New firm sets FOCUS on real estate recovery

TAMPA - After launching two years ago - and following a hiatus to help fellow commercial real estate professionals who were down on their luck - the co-founders at FOCUS Real Estate Services LLC have come out of the blocks strongly with a new assignment and a fresh perspective.

BGK Group, which has a 20 msf portfolio of office, industrial, retail and multifamily properties in 26 states, selected FOCUS to provide comprehensive property management services for its 165,105sf Cypress Point Office Park and Cypress Point Executive Suites in Carrollwood at 10004 – 10014 N. Dale Mabry Highway.

Pam Winchester, managing partner along with Mary Crino at FOCUS, said the time is right to get back into the business of commercial real estate services.

“There’s a need for a company like ours that can give hands-on attention to the owners. Mary and I have more than 30 years of combined experience in this marketplace. We have something to offer that we believe the larger companies do not,” Winchester said.

Aiming at property owners, tenants and investors, FOCUS provides brokerage services, property management, construction management and project management. Winchester said she is encouraged by some of what she’s seeing in the marketplace.

“Personally, I believe things are turning. At Real Estate Lives, we’re beginning to see people get jobs. It’s not all in real estate, but I believe with all my heart that things are getting better,” she said.

Winchester and Crino first launched FOCUS about two years ago, but they turned their attention to Real Estate Lives as job losses in commercial real estate began to mount due to the recession. Real Estate Lives is a Tampa-based volunteer organization focused on helping displaced commercial real estate professionals weather unemployment and find new work.

Winchester and Crino remain active with Real Estate Lives and have pulled from its ranks to help staff FOCUS, Winchester said. Now the task is to grow the company as the industry continues its recovery, she said.

“We’re seeking out owners of buildings - particularly those who have surprise ownership. Our focus will be on helping owners that are taking over buildings where there may be low occupancy and a great need for improved maintenance of the property,” she said.

“We’re kind of a SWAT team. So many people have spent perhaps the last year and a half doing nothing. We’re great at taking a property from deferred maintenance and low occupancy and bringing it back up to speed.”