Don Peebles.
Don Peebles
President and CEO at The Peebles Organization
In 2021, will you buy or sell any real estate? What kind?
Yes, we plan on making acquisitions from competitive requests for proposals in major markets in the U.S. We will also look at opportunistic purchases in the hospitality sector for repositioning and reuse. We have also launched a luxury, single-family home renovation and new build business; the pilot is underway in Wellington, Fla., in Palm Beach County. We plan to scale the business and serve the major South Florida markets.
How f@*$ed is retail?
Big-box, brick-and-mortar retail is essentially dead. The only future I see for brick-and-mortar retail is for immediately consumed goods, basic essentials, specialty retail in high-traffic locations in destination and/or tourism markets, and neighborhood-based retail.
How flexible are you with negotiating rents?
We have limited exposure in rental properties.
Has your “dead to me” list grown?
No.
Are you in the market for financing?
Yes.
What would be the signs that things are NOT going to improve in 2021?
A failure of all current vaccine trials.
What do you think will NOT go back to normal?
Corporate travel, office space consumption, hotel occupancy and inventory, retail vacancy rates.
Who do you like for mayor in 2021?
None of the announced candidates.
What do you think the city and/or state should do to help both real estate and the city?
The city should restructure the property assessment and tax process and equalize the property tax burden; incentivize job-generating property uses with lower tax rates and zoning density bonuses.
Clean up the city, literally. Address the rapid increase of crime.
Institute contracting goals for minority- and women-owned businesses enterprises (MWBE) of 35 percent, with the objective to have contracting be reflective of the city’s population demographics. This will include selection of investment managers of the city and state public employee pension systems.
Institute a tax increment financing process for community preferred uses.
How do you think the November election will affect real estate? How do you see a Trump win? How do you see a Biden win?
The best outcome of the election would be stabilization, and more unity and less division. That will create the best environment. Biden will be better for NYC, as he will likely immediately end the SALT deduction limits instituted by Trump — and that’s a big win for NY and California, as well as other high-tax states. That may stop the downward spiral of the high-end condo market.
LIGHTNING ROUND
Where’s your apocalypse bunker? Sag Harbor and Miami
Favorite at-home quarantine foods? Skinny Pop, steak, French fries, bagels, car smart pancakes.
Did you gain or lose weight during quarantine? Gained
Sourdough bread, banana bread, other? Whole wheat baguette.
Which TV show have you binged? “The Blacklist,” “Ozark.”
What restaurant did you go to when restaurants reopened? Pierre’s in Bridgehampton.
Best work-from-home hack? Initially well-intended, but you know the old saying about the road to hell.
Where did you quarantine? Miami and Sag Harbor.
Biden, Trump or Kanye? With all the talent in America, does anyone wonder how we got to these three choices?
