prime location/ resturant building in san diego - Posted by pat kayda

Real Estate Investing Retail
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Posted by cork horner on August 28, 2011 at 19:24:55:

Ray-----NOW we’re having fun.
I’m ‘smart enough’ to not shoot holes in your experienced position.

Ironically, I stayed in a Choice Hotel Comfort Inn at the Harbor in San Diego just last week for 2 days.

I couldn’t decide if I had merely rented one of their closets converted to a Bed Room for 90 bucks a night with a nook called BathRoom. Was I just satisfied to have a place to stay InSane Diego during vacation season while I pressed my plaintiff suit against former landlord for a massive overrun of Blood Sucking Sleep Disturbing BED BUGS? [btw, for those interested , 'bb’s have absolutely nothing to do with housekeeping or cleanliness as my former landlord attempted to deflect my lawsuit, as a defense. It was timely the sitting judge/commissioner knew this already! It was the first time I ever saw a judge tell a party to a lawsuit they did a good job…yes, me.

You didn’t ask, but there are very interesting articles on google relating to lawsuits and bed bugs. Now, I carry them in my brifcase as needed! NOT. Actually had the evidence with me the judge decided didn’t need them!

Did I digress, or what.

Oh. Rstaurants. The infamous AD Kessler [deceased] grand daddy of cre and hqd in Rancho Sante Fe built his fortune and reputation on ‘sell the building and yank the land’. The book is: A Fortune at Your Feet. Read it?

I undrstand your premise of owning and leasing the prop to whoever. I’ve been pondering north end of Clark County in Nevada actually. The real ‘skin-in-the-game’. [You figure it out]. I haven’t figured out how to make it a profitable members only club.

Founder of Dominos …“we don’t sell Pizza, we have a delivery system for Pizza.”

I find it fascinating the businesses that were supposd to fail as being unworkable such as Fred Smith when he wrote his college paper on it.

Then too, Walt Disney went bk quite a few. and ‘the colonel’ finally figured out the Chicken Deal, didn’t he.

The ‘best biz’? Indian Casinos. Cash in, Cash out. who is to watch? Maybe, I can infiltrate marrying an Indian Princess. Orrrr, in the least take a chance on an Indian blanket for 20 bucks…Baaaaad.

If/when my partner and I do sufficient due-dilly on this food losing fiasco :slight_smile: ; and get it under control we can splain more.

Fair enough?

In the meantime we are utilizing 6 degrees of separation to get the best solution.

c h

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prime location/ resturant building in san diego - Posted by pat kayda

Posted by pat kayda on August 26, 2011 at 14:21:05:

i would welcome anyone’s input on developing a restaurant business out of this prime location; opportunity to lease with option to buy or a straight purchase; the deal has already seasoned itself

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Re: restaurant in san diego - Posted by ray@lcorn

Posted by ray@lcorn on August 26, 2011 at 18:18:34:

Pat,

Not much to work with here, need some details of your proposed deal.

The only thing I can respond to is the word “restaurant”.

My usual comment is that I don’t like to hear that word and my name in the same sentence.

But that’s just me, after owning three of them. :wink:

ray

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Re: prime location/ restaurant in san diego - Posted by pat kayda

Posted by pat kayda on August 26, 2011 at 14:24:15:

just corrected a spelling in the title

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Re: restaurant in san diego - Posted by cork horner

Posted by cork horner on August 27, 2011 at 16:10:14:

Ray, i am a participant in this deal with Pat. I have been watching it about 8 months…'[seasoned]
It’s 1+ acre land + 5000 sq ft bldg former hi visibility restaurant.
can lease/purchase. Motivated sellers.

Ray, why only 3 restaurants? why not a very successful ONE? I undestand your premise…like the 2 best days of a boat owner, the day they bought it and the day they sold it. Having grown up with a boat builder father, I don’t need one.:slight_smile:

As with all real estate there is 1] a highest a best use 2] forced appreciation 3] creative solutions

As a swedish investor would say ‘Yump In’.

We need to keep the juice going, don’t we?

cork horner
mesa az.
san diego, ca
One Step Beyond

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…or a fast track to Ch. 11? - Posted by ray@lcorn

Posted by ray@lcorn on August 28, 2011 at 14:13:04:

Hi Cork,

Your description makes my case… “FORMER hi visibility restaurant. can lease/purchase. MOTIVATED SELLERS.” (emphasis added)

Begs the question… if it was such a great restaurant location then why is it out of business?

Answer: because at best restaurant margins run 10%-15%–IF EVERYTHING GOES PERFECTLY, ALL THE TIME.

And that doesn’t happen because there is so much to go wrong.

The owner is at the mercy of:

–the lowest common denominator in the labor pool; chronic lateness and skipped shifts; screw-ups will cost 10X what they make (e.g. the clean-up crew gets high after closing and leaves the walk-in open, ruining $25T in food; the fry cook sets his hair on fire and files worker’s comp; the new girl breaks a glass in an attorney’s soup), then there is SEIU… Must I go on? It’s an adult day care center, without the Medicare payments.

–volatile food prices, wholesale and retail

–more government regulations per square foot than any business except banks or health care. (e.g. alcohol permits/taxes, health permits, meals taxes, NLRB, OSHA, FDA, Dept. of Agriculture, INS, etc.)

–low barriers to entry for competition, i.e. every other wannabe restaurant owner with “just the right concept” and visions of Cheers in their brains.

–and just in case you’re still having fun, everybody that walks through the front door is a fricking expert on what you’re doing wrong, and now they have a blog and Facebook page to show their friends how smart they are by dissing your place (and you gotta admit, they’re not in the restaurant business).

My favorite restaurants are like other people’s kids… cute, entertaining, maybe a few laughs, and I get to go home when the crying starts.

Creative Solution: Buy it for the value of the dirt, put up a for lease sign, and get a big deposit from the newest restaurant guy with a checkbook and a dream.

Creative Solution Plan B: Turn the building into a niche-market pawn shop… specializing in restaurant equipment.

But like 99% of the people who think they want to own a restaurant, you’ll ignore me. That’s okay, I’m used to it. :wink:

Check please,

ray

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You can’t make this up: 9 BK units in Ch 11 - Posted by ray@lcorn

Posted by ray@lcorn on August 31, 2011 at 08:30:02:

This just in from National Restaurant Brokers:

Burger King in Chapter 11, Bid Due Immediately

We have a 9-unit Burger King package in Chapter 11 which will be put up for auction very very soon, so a bid is due immediately. We do not represent the seller, we are acting as the buy-side advisor on this one, so we must be paid by the winning bidder/buyer. All these units are leaseholds, although we feel confident that some of the properties can be bought, but at this current auction stage there are 0 fee simples, only leaseholds. We sold this package about 5 years ago to the current operator who has been operating the stores in Chapter 11 for some time. The stores were averaging over $1.5mm a few years ago. If this situation interests you, if you have the financial ability to move quickly on this deal, and preferably if you are already Burger King approved, then please click the following button, execute our quick and easy online Confidentiality Agreement, and you?ll receive our package on the restaurants. Remember that this one has a very short fuse, you must be able to move quickly.

So many red flags in the listing description I can’t stop giggling.

ray

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Re: …or a fast track to Ch. 11? - Posted by Lin (NC)

Posted by Lin (NC) on August 29, 2011 at 12:06:23:

This post couldn’t come at a better time. I’ve been letting my thoughts run to opening a restaurant after seeing some great locations come on the market. This would be #2 for me. I should know better. It’s everything you say, and worse. :slight_smile:

Love this line:
“My favorite restaurants are like other people’s kids… cute, entertaining, maybe a few laughs, and I get to go home when the crying starts.”

Thanks for the wake-up call.

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Re: …or a fast track to Ch. 11? - Posted by cork horner

Posted by cork horner on August 28, 2011 at 17:17:50:

Ray, I highly value your input and experience.

You make it sound like NO restaurants are successful or long lasting[?]

The reason given for this ‘former restaurant location’ is they moved to a bank reo to own their facility as opposed to leasing it. That well known restaurant was at the location we are investigating a long time. It is fair to state here it is now for sale at its new location. We will know why before we go further----trust me.

Your solutions A&B are entertaining but obviously tongue-in-cheek. The resaurant equip biz is a reality I know. Are there deep pocket wanna be’s? Azbolootly.

But, ya know what? Ya knoooowwww what? It’s ez to start a taco stand, greasy burger joint, the whole 9 yards…But it was so, also; when I rose from a van supplied carpenter&handyman biz in mpls and san diego operating with only a biz license to a fully licensed contractor. The probs and challenges in that were almost identical to your review of restaurant biz’s.We can talk some HEAVY DUTY workcomp in consruction…Believe it.

Nevertheless, carpentry and handymen businesses thrive as do general contractors even in this failed economy.
The Mr Handyman franchisecharged $250 for a 1 hour service callin San Diego last time I asked them. I see their trucks in Metro phx now.

Has anybody told MickeyDee, Taco
bell, BurgerKing etc they ought sell shoes? How much does Mickey want for up front fee these days? A mil? More?

So, Ray. I hear your admonitions----don’t get me wrong. There are ‘yeah but’s’ and ‘what if’s’ in any biz/industry. Agreed?

Hey–maybe we can sell wind generators to ‘T Bone’ Pickens who by last check was not homeless?

In my opinion, there are and will be always new approaches and strategies for food and housing. when I was a kid [WWII] Buck Rogers was going to the moon in comic books and there were NO condos in America. Maybe Co-ops in NYC?

Hey , how bout those Buffalo Burgers! Whaaaatttt? :slight_smile:

When I was doing a military visit in Okinawa our group went to the reptile zoo where they demonstrated [live] the rsults of a caged standoff between a Cobra and Mongoose. Not sure of the snake species other than the operator/promoters cooked it for those who wanted to EAT IT…Hey, a new restaurant idea for America maybe? Man, that Mongoose when faced with adversity became a bolt of lightning.

cork horner
mesa az
san diego ca

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Thank you for allowing me a good deed! - Posted by ray@lcorn

Posted by ray@lcorn on August 31, 2011 at 12:20:44:

Lin,

What’s the old preacher’s line? …“If sharing my experience saves just one person from my misery it’s worth it”… or something like that.

Feel like I did some good today!

best,

ray

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Re: …or a fast track to Ch. 11? - Posted by ray@lcorn

Posted by ray@lcorn on August 28, 2011 at 18:06:22:

Hey Cork,

Figured that would get you going… :wink:

FYI, McD’s, Taco Bell, BK and the rest are NOT in the restaurant business… they sell franchises and collect royalties. Biiigggg difference. I was on the board for Choice Hotels’ franchisee assn. and gained a real appreciation for the business model. Not one of those corp execs had ever rented a room from the working side of the front desk. (And BTW, I’ve owned hotels for over 20 years, and neither have I!)

And obviously there are restaurants that make money… just none that I owned. Most restaurant owners–especially the successful ones-- have a not-so-well-concealed job. More power to 'em… some people really enjoy it. I don’t.

My world is about making investment choices, and for me a 12 hour a day job is NOT a choice I would make willingly. Nor would I go back to building single-family houses, which like you I started in a pick-up truck… a red, white and blue one thank you very much… in the midst of the worst housing market in history. I’m too old and cranky to swing hammers, start every day with a sub-contractor lying to me, and dreading the weather report.

I do however, make money every month from leasing to restaurants. I like the cheap pizza chains and ethnics (e.g. Mexican, Chinese, etc.) best… they thrive on low cost and cheap labor. And I drop by every now and then to eat, chat, and think how nice it is I own this… on my way home caring not a whit that the space cadet behind the counter might forget to lock the door.

Point being… given a choice between Investment A and Job B, I’ll take A every time.

best,

ray

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Burger lounge or Coronado Brewing Co would work for lunch in Coronado. Cafe 222 or the Mission (either East Village or North Park) may also be good for lunch.

Hodads is also kid-friendly downtown although the burgers do not get consistently positive reviews on this board. I think the shakes and onion rings are better than the burgers.

FYI - In case it alters your thinking, Neighborhood is an upscale bar and not a restauran

Thanks
Regards
Chantell Wilson
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Apartment Rentals with user reviews, amenities and location Map.