in such a way that it eliminates the need to address the immigration problem again in the near future. He has proposed tougher policies on employers who hire illegal immigrants. During a Democratic primary radio debate on NPR, Obama summarized his overall position, noting specifically his belief that immigrants—illegal or not—should have a pathway to citizenship and share in basic American rights.
“I think that if [the immigrants] are illegal, then they should not be able to work in this country. That is part of the principle of comprehensive reform, which we're going to crack down on employers who are hiring them and taking advantage of them,” he said. “But I also want to give them a pathway, so that they can earn citizenship, earn a legal status, start learning English, pay a significant fine, and go to the back of the line. But they can then stay here and they can have the ability to enforce a minimum wage that they're paid, make sure the worker safety laws are available, make sure that they can join a union.”
Minimum Wage Increase
If elected president, Obama has said he will raise the minimum wage, something he often prefers to call a “living wage,” to $9.50 an hour by 2011 and index it to inflation. He has repeatedly championed minimum wage increases.
“We shouldn't raise the minimum wage every 10 years,” Obama told a Wisconsin crowd during the primary season. “We should raise it every year to keep up with inflation. If you work in this country, you should not be poor.”
In his August speech at the Democratic National Convention, vice presidential nominee Joe Biden chided McCain, his longtime Senate colleague, for voting against Democratic-led minimum wage hikes a total of 19 times. In truth, McCain’s Senatorial career is peppered with various positive votes in favor of a minimum wage increase, including one that would lift the figure to $7.25 per hour. As is common on Capitol Hill, some of his votes for or against the minimum wage were tucked inside other bills, such as a 2007 one on war funding.
In general, McCain has supported minimum wage hikes, just at a more modest rate than his colleagues to the left. In 2007, he joined 27 other Republicans in voting—unsuccessfully—to allow individual States the rights and flexibility to determine minimum wage. The Arizona Senator has frequently said his rejection to a more robust minimum wage increase arrives from his concern that it would boost employers’ labor costs and thereby limit the creation of new jobs.
Paid Sick Leave
While up to 46 million American workers do not receive paid sick days, legislators in a dozen states have proposed laws requiring employers to provide them. Current federal legislation, called the Healthy Families Acts, remains on the table that would require businesses to provide seven paid sick days each year to employees who work at least 30 hours a week. Obama has touted his support for such legislation while McCain, true to his form of opposing federal mandates, has said such rules further stifle employers, particularly during challenging economic times.
Restaurant Depreciation
While depreciation schedules for restaurants have remained rather consistent over recent years, the NRA continues to work for a depreciation schedule that would fall to 15 years from the current 39 ½ year threshold. In April, Maryland restaurant owner and NRA member Fred Rosenthal told a Congressional hearing that “shortening the write-off of restaurant buildings and improvements to 15 years would create immediate economic activity within the industry, which in turn would reverberate throughout the economy.”
Neither McCain nor Obama have clarified their positions on restaurant depreciation. Yet, McCain has said he would allow businesses to immediately expense the full cost of three- and five-year business equipment purchased between 2009 and 2013. After 2013, businesses would again have to depreciate equipment over time. His campaign, however, offered no further comment on the matter. Obama’s camp did not respond to QSR’s request for the Democratic nominee’s stance on the issue.
Writing Sample #14: Hopes on hold one year after I-355 extended (Southtown Star and Sun Times News Group, Nov 10, 2008)
Last Nov. 11 was seen as a day that would forever alter the Southland landscape, one celebrated with parades, community events, civic speeches, and a horde of bikers and runners commanding a roadway then-untouched by commuters.
Optimism ruled the day. However, that optimism quickly acquiesced to reality and a focus on patience.
When the I-355 extension opened last year, many thought it would jumpstart a then-sagging real estate market. Towns long limited by few major access routes and blanketed by two-lane roads, particularly the four communities with exits - Lemont, Lockport, Homer Glen, and New Lenox - welcomed the roadway with open arms, championing its future prospects.
The immediate thought was that the 12.5-mile toll road, which runs south from Interstate 55 to Interstate 80, would help the four towns emerge from Chicagoland's shadows and offer a hearty boost to the local housing market. Well, the unveiling has been anticlimactic to say the least.
"Sometimes the anticipation gets ahead of itself," said Lockport Mayor Tim Murphy, himself a former real estate broker. "Realistically, the development is probably where it should be, but those grander thoughts will come with time, population and as land becomes scarce."
When work began on the extension in 2004, the Southland market saw an upswing in interest that persisted for years. Land prices increased, business entered, and a wider ranging tax base established roots.
In Lockport, for instance, a $100 million commercial development project anchored by Home Depot and Target and two medical facilities offered widespread hope. Conventional thought held that the momentum would continue and that the new roadway would help the four communities - as well as their immediate neighbors - avoid the sluggish real estate numbers that handcuffed other towns.
"The common thinking was that when the roadway was completed it would 'superspark' the area, but much of the massive growth has slowed," said veteran real estate agent Dan Hardy of Re/Max All Properties in New Lenox.
While the Veterans Memorial Tollway's presence has earned high marks for its ease of travel and its ability to connect the Southland to the greater Chicagoland region, it has failed to deliver the housing boom many anticipated. There's been an impact, both real estate agents and builders insist, just not the one many had foreseen, though some contend that the roadway has helped insulate the area from even greater depths.
"It hasn't been the big immediate boom so many thought it would be, but it's coming in dribs and drabs," said Lockport-based real estate agent Sue Dufault of Coldwell Banker Honig-Bell. "But we would certainly be worse off if we didn't have this connection; [the presence of I-355 has] helped absorb some of the hit."
To be fair, I-355's immediate inability to lure a strong number of homebuyers to the Southland is just that: an immediate struggle and one significantly impacted by a greater housing market in turmoil and financial fear. Long-term prospects are far more positive.
"The impact will come and the market will turn itself around," Hardy said."People are spreading the word about these communities and whenever you have easier access to a community, it's going to spur the growth rate."
In fact, Lemont, Lockport, Homer Glen, and New Lenox boast many of the same features that make for an attractive housing destination: homes giving more bang-for-the-buck value than in other Chicagoland towns, highly rated schools, and increased shopping, dining and recreational amenities.
In spite of the rapid growth that characterized the tail end of the 1990s and the opening years of the millennium, many prospective homebuyers rejected the idea of settling in one of the communities, often citing transportation access as one of their chief concerns. With the extension of I-355, however, that lingering objection has wilted.
The issue now, one year after I-355's celebrated opening, is when will the roadway deliver on its potential as it relates to a recovering real estate market? One year ago the talk was "Once I-355 is here ..." Today, the talk is "Once this market gets going again ..." After all, it's always something; it's never nothing. Some industry folks see a rebound coming within a year; others suggest the housing crunch could continue for another three to five years.
Whenever the real estate renaissance begins, local agents all agree that Lemont, Lockport, Homer Glen and New Lenox will inherit a unique ability to capitalize on better economic times and witness the roadway deliver on its still-mounting potential.
"We'll see a major influx of people when they're not afraid to move and believe they can sell their home," Dufault said.
Optimism ruled the day. However, that optimism quickly acquiesced to reality and a focus on patience.
When the I-355 extension opened last year, many thought it would jumpstart a then-sagging real estate market. Towns long limited by few major access routes and blanketed by two-lane roads, particularly the four communities with exits - Lemont, Lockport, Homer Glen, and New Lenox - welcomed the roadway with open arms, championing its future prospects.
The immediate thought was that the 12.5-mile toll road, which runs south from Interstate 55 to Interstate 80, would help the four towns emerge from Chicagoland's shadows and offer a hearty boost to the local housing market. Well, the unveiling has been anticlimactic to say the least.
"Sometimes the anticipation gets ahead of itself," said Lockport Mayor Tim Murphy, himself a former real estate broker. "Realistically, the development is probably where it should be, but those grander thoughts will come with time, population and as land becomes scarce."
When work began on the extension in 2004, the Southland market saw an upswing in interest that persisted for years. Land prices increased, business entered, and a wider ranging tax base established roots.
In Lockport, for instance, a $100 million commercial development project anchored by Home Depot and Target and two medical facilities offered widespread hope. Conventional thought held that the momentum would continue and that the new roadway would help the four communities - as well as their immediate neighbors - avoid the sluggish real estate numbers that handcuffed other towns.
"The common thinking was that when the roadway was completed it would 'superspark' the area, but much of the massive growth has slowed," said veteran real estate agent Dan Hardy of Re/Max All Properties in New Lenox.
While the Veterans Memorial Tollway's presence has earned high marks for its ease of travel and its ability to connect the Southland to the greater Chicagoland region, it has failed to deliver the housing boom many anticipated. There's been an impact, both real estate agents and builders insist, just not the one many had foreseen, though some contend that the roadway has helped insulate the area from even greater depths.
"It hasn't been the big immediate boom so many thought it would be, but it's coming in dribs and drabs," said Lockport-based real estate agent Sue Dufault of Coldwell Banker Honig-Bell. "But we would certainly be worse off if we didn't have this connection; [the presence of I-355 has] helped absorb some of the hit."
To be fair, I-355's immediate inability to lure a strong number of homebuyers to the Southland is just that: an immediate struggle and one significantly impacted by a greater housing market in turmoil and financial fear. Long-term prospects are far more positive.
"The impact will come and the market will turn itself around," Hardy said."People are spreading the word about these communities and whenever you have easier access to a community, it's going to spur the growth rate."
In fact, Lemont, Lockport, Homer Glen, and New Lenox boast many of the same features that make for an attractive housing destination: homes giving more bang-for-the-buck value than in other Chicagoland towns, highly rated schools, and increased shopping, dining and recreational amenities.
In spite of the rapid growth that characterized the tail end of the 1990s and the opening years of the millennium, many prospective homebuyers rejected the idea of settling in one of the communities, often citing transportation access as one of their chief concerns. With the extension of I-355, however, that lingering objection has wilted.
The issue now, one year after I-355's celebrated opening, is when will the roadway deliver on its potential as it relates to a recovering real estate market? One year ago the talk was "Once I-355 is here ..." Today, the talk is "Once this market gets going again ..." After all, it's always something; it's never nothing. Some industry folks see a rebound coming within a year; others suggest the housing crunch could continue for another three to five years.
Whenever the real estate renaissance begins, local agents all agree that Lemont, Lockport, Homer Glen and New Lenox will inherit a unique ability to capitalize on better economic times and witness the roadway deliver on its still-mounting potential.
"We'll see a major influx of people when they're not afraid to move and believe they can sell their home," Dufault said.
Friday, October 26, 2007
Writing Sample #13: The Orland Park boom and a return to yesteryear (ELITE, October 2007)
For the last 27 years, Joan Curto has inhabited an antique shop in the Old Orland Historic District, a modest spot on a modest street in a once-modest town. Despite it being 2007, there are no street lights or nightlife—just a two-block strip blanketed by antique shops and one 40-plus year old general store inviting all to step back in time.
Sometimes, admits Curto, she catches a glimpse of a passing Metra train, the modern-day horse and carriage riding on the lumber and iron of yesteryear, and envisions the town’s earliest residents stepping off the train, dropping their bags, inhaling the air, and welcoming themselves to their new home—Orland Park.
“Maybe that’s a little too dramatic,” acknowledges Curto, the owner of Cracker Barrel Antiques, “but it’s the picture I have in my mind.’
Marty Sherlock was but a teenager when his father, Joseph Sherlock, stumbled upon an abandoned boat store on 157th Street and figured the vacant spot would serve the ideal location for his carpet business showroom.
“It was nothing but cornfields and open land,” says Marty Sherlock of his first impressions of 1980’s Orland Park. “But my dad saw something when he moved here—a potential for growth.”
And grow Orland Park did.
Incorporated in 1892, Orland Park maintained its small town reality well into the 1960s when population remained under 3,000. In the second half of the century, however, Orland Park boomed, characterizing the late 20th century’s influx of automobile-based suburbs. Awaking from a decades-long slumber, the village stood, spread its arms, and began welcoming residential subdivisions, retail strips, and playgrounds for the young and old.
By 2000, the village’s population had topped 50,000 and Orland Park was well on its way to becoming one of the Chicago most robust communities. Today, Orland Park claims nearly 60,000 residents and survives as the Southland’s primary retail center and one of its most popular destinations for dining, shopping, and recreation.
As Marty Sherlock can attest, this is not your father’s Orland Park.
“This town,” he says, “wasn’t anything that it is now. The area’s just boomed.”
Taking pause, Sherlock, who today runs the Sherlock Carpet and Tile business his father started in 1974, adds: “You know, there are places here that we never would’ve thought could’ve made it out here. The town’s evolved and we’ve evolved right alongside it.”
Dan McLaughlin, now in his 15th year as Orland Park Mayor, says a longstanding joke among residents arrived in discussion of local dining spots.
“The joke used to be that this town only had fast food, but one of the most noticeable things in Orland Park these days is the amount of nice restaurants in town,” he says, highlighting the fact that Orland Park now includes such notable establishments as 94 West, Harrison’s, Fox’s Pizza, and, the community’s latest gem, Cooper’s Hawk Winery and Restaurant, which opened in late 2005.
McLaughlin admits the evolution of Orland Park took time, but has nevertheless arrived.
“In the 1980s and ‘90s, this community was so fast growing with residential that it took some time for the commercial to catch up,” says McLaughlin, who moved to Orland Park in 1979 and immediately became involved in village matters. “Any town that grows up with the older style grid system and strip centers slowly transforms itself with better layout and planning.”
The village’s attention to detail and growth, meanwhile, catapulted it into recognition as one of the nation’s top flight communities. In 2006, Money Magazine placed Orland Park among America’s top 50 places to live, praising the Southland community specifically for its arts, leisure, and education. The honor, says McLaughlin, demonstrates the village’s longstanding plan to elevate Orland Park into an elite destination.
When you get a national honor you’re happy for the entire village. It’s a recognition that takes into consideration a lot of individual and collective effort. I just hope the community feels as proud about it as I do because it’s a wonderful honor,” he says.
With over 20 area golf courses and a hoist of recreation opportunities, Orland Park established itself as one of the area’s most attractive spots for play. In 2002, the Village of Orland Park Sportsplex opened on 159th Street near Wolf Road. The 90,000 square foot facility, which now claims over 3600 members in addition to a plethora of walk-in clients, holds a 10,000 square feet fitness center, three gymnasiums, an indoor soccer field, an aerobics studio for yoga and Pilates, a 35-foot climbing wall, indoor running track, and child care facilities.
“The village officials saw a need for a facility like this, particularly as the community continued to expand,” says Ray Piattoni, facility administrator at the Sportsplex. “The first mission is toward the needs of residents here and improving their quality of life.”
As a retail destination, meanwhile, Orland Park is among the Southland’s most active areas, anchored in large part by a flurry of activity on LaGrange Road. The 30-year-old Orland Square mall at 151st Street stands as the village’s most noteworthy shopping hotspot. Renovated and expanded in 1996, Orland Square boasts 1.2 million square feet of retail space and resides as the Southland’s largest, most upscale retail location.
Indeed, Orland Park’s status as a host to elegant specialty retailers has emerged alongside its increasing rank as a vibrant dining destination.
Most retailers were attracted to Orland Park by one word—potential.
“It was obvious that Orland Park was going to be a huge growth center. It already had a major mall and a number of people migrating to the area,” recalls Jim Morrison, owner of Morrison’s Ethan Allen, an interior design center breaking from its reputation as a furniture store alone.
Morrison opened his Ethan Allen store at 155th Street and Harlem Ave 19 years ago at the urging of the company’s Danbury, Connecticut-based corporate headquarters.
“The corporate office saw value and potential in this area, the same thing so many of us saw. Everything was in place for it to be a vibrant, active community, which it has certainly turned out to be” says Morrison.
Corrine Casto-Coventry shares a similar story. Her father, Frank Casto, opened an outpost for his six-decades old Roseland Draperies in the mid-1990s and the custom drapery shop’s showroom has called 147th Street home since.
“My father saw so much development in the area and a spot that could be accessed by so many other neighboring communities,” says Casto-Coventry. “And we’ve certainly benefited from all that potential being recognized.”
Little by little, says McLaughlin, the community showed its demographics could support high-end retailers. So much had Orland Park’s reputation as a retail destination sprouted, in fact, that Evanston-based Davis Street Land Company, a respected national developer of upscale properties and Main Street-styled communities approached the village with plans for such a development.
In late 2005, Davis Street Land launched Orland Park Crossings at 143rd Street and LaGrange Road. Buoyed by the presence of national names, such as Coldwater Creek, Talbots, Chico’s, and Ann Taylor, as well as boutique retailers, including Black Tie Draperies, Francesca’s Collection, and Eden Aveda Salon and Spa, Orland Park Crossings has emerged a new gem in the village’s retail landscape—not to mention its dining status with P.F. Chang’s China Bistro and the fall debut of Granite City Food and Brewery. Future plans for the area include the continued mix of national and local specialty retailers coupled with a mix of office and residential developments.
“Obviously, there’s a lot of growth in Orland Park and we see Orland Park Crossings as a property designed specifically to provide upscale retail and dining options for residents,” says Davis Street Land Company’s Scott McClure.
But more, Orland Park Crossings shows the village’s emerging focus on pedestrian-friendly developments, a change from decades past. Today, says McLaughlin, considerable thought by village planners and their partners results in better-schemed developments.
“For many years it was a battled between developers and the municipal planners. After years of doing the little things and analyzing how things should be laid out, we’ve settled on developments that are attractive and pedestrian-friendly. You’re now seeing it in new developments such as Orland Crossings and you’re going to continue seeing it in what’s to come,” promises McLaughlin.
Much work remains on an ambitious village slate, contends McLaughlin, but few are gaining as much attention as he village’s redevelopment plans for the Old Orland Historic District, the village’s former central gathering place at 143rd Street just west of LaGrange Road.
“We’ve been working with a development team to get this going for years, but in the last year-and-a-half those plans have started to move quicker,” tells McLaughlin. “Within a year or two, people should begin to see the development take shape.”
Central to the community’s redevelopment of its former downtown area stands a Metra station. As other Chicagoland communities have done, including Orland’s neighbor to the east, Tinley Park, the hope remains that a transportation post will anchor a mixed-use area featuring shopping, dining, and residential units. A pedestrian bridge at 143rd Street, meanwhile, will connect the Old Orland Historic District with the aforementioned Orland Park Crossings.
“This is the real Orland Park, exactly what was there 100 years ago. It’s a unique area,” says McLaughlin, “and we’re anxious to get things moving. The entire area will be something attractive.”
For Joan Curto and her fellow antique dealers in the Old Orland section, the mayor’s words sing a beautiful tune.
“Our little sleepy hollow over here,” she says, “was a nice place for our business, but had been forgotten for some time. With these redevelopment plans, the town will get a unique ambiance it hasn’t had for some time. It will create an entire different look and feel for Orland Park and will become just one more place to entice people.”
Sometimes, admits Curto, she catches a glimpse of a passing Metra train, the modern-day horse and carriage riding on the lumber and iron of yesteryear, and envisions the town’s earliest residents stepping off the train, dropping their bags, inhaling the air, and welcoming themselves to their new home—Orland Park.
“Maybe that’s a little too dramatic,” acknowledges Curto, the owner of Cracker Barrel Antiques, “but it’s the picture I have in my mind.’
Marty Sherlock was but a teenager when his father, Joseph Sherlock, stumbled upon an abandoned boat store on 157th Street and figured the vacant spot would serve the ideal location for his carpet business showroom.
“It was nothing but cornfields and open land,” says Marty Sherlock of his first impressions of 1980’s Orland Park. “But my dad saw something when he moved here—a potential for growth.”
And grow Orland Park did.
Incorporated in 1892, Orland Park maintained its small town reality well into the 1960s when population remained under 3,000. In the second half of the century, however, Orland Park boomed, characterizing the late 20th century’s influx of automobile-based suburbs. Awaking from a decades-long slumber, the village stood, spread its arms, and began welcoming residential subdivisions, retail strips, and playgrounds for the young and old.
By 2000, the village’s population had topped 50,000 and Orland Park was well on its way to becoming one of the Chicago most robust communities. Today, Orland Park claims nearly 60,000 residents and survives as the Southland’s primary retail center and one of its most popular destinations for dining, shopping, and recreation.
As Marty Sherlock can attest, this is not your father’s Orland Park.
“This town,” he says, “wasn’t anything that it is now. The area’s just boomed.”
Taking pause, Sherlock, who today runs the Sherlock Carpet and Tile business his father started in 1974, adds: “You know, there are places here that we never would’ve thought could’ve made it out here. The town’s evolved and we’ve evolved right alongside it.”
Dan McLaughlin, now in his 15th year as Orland Park Mayor, says a longstanding joke among residents arrived in discussion of local dining spots.
“The joke used to be that this town only had fast food, but one of the most noticeable things in Orland Park these days is the amount of nice restaurants in town,” he says, highlighting the fact that Orland Park now includes such notable establishments as 94 West, Harrison’s, Fox’s Pizza, and, the community’s latest gem, Cooper’s Hawk Winery and Restaurant, which opened in late 2005.
McLaughlin admits the evolution of Orland Park took time, but has nevertheless arrived.
“In the 1980s and ‘90s, this community was so fast growing with residential that it took some time for the commercial to catch up,” says McLaughlin, who moved to Orland Park in 1979 and immediately became involved in village matters. “Any town that grows up with the older style grid system and strip centers slowly transforms itself with better layout and planning.”
The village’s attention to detail and growth, meanwhile, catapulted it into recognition as one of the nation’s top flight communities. In 2006, Money Magazine placed Orland Park among America’s top 50 places to live, praising the Southland community specifically for its arts, leisure, and education. The honor, says McLaughlin, demonstrates the village’s longstanding plan to elevate Orland Park into an elite destination.
When you get a national honor you’re happy for the entire village. It’s a recognition that takes into consideration a lot of individual and collective effort. I just hope the community feels as proud about it as I do because it’s a wonderful honor,” he says.
With over 20 area golf courses and a hoist of recreation opportunities, Orland Park established itself as one of the area’s most attractive spots for play. In 2002, the Village of Orland Park Sportsplex opened on 159th Street near Wolf Road. The 90,000 square foot facility, which now claims over 3600 members in addition to a plethora of walk-in clients, holds a 10,000 square feet fitness center, three gymnasiums, an indoor soccer field, an aerobics studio for yoga and Pilates, a 35-foot climbing wall, indoor running track, and child care facilities.
“The village officials saw a need for a facility like this, particularly as the community continued to expand,” says Ray Piattoni, facility administrator at the Sportsplex. “The first mission is toward the needs of residents here and improving their quality of life.”
As a retail destination, meanwhile, Orland Park is among the Southland’s most active areas, anchored in large part by a flurry of activity on LaGrange Road. The 30-year-old Orland Square mall at 151st Street stands as the village’s most noteworthy shopping hotspot. Renovated and expanded in 1996, Orland Square boasts 1.2 million square feet of retail space and resides as the Southland’s largest, most upscale retail location.
Indeed, Orland Park’s status as a host to elegant specialty retailers has emerged alongside its increasing rank as a vibrant dining destination.
Most retailers were attracted to Orland Park by one word—potential.
“It was obvious that Orland Park was going to be a huge growth center. It already had a major mall and a number of people migrating to the area,” recalls Jim Morrison, owner of Morrison’s Ethan Allen, an interior design center breaking from its reputation as a furniture store alone.
Morrison opened his Ethan Allen store at 155th Street and Harlem Ave 19 years ago at the urging of the company’s Danbury, Connecticut-based corporate headquarters.
“The corporate office saw value and potential in this area, the same thing so many of us saw. Everything was in place for it to be a vibrant, active community, which it has certainly turned out to be” says Morrison.
Corrine Casto-Coventry shares a similar story. Her father, Frank Casto, opened an outpost for his six-decades old Roseland Draperies in the mid-1990s and the custom drapery shop’s showroom has called 147th Street home since.
“My father saw so much development in the area and a spot that could be accessed by so many other neighboring communities,” says Casto-Coventry. “And we’ve certainly benefited from all that potential being recognized.”
Little by little, says McLaughlin, the community showed its demographics could support high-end retailers. So much had Orland Park’s reputation as a retail destination sprouted, in fact, that Evanston-based Davis Street Land Company, a respected national developer of upscale properties and Main Street-styled communities approached the village with plans for such a development.
In late 2005, Davis Street Land launched Orland Park Crossings at 143rd Street and LaGrange Road. Buoyed by the presence of national names, such as Coldwater Creek, Talbots, Chico’s, and Ann Taylor, as well as boutique retailers, including Black Tie Draperies, Francesca’s Collection, and Eden Aveda Salon and Spa, Orland Park Crossings has emerged a new gem in the village’s retail landscape—not to mention its dining status with P.F. Chang’s China Bistro and the fall debut of Granite City Food and Brewery. Future plans for the area include the continued mix of national and local specialty retailers coupled with a mix of office and residential developments.
“Obviously, there’s a lot of growth in Orland Park and we see Orland Park Crossings as a property designed specifically to provide upscale retail and dining options for residents,” says Davis Street Land Company’s Scott McClure.
But more, Orland Park Crossings shows the village’s emerging focus on pedestrian-friendly developments, a change from decades past. Today, says McLaughlin, considerable thought by village planners and their partners results in better-schemed developments.
“For many years it was a battled between developers and the municipal planners. After years of doing the little things and analyzing how things should be laid out, we’ve settled on developments that are attractive and pedestrian-friendly. You’re now seeing it in new developments such as Orland Crossings and you’re going to continue seeing it in what’s to come,” promises McLaughlin.
Much work remains on an ambitious village slate, contends McLaughlin, but few are gaining as much attention as he village’s redevelopment plans for the Old Orland Historic District, the village’s former central gathering place at 143rd Street just west of LaGrange Road.
“We’ve been working with a development team to get this going for years, but in the last year-and-a-half those plans have started to move quicker,” tells McLaughlin. “Within a year or two, people should begin to see the development take shape.”
Central to the community’s redevelopment of its former downtown area stands a Metra station. As other Chicagoland communities have done, including Orland’s neighbor to the east, Tinley Park, the hope remains that a transportation post will anchor a mixed-use area featuring shopping, dining, and residential units. A pedestrian bridge at 143rd Street, meanwhile, will connect the Old Orland Historic District with the aforementioned Orland Park Crossings.
“This is the real Orland Park, exactly what was there 100 years ago. It’s a unique area,” says McLaughlin, “and we’re anxious to get things moving. The entire area will be something attractive.”
For Joan Curto and her fellow antique dealers in the Old Orland section, the mayor’s words sing a beautiful tune.
“Our little sleepy hollow over here,” she says, “was a nice place for our business, but had been forgotten for some time. With these redevelopment plans, the town will get a unique ambiance it hasn’t had for some time. It will create an entire different look and feel for Orland Park and will become just one more place to entice people.”
Writing Sample #12: Location, location, location: Finding the best spot for your pizzeria requires research before rewards (Pizza Today, October 2007)
Location, location, location has long been the guiding axiom of real estate, a mantra surviving in the residential world as well as the commercial arena. Pick the wrong spot for your location and doom could follow; select the right home and you’ll be baking pies for years.
“It’s important for a pizzeria to identify its key demographics and then strategically position itself to capitalize on that location,” says Russell Barnett, head of the restaurant specialty group for CB Richard Ellis, one of the nation’s leading real estate services firms.
While perhaps easier to execute in theory than reality, an operator’s research skills must take flight if the right location is to be found. From population growth to underserved communities and from tax legislation to competitive environments, the finished product provides success, but a well-scouted location surely doesn’t hurt.
Emerging Communities
On May 15, Steve Cornelius opened his Nick-N-Willy’s Pizza outpost in Elk Grove, California, a booming community near Sacramento. An Elk Grove resident, Cornelius said he was motivated by the sprouting population—Elk Grove had doubled in size since 2000—and presence of few established pizzerias.
“It was a growing area, so we knew that we could grow right alongside it,” Cornelius says, noting the advantage of opening in a spot where loyalties are scarce given such a fresh populace.
It comes as no surprise that four of the top 10 fastest growing cities according to U.S. Census data maintain a California address: Elk Grove, Moreno Valley, Rancho Cucamonga, and Irvine leading the Golden State’s population surge. Florida boasts three emerging cities in Port St. Lucie, Cape Coral, and Miramar while Arizona, with Gilbert and Chandler, has also inherited thousands of new residents. North Las Vegas, adjacent to Sin City, has proven that real estate can rival blackjack as the biggest game in town.
Pizza-Starved States
Ever wonder about the most underserved pizza communities? New Jersey-based investment management firm W.R. Huff did and proceeded to analyze all 50 states to discover the nation’s most pizza-starved constituency.
The states warmest on weather are some of the coldest on pizza. With Mississippi claiming but one pizzeria for every 8643 residents, the potential market share is immense for those who get the All-American food just right, guys like Jeff Good and Dan Blumenthal, owners of Sal and Mookie’s New York Pizza and Ice Cream Joint in Jackson.
“It’s fascinating that the metro Jackson area has few ‘home grown’ or upscale pizzerias,” says Good. “Certainly, [we] took that into account when we created [our] concept. In the first five months, the feedback and rabid repeat customer business…has positioned Sal & Mookie’s as the place to get pizza in Jackson.”
Other pizza-starved states include Louisiana, Texas, Alabama, Hawaii, Georgia, Tennessee, and California.
The Government: Your Small Business Friend
Taxes. Rarely a word that sparks any positive reaction from an American small business owner. While some states are heavy on taxation—New Jersey, California, Rhode Island, Maine, and Minnesota among the chief culprits—others do a noble job avoiding the business owners’ pockets.
The Small Business and Entrepreneurship Council, a Washington D.C.-based small business advocate, reports that South Dakota, Nevada, and Wyoming all avoid personal income tax, capital gains, and corporate income tax. Other states, meanwhile, such as Alabama, Florida, Mississippi, Washington, and Colorado keep taxation to a minimum, offering an undeniable boost to the pizzeria’s bottom line.
Some Competition and the Golden Rule
Though the northeast remains the most pizza-filled region of the country, an immortal industry truth emerges: product remains king.
Despite boasting a pizzeria for every 2300 residents, the nation’s most competitive marketplace as sheer numbers go, Maine hosts several operations that merge a track record with a unique experience. Portland Pie, for instance, applied the micro-brew concept to pizza dough and claims not only a plethora of flavored pizza crusts—basil, garlic, and beer among them—but also a loyal customer base.
“We came out of the gates [in 1997] with a different concept…and there’s no question we’ve grown over the last ten years because we’ve differentiated ourselves from the competition, created our niche, and established a name for ourselves,” says Steve Freese, co-owner of the three Portland Pie locations.
Barnett says a competitive environment can often be a plus given the herd mentality of American society, a fact evident in cities across the country where rivals share street corners.
“People tend to congregate in the same place,” Barnett says, “and if one place is full, they’ll often move on to the next.”
Freese reminds that he and partner Nat Getchell opened their first shop next to an established local chain.
“People thought we were crazy,” he says, “but we believed in our concept and our product.”
(Sidebar)
Hungry for Pizza: Some of the Nation’s Top Spots for a Pizzeria
These American cities possess some of the key ingredients to hosting a successful pizzeria:
North Las Vegas, Nevada
Population: 198,000
Pizzeria to Resident Ratio: 1:4923 (Nevada)
Why North Las Vegas?: One of the nation’s fastest-growing cities, North Las Vegas claims a friendly small business climate with low taxes, high disposable income, and, more applicable to the pizzeria operator, the nation’s top projected restaurant sales growth according to the National Restaurant Association.
Gilbert, Arizona
Population: 192,000
Pizzeria to Resident Ratio: 1:5296 (Arizona)
Why Gilbert?: Despite a surging population, Arizona claims less than 1,000 pizzerias and resides among the nation’s most pizza-starved states. Gilbert, meanwhile, stands atop the state’s population push while offering a family-centered demographic with disposable income and favorable taxation policy.
Port St. Lucie, Florida
Population: 145,000
Pizzeria to Resident Ratio: 1:5066 (Florida)
Why Port St. Lucie?: Tabbed “A City for All Ages,” Port St. Lucie, which has seen its population triple in the last 15 years, promises extensive growth opportunities, residents with disposable income, and low taxes. Each year, meanwhile, the town entertains the New York Mets and their fan base, many of them pizza-eating Yankees, for spring training.
Denton, Texas
Population: 110,000
Pizzeria to Resident Ratio: 1:7727 (Texas)
Why Denton?: A music and art hotbed north of Dallas, Denton boasts an intellectual flair and two state universities with a combined enrollment of 45,000. Despite high property taxes and a corporate income tax, Denton avoids personal income, capital gains, and estate taxes as well as a saturated pizzeria market.
Raleigh, North Carolina
Population: 367,000
Pizzeria to Resident Ratio: 1:5218 (North Carolina)
Why Raleigh?: With steady population growth in recent years, an abundance of industry and commerce, and the presence of North Carolina State University, the state’s capital city boasts some key indicators for success. One negative: tax rates are among the nation’s highest.
“It’s important for a pizzeria to identify its key demographics and then strategically position itself to capitalize on that location,” says Russell Barnett, head of the restaurant specialty group for CB Richard Ellis, one of the nation’s leading real estate services firms.
While perhaps easier to execute in theory than reality, an operator’s research skills must take flight if the right location is to be found. From population growth to underserved communities and from tax legislation to competitive environments, the finished product provides success, but a well-scouted location surely doesn’t hurt.
Emerging Communities
On May 15, Steve Cornelius opened his Nick-N-Willy’s Pizza outpost in Elk Grove, California, a booming community near Sacramento. An Elk Grove resident, Cornelius said he was motivated by the sprouting population—Elk Grove had doubled in size since 2000—and presence of few established pizzerias.
“It was a growing area, so we knew that we could grow right alongside it,” Cornelius says, noting the advantage of opening in a spot where loyalties are scarce given such a fresh populace.
It comes as no surprise that four of the top 10 fastest growing cities according to U.S. Census data maintain a California address: Elk Grove, Moreno Valley, Rancho Cucamonga, and Irvine leading the Golden State’s population surge. Florida boasts three emerging cities in Port St. Lucie, Cape Coral, and Miramar while Arizona, with Gilbert and Chandler, has also inherited thousands of new residents. North Las Vegas, adjacent to Sin City, has proven that real estate can rival blackjack as the biggest game in town.
Pizza-Starved States
Ever wonder about the most underserved pizza communities? New Jersey-based investment management firm W.R. Huff did and proceeded to analyze all 50 states to discover the nation’s most pizza-starved constituency.
The states warmest on weather are some of the coldest on pizza. With Mississippi claiming but one pizzeria for every 8643 residents, the potential market share is immense for those who get the All-American food just right, guys like Jeff Good and Dan Blumenthal, owners of Sal and Mookie’s New York Pizza and Ice Cream Joint in Jackson.
“It’s fascinating that the metro Jackson area has few ‘home grown’ or upscale pizzerias,” says Good. “Certainly, [we] took that into account when we created [our] concept. In the first five months, the feedback and rabid repeat customer business…has positioned Sal & Mookie’s as the place to get pizza in Jackson.”
Other pizza-starved states include Louisiana, Texas, Alabama, Hawaii, Georgia, Tennessee, and California.
The Government: Your Small Business Friend
Taxes. Rarely a word that sparks any positive reaction from an American small business owner. While some states are heavy on taxation—New Jersey, California, Rhode Island, Maine, and Minnesota among the chief culprits—others do a noble job avoiding the business owners’ pockets.
The Small Business and Entrepreneurship Council, a Washington D.C.-based small business advocate, reports that South Dakota, Nevada, and Wyoming all avoid personal income tax, capital gains, and corporate income tax. Other states, meanwhile, such as Alabama, Florida, Mississippi, Washington, and Colorado keep taxation to a minimum, offering an undeniable boost to the pizzeria’s bottom line.
Some Competition and the Golden Rule
Though the northeast remains the most pizza-filled region of the country, an immortal industry truth emerges: product remains king.
Despite boasting a pizzeria for every 2300 residents, the nation’s most competitive marketplace as sheer numbers go, Maine hosts several operations that merge a track record with a unique experience. Portland Pie, for instance, applied the micro-brew concept to pizza dough and claims not only a plethora of flavored pizza crusts—basil, garlic, and beer among them—but also a loyal customer base.
“We came out of the gates [in 1997] with a different concept…and there’s no question we’ve grown over the last ten years because we’ve differentiated ourselves from the competition, created our niche, and established a name for ourselves,” says Steve Freese, co-owner of the three Portland Pie locations.
Barnett says a competitive environment can often be a plus given the herd mentality of American society, a fact evident in cities across the country where rivals share street corners.
“People tend to congregate in the same place,” Barnett says, “and if one place is full, they’ll often move on to the next.”
Freese reminds that he and partner Nat Getchell opened their first shop next to an established local chain.
“People thought we were crazy,” he says, “but we believed in our concept and our product.”
(Sidebar)
Hungry for Pizza: Some of the Nation’s Top Spots for a Pizzeria
These American cities possess some of the key ingredients to hosting a successful pizzeria:
North Las Vegas, Nevada
Population: 198,000
Pizzeria to Resident Ratio: 1:4923 (Nevada)
Why North Las Vegas?: One of the nation’s fastest-growing cities, North Las Vegas claims a friendly small business climate with low taxes, high disposable income, and, more applicable to the pizzeria operator, the nation’s top projected restaurant sales growth according to the National Restaurant Association.
Gilbert, Arizona
Population: 192,000
Pizzeria to Resident Ratio: 1:5296 (Arizona)
Why Gilbert?: Despite a surging population, Arizona claims less than 1,000 pizzerias and resides among the nation’s most pizza-starved states. Gilbert, meanwhile, stands atop the state’s population push while offering a family-centered demographic with disposable income and favorable taxation policy.
Port St. Lucie, Florida
Population: 145,000
Pizzeria to Resident Ratio: 1:5066 (Florida)
Why Port St. Lucie?: Tabbed “A City for All Ages,” Port St. Lucie, which has seen its population triple in the last 15 years, promises extensive growth opportunities, residents with disposable income, and low taxes. Each year, meanwhile, the town entertains the New York Mets and their fan base, many of them pizza-eating Yankees, for spring training.
Denton, Texas
Population: 110,000
Pizzeria to Resident Ratio: 1:7727 (Texas)
Why Denton?: A music and art hotbed north of Dallas, Denton boasts an intellectual flair and two state universities with a combined enrollment of 45,000. Despite high property taxes and a corporate income tax, Denton avoids personal income, capital gains, and estate taxes as well as a saturated pizzeria market.
Raleigh, North Carolina
Population: 367,000
Pizzeria to Resident Ratio: 1:5218 (North Carolina)
Why Raleigh?: With steady population growth in recent years, an abundance of industry and commerce, and the presence of North Carolina State University, the state’s capital city boasts some key indicators for success. One negative: tax rates are among the nation’s highest.
Saturday, June 2, 2007
Writing Sample #11: Reverse Gear: community colleges find university students filling their summer classrooms (Daily Southtown, May 6, 2007)
Russ Riberto considered it as wise a move as any he’s ever made. While pursuing his business administration degree at the University of Illinois at Chicago, the Oak Lawn resident returned home each summer to make some money and, in a break from the academic calendar he enjoyed from the previous twelve years, take summer school courses.
“I took a few math classes in two consecutive summers,” said Riberto. “It was strange doing schoolwork in July, but I knew it was a good move and one that would help me get ahead.”
Now working with the federal government’s General Services Administration as a senior project manager, Riberto admits that his decision to take summer courses at Moraine Valley Community College remains one of his wisest academic decisions.
“I was able to stay on track and make sure I graduated from UIC on time,” the 2002 UIC alum said. “Plus, when I got back to UIC I was able to focus on my major classes in business and make sure they were getting the attention they deserved.”
Although students at four-year universities such as Riberto have long utilized their home community colleges to support or advance their studies over the summer months, local colleges have heightened efforts in recent years to promote such opportunities, particularly given the skyrocketing costs of tuition at both public and private four-year institutions across the nation.
“The primary advantage is that [the students] can get the classes they need at a much lower cost with the added convenience of being in their home area over the summer,” said Patrick Rush, director of public relations at South Suburban College. “This may allow them to take a smaller course load as a full-time student or to get their degree faster.”
Students, meanwhile, have increasingly taken advantage of the opportunities available at local community colleges, particularly as tuition at the colleges ranges anywhere from $60-90 per credit hour, an affordable respite from universities’ hefty costs. While some students return home during the summer for full or part-time work, others return expressly for summer school.
In 2006, South Suburban College claimed nearly 500 reverse transfer students, as they are often called, a number accounting for approximately 15 percent of its summer enrollment. Moraine Valley Community College in Palos Hills counts upwards of 20 percent of its summer enrollment as reverse transfer students, a number that has sprouted alongside overall campus enrollment. Oftentimes, university students flock to the community colleges to fulfill general education requirements, such as math, English, science, communications, and history.
“There are a variety of reasons why [general education courses] are popular: students couldn’t get into such a course at their school or they have to make it up or want to get these courses completed less expensively so they can concentrate on courses specific to their major [once they return to their school in the fall],” said Mark Horstmeyer, Director of College Relations at Moraine Valley Community College, who adds that students might also elect to take a course in which they feel they might need extra help.
Students at Illinois universities, meanwhile, can take assurance that their summer work will carry over to their four-year institution with the Illinois Articulation Initiative (IAI), a statewide agreement among participating Illinois colleges and universities with clear guidelines identifying the transferability of courses.
“With the Illinois colleges, at least, transferring credits has become more seamless with the IAI,” said Cathy Robinson, Dean of Academic Services and Counseling at Prairie State College in Chicago Heights. “For those not at an Illinois four-year institution, I would suggest checking with the registrar’s office at the home institution. If the course transfers, then it’s really a win-win.”
Like the aforementioned Riberto, students who take summer courses at their local college rarely regret the edge it lends and the savings it provides. Yet more, such students even impress college administrators with their willingness to stay academically sharp in spite of summer’s tempting sunshine and students’ long-standing avoidance of schoolwork throughout June, July, and August.
“I’m impressed with the students who see that they can compete even better when they stay on their academic toes. They’ve thought it through and realized the benefits are well worth the investment,” said Robinson.
“I took a few math classes in two consecutive summers,” said Riberto. “It was strange doing schoolwork in July, but I knew it was a good move and one that would help me get ahead.”
Now working with the federal government’s General Services Administration as a senior project manager, Riberto admits that his decision to take summer courses at Moraine Valley Community College remains one of his wisest academic decisions.
“I was able to stay on track and make sure I graduated from UIC on time,” the 2002 UIC alum said. “Plus, when I got back to UIC I was able to focus on my major classes in business and make sure they were getting the attention they deserved.”
Although students at four-year universities such as Riberto have long utilized their home community colleges to support or advance their studies over the summer months, local colleges have heightened efforts in recent years to promote such opportunities, particularly given the skyrocketing costs of tuition at both public and private four-year institutions across the nation.
“The primary advantage is that [the students] can get the classes they need at a much lower cost with the added convenience of being in their home area over the summer,” said Patrick Rush, director of public relations at South Suburban College. “This may allow them to take a smaller course load as a full-time student or to get their degree faster.”
Students, meanwhile, have increasingly taken advantage of the opportunities available at local community colleges, particularly as tuition at the colleges ranges anywhere from $60-90 per credit hour, an affordable respite from universities’ hefty costs. While some students return home during the summer for full or part-time work, others return expressly for summer school.
In 2006, South Suburban College claimed nearly 500 reverse transfer students, as they are often called, a number accounting for approximately 15 percent of its summer enrollment. Moraine Valley Community College in Palos Hills counts upwards of 20 percent of its summer enrollment as reverse transfer students, a number that has sprouted alongside overall campus enrollment. Oftentimes, university students flock to the community colleges to fulfill general education requirements, such as math, English, science, communications, and history.
“There are a variety of reasons why [general education courses] are popular: students couldn’t get into such a course at their school or they have to make it up or want to get these courses completed less expensively so they can concentrate on courses specific to their major [once they return to their school in the fall],” said Mark Horstmeyer, Director of College Relations at Moraine Valley Community College, who adds that students might also elect to take a course in which they feel they might need extra help.
Students at Illinois universities, meanwhile, can take assurance that their summer work will carry over to their four-year institution with the Illinois Articulation Initiative (IAI), a statewide agreement among participating Illinois colleges and universities with clear guidelines identifying the transferability of courses.
“With the Illinois colleges, at least, transferring credits has become more seamless with the IAI,” said Cathy Robinson, Dean of Academic Services and Counseling at Prairie State College in Chicago Heights. “For those not at an Illinois four-year institution, I would suggest checking with the registrar’s office at the home institution. If the course transfers, then it’s really a win-win.”
Like the aforementioned Riberto, students who take summer courses at their local college rarely regret the edge it lends and the savings it provides. Yet more, such students even impress college administrators with their willingness to stay academically sharp in spite of summer’s tempting sunshine and students’ long-standing avoidance of schoolwork throughout June, July, and August.
“I’m impressed with the students who see that they can compete even better when they stay on their academic toes. They’ve thought it through and realized the benefits are well worth the investment,” said Robinson.
Writing Sample #10: Taking a sip of liquor license know-how (Pizza Today, June 2007)
Casey Harris can tell you a thing or two about the difficulty of obtaining a liquor license. So, too, can Bob Callaway.
Though separated by time zones and some 1700 miles—Harris calling Port Huron, MI home and Callaway residing in Smithfield, UT—the two have traveled a similar path in pursuing their respective liquor licenses, one littered with frustration, disappointment, and bureaucratic noise.
Open since February 2006, Harris and his Casey’s Pizza and Sub Shop, a 100-seat establishment along the lake town’s evolving business district, have yet to pour a pint of ale or drop of wine. Though Harris called to get his liquor license the day after purchasing the former office building in late 2005, his journey to serving a pitcher of Budweiser has been anything but smooth.
“It’s taken two years to get my liquor license and I’m just now getting close,” says Harris, a retired hockey player who spent much of his youth in his parent’s Carmel, IN pizzeria. “I’ve been writing letters, making calls, and am constantly going to meetings. It’s disheartening how long it’s taken—not to mention the costs.”
For Callaway, who ran a catering service in southern California, his move to Smithfield, a modest spot of 7,500 inhabitants hugging the college town of Logan, and subsequent quest for a restaurant liquor license was similarly one of difficulty and distress.
Accustomed to California’s application process, Callaway encountered a different set of rules in Smithfield, a town with liquor regulations well beyond the state’s strict code. He could not purchase another’s vacated license, as one could in California, and was forced to petition the Smithfield City Council for a variance, a series of public hearings and forums to determine if Callaway’s Bistro faced “difficulties or hardships” given its inability to serve alcohol.
“I was going after the first restaurant liquor license in this conservative town,” says Callaway, “and I had to send letters out to everyone within an eight block radius. One dissenting council member said he’d be appalled to have his children walk home from school and pass a place serving alcohol. Such was the battle I faced.”
As it turns out, Harris’ and Callaway’s experiences are not uncommon. Operators across the country often find obtaining a liquor license to be a more challenging feat than anticipated. While liquor licenses once ran exclusively through the state, local municipalities sought increased say in the licenses granted within their communities. Zoning, as Jon Mejia of the California-based American Liquor License Exchange explains, has now lengthened, complicated, and overpriced the process.
“The local guys wanted their say and that’s placed an increased burden on the independent operator,” says Mejia, who notes Los Angeles where operators face a $6,000 price tag just to have their day in front of the zoning department—a first-step plea for a subsequent chance to deliver more paperwork, more cash, and more appeals.
While each state and municipality maintains its own set of regulations, Mejia, a two-decades long veteran of liquor licensing issues, offers a few general principles to move the process forward as efficiently as possible.
Two of the most overlooked items in applying for a license are parking, particularly in cities, and handicap accessibility, both of which demand an operator’s attention to detail and local code.
“These are true almost across the country,” Mejia says, “and are perhaps the critical items which most trip up operators. Don’t have them and you’ll likely run into a problem trying to get the liquor license.”
In an ideal world, says Mejia, the pizzeria would stand far away from residential units and so-called sensitive use facilities, such as churches, schools, parks, and hospitals. But since that leaves little else, Mejia urges operators with a choice to select a spot judiciously.
“If anybody’s going to throw up a real strong protest, it’s probably going to be residents so you’re sharp to avoid them,” he says, adding that community protests frequently delay license applications.
Most importantly, Mejia advises operators to learn the rules ahead of time, particularly those individuals opening a new spot. He relays horror stories of operators signing a lease, but failing to open their restaurant given code violations.
“Do your homework before you sign the lease,” he says. “Check with the appropriate agencies, both local and state, to make sure the business meets all the requirements.”
For operators opening a second pizzeria, Frank Fox of Chicago-based Fox’s Pizza says reputation goes a long way toward a more efficient process. Fox recently opened a new location in Chicago’s southwest suburbs, a 20-minute drive from his current spot, and says that although he got grilled by local leaders and had some moments of “hot seat wondering,” he understood that years of reputation, maintenance, presentation, and stability carried his application.
“[The council] knew who I was and knew I watched minors and consumption,” says Fox. “That’s the best advice I can offer to anyone, existing or new—have a clean record and they’ll respect how you conduct yourself with the product.”
Mejia reports that obtaining a license generally requires 90 days with costs falling anywhere from a couple thousand dollars to six figures. In Washington state, for instance, a hard liquor license might cost anywhere from $2,000-5,000; two New Jersey hard liquor licenses recently sold on the open market for $1.5 million, a nod to the speculative nature that has become more prevalent as zoning has emerged a more challenging hurdle.
For Casey Harris, who once thought he secured a Michigan liquor license for little more than the application fees only to watch new laws change the ballgame, a $20,000 charge is the present price tag. In an attempt to spur downtown development across the state, Michigan passed legislation in 2006 allowing business owners to purchase a liquor license for $20,000—a third of the open market’s going rate—if they could show a $75,000 investment in their downtown property coupled with a $200,000 town investment in redevelopment. Though a hefty cost, it’s a price Harris is willing to pay.
“It’s worth the $20,000 even if it takes a lot of pizzas to make up for it,” says Harris, who hopes to have the license in time for the summer’s active tourist season.
Callaway, meanwhile, now reaps the benefits of the license he obtained in 2003 following a four-year struggle. The frustrations behind him, he’s moving forward.
“It took an election shift on the city council to bring things around, but we finally got it done,” says Callaway. “We’ve been successful with a unique menu catering to different tastes, but now that we’re serving wine we’re no doubt getting customers that we didn’t have before.”
Though separated by time zones and some 1700 miles—Harris calling Port Huron, MI home and Callaway residing in Smithfield, UT—the two have traveled a similar path in pursuing their respective liquor licenses, one littered with frustration, disappointment, and bureaucratic noise.
Open since February 2006, Harris and his Casey’s Pizza and Sub Shop, a 100-seat establishment along the lake town’s evolving business district, have yet to pour a pint of ale or drop of wine. Though Harris called to get his liquor license the day after purchasing the former office building in late 2005, his journey to serving a pitcher of Budweiser has been anything but smooth.
“It’s taken two years to get my liquor license and I’m just now getting close,” says Harris, a retired hockey player who spent much of his youth in his parent’s Carmel, IN pizzeria. “I’ve been writing letters, making calls, and am constantly going to meetings. It’s disheartening how long it’s taken—not to mention the costs.”
For Callaway, who ran a catering service in southern California, his move to Smithfield, a modest spot of 7,500 inhabitants hugging the college town of Logan, and subsequent quest for a restaurant liquor license was similarly one of difficulty and distress.
Accustomed to California’s application process, Callaway encountered a different set of rules in Smithfield, a town with liquor regulations well beyond the state’s strict code. He could not purchase another’s vacated license, as one could in California, and was forced to petition the Smithfield City Council for a variance, a series of public hearings and forums to determine if Callaway’s Bistro faced “difficulties or hardships” given its inability to serve alcohol.
“I was going after the first restaurant liquor license in this conservative town,” says Callaway, “and I had to send letters out to everyone within an eight block radius. One dissenting council member said he’d be appalled to have his children walk home from school and pass a place serving alcohol. Such was the battle I faced.”
As it turns out, Harris’ and Callaway’s experiences are not uncommon. Operators across the country often find obtaining a liquor license to be a more challenging feat than anticipated. While liquor licenses once ran exclusively through the state, local municipalities sought increased say in the licenses granted within their communities. Zoning, as Jon Mejia of the California-based American Liquor License Exchange explains, has now lengthened, complicated, and overpriced the process.
“The local guys wanted their say and that’s placed an increased burden on the independent operator,” says Mejia, who notes Los Angeles where operators face a $6,000 price tag just to have their day in front of the zoning department—a first-step plea for a subsequent chance to deliver more paperwork, more cash, and more appeals.
While each state and municipality maintains its own set of regulations, Mejia, a two-decades long veteran of liquor licensing issues, offers a few general principles to move the process forward as efficiently as possible.
Two of the most overlooked items in applying for a license are parking, particularly in cities, and handicap accessibility, both of which demand an operator’s attention to detail and local code.
“These are true almost across the country,” Mejia says, “and are perhaps the critical items which most trip up operators. Don’t have them and you’ll likely run into a problem trying to get the liquor license.”
In an ideal world, says Mejia, the pizzeria would stand far away from residential units and so-called sensitive use facilities, such as churches, schools, parks, and hospitals. But since that leaves little else, Mejia urges operators with a choice to select a spot judiciously.
“If anybody’s going to throw up a real strong protest, it’s probably going to be residents so you’re sharp to avoid them,” he says, adding that community protests frequently delay license applications.
Most importantly, Mejia advises operators to learn the rules ahead of time, particularly those individuals opening a new spot. He relays horror stories of operators signing a lease, but failing to open their restaurant given code violations.
“Do your homework before you sign the lease,” he says. “Check with the appropriate agencies, both local and state, to make sure the business meets all the requirements.”
For operators opening a second pizzeria, Frank Fox of Chicago-based Fox’s Pizza says reputation goes a long way toward a more efficient process. Fox recently opened a new location in Chicago’s southwest suburbs, a 20-minute drive from his current spot, and says that although he got grilled by local leaders and had some moments of “hot seat wondering,” he understood that years of reputation, maintenance, presentation, and stability carried his application.
“[The council] knew who I was and knew I watched minors and consumption,” says Fox. “That’s the best advice I can offer to anyone, existing or new—have a clean record and they’ll respect how you conduct yourself with the product.”
Mejia reports that obtaining a license generally requires 90 days with costs falling anywhere from a couple thousand dollars to six figures. In Washington state, for instance, a hard liquor license might cost anywhere from $2,000-5,000; two New Jersey hard liquor licenses recently sold on the open market for $1.5 million, a nod to the speculative nature that has become more prevalent as zoning has emerged a more challenging hurdle.
For Casey Harris, who once thought he secured a Michigan liquor license for little more than the application fees only to watch new laws change the ballgame, a $20,000 charge is the present price tag. In an attempt to spur downtown development across the state, Michigan passed legislation in 2006 allowing business owners to purchase a liquor license for $20,000—a third of the open market’s going rate—if they could show a $75,000 investment in their downtown property coupled with a $200,000 town investment in redevelopment. Though a hefty cost, it’s a price Harris is willing to pay.
“It’s worth the $20,000 even if it takes a lot of pizzas to make up for it,” says Harris, who hopes to have the license in time for the summer’s active tourist season.
Callaway, meanwhile, now reaps the benefits of the license he obtained in 2003 following a four-year struggle. The frustrations behind him, he’s moving forward.
“It took an election shift on the city council to bring things around, but we finally got it done,” says Callaway. “We’ve been successful with a unique menu catering to different tastes, but now that we’re serving wine we’re no doubt getting customers that we didn’t have before.”
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