To further lev.co’s mission of democratizing knowledge about commercial real estate, we started an interview series with all kinds of CREF pros: everyone from multifamily and medical to cannabis and construction. This time we connected with Kevin Nassimi from Nassimi Realty, a family office that has an impressive portfolio of retail, office and residential assets.

Here’s how the conversation went:

What can you tell us about your recent expansion into the Midwest and Southeastern retail markets?

The southeast is BOOMING! Prime markets like Nashville, Austin, etc. You can count the number of available big boxes on your hands!

Midwest struggles in parts, but suburban open air retail is very healthy and in a good place. Between the migration to suburbs, the stimulus checks and habits of purchasing items for stay-at-home, many retailers have had their best years the past two years.

Can you explain “land banking” to our readers? I hadn’t heard that term before.

Land banking is owning land but not building anything on it. Just keep accumulating more and more land whether contiguous or not and either waiting to develop or waiting to sell at the right price.

Is “The Great Return” to offices overhyped, or has the trend had a noticeable impact on your current and prospective office investments?

Mixed results on that. For example, our building in the diamond district on 46th St. has done extremely well and has a waiting list to come in because that business can’t be done remote, and everyone is struggling.

On the other hand, our suburban office building is struggling and down to 60% occupancy. During the pandemic, tenants have left and downsized their space.

Are there any underreported 2022 retail investment trends our readers should be aware of?

Cap rates for all sectors of retail centers have dropped dramatically. I would say a full 2% to 3% cap rate drop in value since 2019.