< BACK
> Broker Spotlight, Southeast Real Estate Business'
Florida Commercial Properties Magazine
By Dan Marcec
"Ken Morris- Morris Southeast Group"
As president of Fort Lauderdale, Florida-based
Morris Southeast Group, Ken Morris, SIOR is responsible
for overseeing all operations of the firm, maintaining his
own practice and providing support to his employees. His
career as a commercial broker began in 1986, when he received
his Florida Salesman License while an undergraduate at the
University of Miami. After selling homes for a residential
developer during his undergraduate degree studies, Morris
left a construction engineering graduate program early to
work on an office development with his father, Allen. Though
he didn't know much about the brokerage business at the
time, Morris found his way into office leasing simply by
showing spaces at nearby properties that could not be accommodated
in his father's portfolio.
From there, Morris continued to compile
similar experiences, growing his relationships with better
clients and larger transactions, even finding mentors in
competing firms. Finally, in the mid-1990s, Morris purchased
his father's company and shifted its focus from development
to real estate services, offering brokerage, management,
consulting and project management for interior renovations.
"over the years, I have remained
an independent broker and carved myself and the company
a niche in this industry," Morris says. "I have
been fortunate enough to provide tenant and landlord representation
services for several Fortune 500 companies, which I consider
one of my biggest successes."
Some notable relationships Morris
has built over the years, to which he points as the foundation
of his success in the business, include First American Title
Insurance Company, Developer's Diversified Realty, Ray-o-Vac,
Opus South Corporation, BankAtlantic, National Mentor Healthcare,
Windrose Medical REIT, Caremark RX and Martin Professional.
Of the most recent deals he has completed, a 10-year, 50,000-square-foot
single-tenant office lease in Broward County, Florida, and
a 10-year, 20,000-square-foot lease in the Chicago suburbs
stand out as the most significant.
"I believe the key to success
in this business is putting the client first, always; being
of service to others in business and our community is my
highest goal," says Morris. "Finding ways to add
value to the process and helping our clients evaluate and
grasp the strategic impact that their real estate has on
the bottom line both are important aspects of our services."
Along the lines of trends currently
affecting the brokerage business, Morris explains that the
speed of data collection and dissemination has raised client
expectations, placing pressure on brokerage firms to provide
information and services faster than in the past. Moving
from simply packaging information on available properties
in a specific area - while still of key importance- the
business has shifted to where clients need full assistance
in evaluating short- and long-term impact on their real
estate decisions.
With the amount of information available
through automated technology, firms have the ability to
predict possible outcomes across a broad spectrum of industries,
which certainly is a positive advancement for business,
but at the same time, this activity places the expectation
for firms to have more expertise in specific industries-
such as financial, legal, engineering and medical, for example-
than has been the case in the past.
In Morris Southeast's home market
of South Florida, record prices are being paid for all types
and all classes of product as well, which has had a great
impact on the industry. In addition, due to record low cap
rates throughout South Florida, a majority of deals include
both foreign and domestic buyers. There is high occupancy
in a variety of sectors, yet both office and industrial
have appeared to be slowing in market velocity recently.
Further, subleasing activity has been on the rise, and the
company has obtained several significant assignments in
2007 in that area.
With regards to these trends, Morris explains, "In
the event that cap rates begin to stabilize or even climb
we expect to conduct more investment sales transactions
with many of our private capital investment clients that
have been sitting on the sidelines in what everyone considers
a 'frothy' market."
Looking toward the future, Morris Southeast plans to continue
broadening its landlord representation practice for the
rest of 2007 and 2008. On that front, the firm currently
is under consideration for several new assignments beginning
second quarter of this year. Another major goal of the firm
is to build its capabilities for investment sales, developing
relationships with various firms in both the private and
public sector active particularly in the South Florida market.
"Our tenant representation platform is recognized
industry-wide as one of the best the brokerage business
has to offer, but we are always looking for new ways to
serve our clients better," Morris says.
|
