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What's New
Broadstone Real Estate and its affiliates are constantly pursuing a variety of new acquisition, finance and development opportunities. Here are a few of our recent activities:
Broadstone Real Estate, Announces Promotions & New Hire
Wednesday May 2, 2012 Rochester, New York
At its annual meeting for Broadstone Net Lease, the company announced that Amy Tait has added the role of Chairman to her current position as Chief Executive Officer.
“Amy has done a terrific job growing a team and organization that will continue to build on all of our success to date,” remarked Norman Leenhouts. “After 30 years of working together, this seemed to be a good time to communicate and implement the succession plan for the future leadership of Broadstone Real Estate and Broadstone Net Lease. I am very pleased that she is becoming Chairman of our companies and I know she will continue to do great things.”
Norman Leenhouts, the previous Chairman, is taking on the newly created role of Chief Investment Officer for the firm. “I am very excited about the opportunity to focus more of my efforts on property acquisitions and continue as a Director of Broadstone Net Lease.”
The company also announced that Tom Rogers was promoted to President of BRE. Tom joined Broadstone in early 2011 as Chief Operating Officer, a position that he will continue to hold. “Tom's role and importance to the organization has been growing substantially since he joined us in early 2011,” said Amy Tait. “He is an important leader in our company and the community. He will continue to expand his responsibilities as the firm grows.”
Robert Tait, the previous President, has assumed the role of Senior Vice President and will continue to manage the firm's Clinton Square office property. “This is also an exciting change for my husband, Bob Tait, as he has a variety of other family and community commitments that he is anxious to pursue further.” said Amy Tait.
Broadstone also announced the promotion of three team members to the position of Vice President. Brandon Tones was promoted to Vice President of Acquisitions. Brandon's primary responsibilities include identifying, analyzing and acquiring real estate opportunities for Broadstone Net Lease.
Gina Guzman was promoted to Vice President of Portfolio Management. Gina is responsible for overseeing the local property management team at Broadstone and managing the properties that are part of the Broadstone Net Lease portfolio.
Finally, Chris Czarnecki was promoted to Vice President of Capital Markets. Chris specializes in raising debt and equity capital for BRE's investment strategies.
Finally, Broadstone also announced the hiring of a new acquisitions specialist. In early February 2012, Sean Cutt officially joined BRE as Vice President of Acquisitions. His primary responsibilities include identifying, analyzing and acquiring real estate opportunities. Prior to joining Broadstone, Sean was an Assistant Vice President of Development for Macerich Co. Sean was responsible for managing large scale development projects across the country. Before Macerich, he worked at SWBR Architects as a Project Manager.
Additional hiring announcements by Broadstone are expected in the coming weeks.
Broadstone Real Estate, LLC Receives The Rochester Top 100
Monday November 7, 2011 Rochester, New York
Broadstone Real Estate has been awarded the Rochester Top 100 which annually recognizes the fastest-growing privately held companies in the nine-county region. It is sponsored by the Rochester Business Alliance and KPMG.
Front left, Chairman Norman Leenhouts, CEO Amy Tait, and President Robert Tait of Broadstone Real Estate LLC.
Behind left, Chris Czarnecki, capital markets; and CFO Kevin Barry.
Familiar faces behind Broadstone Real Estate
Democrat and Chronicle November 7, 2011
You're a Dairy Queen in Chesapeake, Va., or a sleep disorder diagnostic and treatment clinic outside Cincinnati. And your building carries with it all sorts of expenses, from the depreciation you have to write down to the mortgage expenses that count as a liability.
This is where Broadstone Real Estate comes in. The real estate investment trust specializes in single tenant net leased real estate, buying the properties and leasing them back to the now tenants, typically under multi-year leases.
The company started in 2006, created by Home Properties co-founder Norman P. Leenhouts and former Home Properties executives Robert C. and Amy L. Tait, who are husband and wife. Amy Tait also is Leenhouts' daughter.
Broadstone started with a variety of commercial properties that the family owned or managed prior to Home Properties, including downtown Rochester's Clinton Square building. Through its net lease operations, Broadstone added 91 properties in 23 states.
The Rochester Top 100, which annually recognizes the fastest-growing privately held companies in the nine-county region, is sponsored by the Rochester Business Alliance and KPMG. Here is an interview with Broadstone Chairman Leenhouts and CEO Amy Tait:
On the origin of Broadstone:
Tait: There are certain tax benefits to being structured as a REIT (real estate investment trust). Along with that goes some requirements, the first one is that you have to have at least 100 shareholders. The second is, your ownership has to be broadly held so no fewer than five shareholders can own more than 50 percent of the business, which basically means nobody should have more than 10 percent interest in the business. You also have to distribute a significant share of your earnings every year and be committed to just invest in real estate assets and mortgages. All those things are very easy for us to comply with.
Leenhouts: We sent out letters to about 400 people we knew. The first day, we had over 100 at our first closing.
Tait: It's just grown from there. We're closing in on about 400 shareholders. They're all accredited shareholders, which basically means millionaires. So while we started with a lot of investors locally, through word of mouth we've now got investors from all over the country and a few foreign investors as well.
On the building of its portfolio:
Leenhouts: Single tenant net lease properties ... is a unique sector, a very specific sector. We wanted to be diversified geographically, but we didn't want to have offices everywhere. This way we can manage from here. It also provides a very predictable result. We get investors putting in money every quarter; we buy as we receive money; we don't want to have a lot of money sitting around earning half of 1 percent in a bank so we have to try to match up those investments with acquisitions all the time. That's the challenge.
Tait: To seed the fund, before we brought in other investors, through the family we started acquiring properties ourselves and assembling the portfolio. We had 18 properties identified before other partners came in. And we've continued to bring in new shareholders every quarter and buy more properties every quarter.
Leenhouts: Mostly it's through the Internet. We're on the computer all day every day looking for acquisitions. As we've become better known the last couple years, we have brokers calling. They know we perform, give them a straight answer and often come to us first.
Tait: Our three basic property types are medical office, retail — which is fast-food restaurants — and industrial. We underwrite each type of property differently. And while we're looking for the credit and strength of the tenant and the track record, we also often get personal guarantees on the leases or extra collateral to ensure they will perform under the lease agreement.
One of the key things is we have very long-term leases as well. We don't have a single lease that expires before 2020 and most of them go out quite a bit further than that. That means we can go through economic volatility or recession. (Tenants) are not going bankrupt and they're still paying the rent. We have 100 percent occupancy, and we have throughout the recession. We have only one tenant that got behind on their rent, but they're catching up. That's an extraordinary performance through that period of time.
On having holdings scattered across the nation:
Tait: (With) a triple net lease property, the tenant is responsible for maintaining the property. They pay the taxes; they pay the insurance; they really operate it as if it were their own. What we're providing for them is really financing for their business. That's why they make a long-term commitment. Usually the building is integral to their operations. Unless some issue were to come up, we don't regularly need to be at the properties. A lot of our work is analyzing their credit, understanding the demographics around the opportunity, making sure the taxes and insurance have been paid, and all can be done from our offices here.
As a result, we've been able to grow our employment here. We're small, but we've grown our office staff nearly 50 percent in the past year. We have 18 people in the office and 19 people at our sites here in Rochester that are not part of the REIT.
On the current economy:
Leenhouts: The net lease sector, the kind of tenants we work with, has seen great stability. There have been little changes but not dramatic. What's attractive for our investors, they're looking for hard assets. Money in the bank doesn't earn anything. The stock market is so volatile. Investing in gold, the trouble with gold is it doesn't pay any return. Real estate provides a return. That's one of the reasons we're growing.
Tait: What's really been advantageous to us has been the lowering of interest rates. About half of our investments are capitalized with debt; we borrow money. Our cost to capital goes lower.
Courtesy: Democrat and Chronicle Media Group and reporter Matthew Daneman
Amy Tait, CEO of Broadstone Real Estate, Joins 2011 Top 100 Rochester Companies Owned By Women
Women, minorities own several firms
Democrat and Chronicle October 30, 2011
A baby started Fisher Associates.
Claire Fisher, president and CEO of the Henrietta engineering services and surveying firm, was working at another local engineering firm in 1984. With her second child on the way, she decided to start her own firm with the idea that it would keep her current and in the industry loop for the next few years until she rejoined the ranks of engineering firm employees.
"People out of the marketplace for five years become kind of unmarketable," Fisher said last week. "You've lost pace with industry trends, customer desires."
As time went on, her small venture grew. Fisher never did go back to working for someone else. Today, Fisher Associates employs more than 100 people and ranks 53rd on the Top 100.
The 2011 Top 100 includes nine other companies owned by women: Systems Management/Planning, Dixon Schwabl, Diamond Packaging, Butler/Till Media Services, VocalNet/iSecure, Partners + Napier, Pathfinder Engineers & Architects, Broadstone Real Estate, and SPS Medical Supply.
Four companies this year have non-white owners: Rochester Optical, Sutherland Global Services, MONAG Apparel, and Ravi Engineering & Land Surveying.
In last year's Top 100, there were three minority-owned firms and 16 owned by women.
Amy Tait, CEO of Rochester real estate investment trust Broadstone, said she didn't see her gender playing any notable role in the growth of the company, started in 2006 by her, her husband and her father — Home Properties Inc. co-founder Norman Leenhouts.
"Our favorable track record and family reputation have been the greatest factors in our ability to attract new investors and grow," said Tait, 53, of Rochester. "With my management role plus a majority of female ownership — including my mother, sister, and daughter — Broadstone has been certified as a Women's Business Enterprise. There are certain institutional investors that have targets for investing in women- and minority-owned businesses. If we can deliver favorable investment results for them ..., this could benefit us in the future."
Fisher, 57, of Canandaigua, said part of the success of Fisher Associates came from its timing.
"The late '60s and 1970s were the time of the women's movement," she said. "I was able to take advantage of the tail end of it."
Courtesy: Democrat and Chronicle Media Group and reporter Matthew Daneman
Broadstone Real Estate, LLC Announces Addition of Gina Guzmán as Portfolio Manager
Tuesday October 11, 2011 Rochester, New York
Broadstone Real Estate, LLC today announced that Gina Guzmán has joined their staff in the newly formed position of Portfolio Manager. Prior to joining Broadstone, Guzmán was a regional real estate manager for the Corporate Services division at M&T Bank.
At M&T Bank, based in Buffalo, NY, she was responsible for providing and administering key leadership and oversight of the Bank’s land and building assets (several hundred properties), both owned and leased; maximizing the return on its investments through income and expense management. Before M&T, Gina worked at the Pope Law Firm, PLLC as the managing attorney and office administrator.
Broadstone Net Lease
Tuesday September 13, 2011 Rochester, New York
Broadstone has actively been assembling a portfolio of NNN leased property investments. To date, 91 properties in 23 states have been acquired.
Broadstone Real Estate, LLC Announces Addition of Tom Rogers as COO
Thursday May 12, 2011 Rochester, New York
Broadstone Real Estate, LLC today announced that Thomas Rogers, CPA has joined their staff in the newly formed position of Chief Operating Officer. Rogers had previously served as the Managing Director of Western New York for Tompkins Financial Advisors (formerly AM&M Financial Services).
“We are very excited to welcome Tom to the team,” said Amy Tait, CEO of Broadstone. “Tom has a proven track record of helping companies flourish through times of growth, which matches very well with our plans to continue expanding nationally. He brings many skills to our organization, along with a demonstrated commitment to community leadership and civic service. Having Tom as part of the team will help to ensure that the organization develops in lockstep with our growing portfolio and shareholder base.”
Tom Rogers spent 13 years with AM&M/Tompkins Financial Advisors, starting as the Director of Tax and Controller of the organization. In 2000 he became Chief Operating Officer and ultimately became Chief Executive Officer of AM&M in 2006 when the company was purchased by Tompkins Financial Corporation. The company was renamed Tompkins Financial Advisors in January of 2010 at which time Tom became Managing Director of Western New York.
Broadstone Net Lease
Broadstone has recently been assembling a portfolio of net leased property investments. To date, 85 properties in 21 states have been acquired with additional acquisitions currently under consideration.
Unity Ridgeway Medical Office Building
Unity at Ridgeway Medical Office Building, a state-of-the-art medical building located at 2655 Ridgeway Avenue, is the first building in Rochester to receive the LEED Silver Certification certification from the U.S. Green Building Council. This 120,000 square foot environmentally-friendly facility is one of only eleven LEED certified medical buildings in New York State. Broadstone Real Estate, LLC. developed and manages the building, and Unity is a major tenant.
“We find that designing, constructing and managing environmentally-friendly buildings is both economically and personally rewarding,” said Amy Tait, CEO of Broadstone. “While energy savings are substantial, employees and visitors to Unity at Ridgeway also enjoy the benefits of improved air quality, comfort and health. It's a win-win for both developers and tenants like Unity.”
Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) is an internationally recognized green building certification system developed by the USGBC. It provides verification that a building is designed and built to improve: energy savings, water efficiency, CO2 emissions reduction, and indoor environmental quality.
Receiving this prestigious award are Amy Tait, Broadstone Real Estate's CEO (second from left) and Bob Tait, Broadstone Real Estate's President (right).
Warren Hern (left) is President and CEO of Unity Health System and Traci Hall (second from right), is Executive Director of the U.S. Green Building Council, New York Upstate Chapter.