Waynesboro: The Biggest Deals EVER!!!

I started thinking about Waynesboro today because we're representing a property at Madison Monroe that's over on Main St. there. It's a huge space, 10,000 square feet. The price is so low I can't believe it.



$4.00/square foot!!!

Waynesboro sells itself a little short in this department, I think. I know that houses go for nothing out there because what was left of their demand for housing evaporated with the economy, and people don't want to commute to Charlottesville from Waynesboro anymore with gas prices where they are. Of course, the problem is much more complicated than all of that, but this is a blog.

But here's what I think about shops and business centers in Waynesboro:

1. Waynesboro is still close enough to Staunton and Charlottesville and Harrisonburg that if something worth driving for were there, people would make the trip.
2. Waynesboro has HUGE spaces. Warehouses. Giant retail locations. Old factories. All for next to nothing.
3. So why not keep the rents up and actively look for co-op factories and warehouse tenants?

I think Waynesboro can make it happen if they got together and looked for shared spaces tenants.
What do you think?

Meanwhile, here's a link to the property we have in Waynesboro. It's a really nice one for $4.00/sf.

Real Estate, Branding, and Hair Stylists

Agent Genius posted this article about a hair styling company in the UK that has found a very interesting way to keep their labor force AND their customers.
It certainly is interesting the way access to education keeps people around. I think that if I were to get free education on different things, professional development of my choosing, I would probably stick with a company for a long time and take a lot of crap from them. I value education a great deal, though.

Meanwhile, I brought in a lease at the Stratton Building that will include a new hair stylist. That industry is very secretive, so I'm not supposed to mention names for a bit, but now we will have two hair styling businesses in the same building. They both do massage and nails and hair. I think it's great that there are so many businesses like these in Staunton. Women love getting their hair done. Some men do, too. I cut my own hair, usually, to varying results. If there were a true barber shop here that did the whole shave with a straight razor and all of that, I would probably go to it. Men, for the most part, have lost their ability to pamper themselves in a way that's healthy and aesthetically pleasing to the opposite sex.

Also, there are still some great spaces in the Stratton Building. We have the third floor available, and there are still a couple small offices on the second floor. I love having an office in this building. We a have a koi pond and a huge lobby. I think I'll make a post just about the Stratton Building soon.

The Think Little Workshop

We did this thing called the Think Little Workshop at the Queen City Marketplace over the weekend. Different people talked about different things on a panel of sorts, and we all networked, might seem pretty standard. Maybe it was in a lot of ways, but I don't think we bored anyone, and I hope we stayed on message.

The message: It's time to stop thinking like some billion-dollar company or government plan is going to make a drastic change in your life; it's time to to think about your own life and business on your own scale; to think little.

My portion of this and why we hosted it at the Queen City Marketplace was about thinking little in real estate. This has been a difficult thing for me ponder because real estate comes in the size you get it. Sure, you can spend a lot of money and split lots and convert uses, but basically, once you get the real estate you can't move it shrink it or do much to it to change it drastically, especially in this economy and if you weren't born a millionaire.


I enjoyed this workshop a great deal, and I hope that other people did, too. It was a massive turnout, over 70 people, and the news channel and the newspaper were there to report on it. Some great publicity for Queen City Marketplace and for the Jack Morgan as realty person brands. It was also wonderful to engage people about their businesses. I want to do more of that. It's one of the reasons I love this industry so much.

I want to more of these kinds of workshops or seminars. I think they're great networking opportunities for everyone involved, and they keep me creative about what I'm doing.

Jack Morgan House

I don't know what a Jack Morgan house is. I Googled it, but all I got was a house once owned by Jack Morgan of J.P. Morgan. Anyway, if you are near that Jack Morgan house you should buy it. It looks very nice. If you are near the Jack Morgan House in NYC, you should visit it and see artifacts of the titans of capitalism!