Albuquerque Journal from Albuquerque, New Mexico • Page 28

BUSINESS OUTLOOK WEEK OF MONDAY, FEBRUARY 22, 1993 Page 2 Property Broker Adapts to Market Changes CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 5 i UJl There seems to be a void in the Albuquerque market in analyzing the valuation of businesses. We9ve already acquired our first three business properties for sale." JOHN LEWK1GER have paid off, and response has been good. "We've already acquired our first three business properties for sale," he said. Now, commercial real estate is beginning to shift again, back to investors, said Lewinger. "On a daily basis, we are entertaining questions from out-of-state institutional and private investors, as well as industrialists," Lewinger said.

Investors' concerns deal with the availability of large investment-grade residential apartments, he said. Industrialists considering relocating their companies to Albuquerque are interested in the availability of land and existing indus-" trial properties. Those potential clients and customers also are more sophisticated and intelligent, and they understand that the rules have changed in operating a piece of real estate, Lewinger said. There are complex issues: providing, accessibility in compliance with the Americans With Disabilities Act; and coping with environmental concerns and federal requirements. Basically, Hamilton said, there are two 1 sets of customers owners and tenants.

"We must treat both as customers," he said. "While we may be paid by the owners, we earn our keep by keeping tenants happy." With the acquisition Miller and its residential, property management expertise, Lewinger Hamilton gained a three-year contract to manage Albuquerque's city-owned low- and moderate-income housing. "Beyond the routine considerations of experience and performance, we look for an understanding of the kinds of marketing and screening requirements that are appropriate to our affordable-housing program," said Greg Polk of the city's housing services office. Although Parnegg Miller orginally made the contract bid, the city knew the Lewin- ALEXANDRIA WNG OUTLOOK Company president John Hamilton and Janelte Johnson, director of property management for the firm, discuss financial statements at the Lewinger Hamilton offices. the management of the Simms Building, the city's first high-rise office building and at one time known as the Sandia Savings and Loan Building at Fourth and Gold SW.

Lewinger Hamilton will oversee renovation of the building and provide property management for the facility's owners, an investment group from Arizona. The company's business today splits about SO-SO between the brokerage leasing operations and property management, Hamilton said. In addition, a key facet of property management arm is the maintenance operation, "about a business in itself," said Hamilton. ing real estate portfolio property auction management. Lewinger was the New Mexico-licensed broker for the RTC's initial property auction held in Albuquerque in 1990.

The, company researched the properties, verified titles and compiled information packets for potential bidders. With the experience gained in that and a second RTC auction, Lewinger Hamilton received a contract to handle properties in an FDIC auction scheduled for March 9, and will coordinate management for another auction for two Albuquerque banks. Another new project for the company is ger Hamilton team would be assuming the operation. "We interviewed the principals as well as confirming that the management team would remain in place under the new ownership," Polk said. In addition to the city contract, the expanded company successfully bid on the management contract for a 58-unit apart-; ment house recently acquired by Youth Development Inc.

from the Resolution Trust Corp. The RTC, created by Congress to close failed savings and loan institutions and dispose of their assets, provided the company with another new facet in its expand Simms Building: A Facelift and a New Name By Martha Man JOURNAL STAFF WRITER Clarke said. The architectural firm of Holmes Saba-tini Associates has been hired for the remodeling and renovations, and Ashcraft Companies will handle construction. Lewinger Hamilton went after the property management contract on the building aggressively, said chief executive officer John Lewinger. "We made telephone calls until we found the people who had the authority to bid out the contract, filed our bid and became known as the Sandia Building.

the Simms name hung on. In 1980, the structure was purchased by California investors. The building's name has been changed to the Simms Tower, said Clarke, project manager. Renovations will begin next month on a $60,000 lobby remodeling. The curved staircase in the lobby will remain, she said.

Other planned renovations include fire, life safety and elevator upgrades, and structure from its opening until the early, 1970s, Haley's family recalled. When the building's new owners a Phoenix investment group hired Lewinger Hamilton Inc. as property manager for the facility, the building returned, in part, to the Haley family for. management. Jane Clarke, Haley's daughter, will be part of the management team for the Albuquerque commercial real estate company.

In 1973, the building was purchased by Sandia Savings Loan Association and The 39-year-old Simms Building at Fourth and Gold SW is getting a facelift, a new name and it has come full circle in its management team. One of Albuquerque's first high-rise office building, the 13-story, structure was built in 1954 by the late Albert Simms. The late Ed Haley and his commercial real estate firm, Savage Sganzini, had offices in the building and managed the '1, tl i.Vj i'i i.n"i?-"r tenant improvements for new won the contract" ne saw. nh'AMuhii ui mitj iiili.ci fli.u JiMamto jtaiatf w'tM-.