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Oklahoma may be known for their livestock, oil, and a Broadway musical, but the state’s capital city might be gaining a new reputation. According to Small Business Trends , Oklahoma City is one of the best cities for serial entrepreneurs. Small Business Trends looked across the country to find cities where you can find large concentrations of serial entrepreneurs— those who have started three or more businesses prior to the one they run today. By weighing factors like “the percentage of serial entrepreneurs to the overall population in the metropolitan areas of the United States with over 50,000 people… industry clusters, lifestyle, infrastructure, costs and workforce availability,” OKC climbed all the way up to #4 for serial entrepreneurs! Oklahoma City’s ranking sits behind Salt Lake City, Miami and Denver, while beating out Dallas, Tampa, Raleigh, Orlando, Seattle and Portland. Oklahoma City has 2,422 serial entrepreneurs, which makes up .18% of the population. If you’re an entrepreneur looking for a professional office, check out our availability at Wilshire Gardens Office Park , or jump on our waiting list for Smartsuite Executive Offices!

On July 31st, Graystone Properties added the Wilshire Gardens Office Park, located at 425 W Wilshire Blvd., to our office portfolio. This property will be a key component to our future growth and we are excited to engage with our new tenants. Wilshire Gardens is a 4 building office park located between Nichols Hills and Broadway Extension on Wilshire Boulevard. From individual executive offices to large company suites, Wilshire Gardens is capable of hosting companies of multiple sizes. Graystone Properties plans to update the building’s facade, landscaping, office common areas and office suites. Nick Gray with Kevo Commercial represented Graystone Properties, while Amy Dunn with CBRE represented the seller, Rodger & Rodgers Living Trust. The property was purchased at $1,749,000 and was closed at The Oklahoma City Abstract & Title Company. More information about Wilshire Gardens can be found at www.wilshiregardensokc.com.

If you asked everyone you know which large cities are the best for startups, you would probably hear plenty of mentions of San Francisco, Boston, Seattle and New York City. Despite those cities’ reputation as hubs for innovation and tech startups, those cities didn’t make the top 30, according to a new report from the personal finance website, WalletHub. WalletHub analyzed 182 U.S. cities across 19 key metrics, such as cost of living, office space affordability, startups survival rates, and quantity of investors. So, which city could possibly be No. 1? Oklahoma City took the top spot for the second year in a row. From the rise of coworking spaces to the resources provided by our chamber of commerce, it’s no surprise to see our startup community thriving.

Incredible Class A office space located in the heart of Edmond. Kelley Pointe Plaza is located off of Kelly Avenue just north of 33rd Street. The 4,441 square foot suite provides one of the few open concept offices to the Edmond market. Suite starting at $18 per square foot. Office Amenities: Full Service (Janitorial service 5 days a week) Private air-conditioned server room Large conference room Two small collaboration meeting rooms Spacious break room Private restroom Strong co-tenants Plentiful parking Great lighting and views as all exterior walls are primarily windows For more information or to schedule a showing, you can reach Trevor Rush by email at trevor.rush@graystoneokc.com

OKLAHOMA CITY, Oklahoma – March 8, 2018 The Grant Group and SVN worked together on the sale of The Hartford Apartments, an apartment complex built in 1964 located at 3800 N Hartford Street in Oklahoma City. The two building, 44 unit apartment complex sold for $2.2MM, or $50,000 per unit. The apartments are currently at 86% occupancy. Casey Massegee with the Grant Group represented the seller, Graystone Properties of OKC, and Raymond Lord with SVN represented the buyer, a private investor. “The property was an exciting project our company took on almost 9 years ago,” said Trevor Rush, Graystone’s Vice President of Operations. “Graystone’s founder, Dave Rush, was the visionary behind Hartford’s extensive renovation and was instrumental in making the apartments what they are today. We hope to build off the success we found in the Hartford Apartments with our next project.” The community is conveniently positioned near the junction of Hefner Parkway and I-44. It is minutes from downtown, hospitals, shopping, restaurants and all the daily amenities. Graystone Properties plans to reinvest in office, retail or industrial buildings.

Year in Review Graystone Properties had another great year in 2017, as shown in our 2017 highlights below. We celebrated Graystone’s twenty-year anniversary this past March, and our second full year in the commercial real estate sector. 2017 Highlights 2017 has been a challenging but rewarding year for us at Graystone Properties. The extensive renovation at Westbrook Plaza was completed in late Spring. The remodel gives the plaza a modern flair, while increasing a sense of business professionalism and street appeal. At Kelley Pointe and the Hartford Apartments, the parking lots were repaired, resealed and striped with safety in mind this past fall. The Hartford Apartments leasing was a success last year. Despite a sluggish oil market and apartment developers adding more complexes to the market, the Hartford Apartments had a strong 2017 with an occupancy rate of 86%. In 2018, we hope to continue that success and have an occupancy rate above 93%. In 2017, we added preventative maintenance services for heating and air units for all of our tenants, provided by Air Technologies. At Lakehurst, we saved money for our tenants by providing trash service in one rolled-up, competitively priced contract for all of our Lakehurst businesses. At Summit Pointe, we launched the Plaza’s very own website, www.summitpointeok.com. The website is intended to showcase the businesses at Summit, while relaying property news and available suites for lease. Looking Forward Although 2017 was a great year, we are excited to see what is in store for our company for 2018. We hope to see a resurgence of the office market across the metro and to continue the uptick in retail leasing. We also expect to continue our value-add strategy for our tenants this year. We are happy to announce two businesses that are new to our properties and new to the state of Oklahoma. This spring we will see the opening of 1st Choice Pharmacy, www.1stChoicePharma.com, at Westbrook Plaza in Edmond. The 600 square foot pharmacy can serve your every need with a helpful team behind the counter. The second is a retail shop based in Kansas City, Missouri. The CBD Store, www.theCBDstores.com, will open very soon at Summit Pointe Plaza. They offer a wide variety of oil products for both people and pets. Adding value with our commercial tenants is a goal we are always focused on. In 2018, we expect to roll out additional property websites with the same goals as Summit. We plan to add additional parking at Lakehurst and fully utilize the sign monument at Summit Pointe. At Kelley Pointe, we plan to give the monument sign a fresh, new look, making it easier for patients and clients to find OU Medicine’s Breast Imaging of Oklahoma and Massey Financial Services. Our goals for 2018 are to maintain tenant satisfaction, fill all of our commercial properties through competitive leasing options, and acquire new commercial properties.

Thanksgiving is more than extra servings of stuffing and mashed potatoes, multiple Thursday football games, and the occasional heated, yet friendly, debate with a family member. It is a time to be thankful, and at Graystone Properties, we have a lot to be thankful for. We are thankful for our tenants. Our properties are home to a very diverse range of business types, such as nail spas, animal veterinary hospitals, financial advisors and restaurant options. This diverse group keeps us on our toes as we continue to fulfill their needs. Every day is a new adventure and we are thankful for that. Day in, day out, we are working for the complete satisfaction of our tenants. We are thankful for our vendors. Without them, we could not have happy tenants. Furthermore, the insight they bring to the table after each job is invaluable. From repairing large parking lots to finding ways to be more energy efficient, our vendors have our best interests in mind. We are thankful for our families. We are a family run business and that means our work and personal lives blend together sometimes. Real estate can have the strangest hours, from early morning coffee meetings, to exterior light inspections at night, and a plethora of different networking events. From understanding and tagging along at events, we are thankful for them every day. As Thanksgiving approaches, we wish all of our readers, vendors and tenants a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Finding the perfect place for your next business location can be stressful, overwhelming and just flat out confusing. What matters more: street view or anchor tenants? North or south side location? How do I even know where available spaces are? Just know you aren’t alone in this important step. Countless business owners are left baffled on how to find their next spot. Because this is a crucial process for a successful business, we have outlined four things to add to your list before taking the plunge. Location, Location, Location Before you take any space available, ask yourself “where do I want to be?” Sure, that retail space you found was unbelievably cheap, but it is all the way across town and in an area you are not familiar with. Find out where your customer base is and find a space there. For example, there’s a quaint pizza place centrally located in Oklahoma City that serves some of the best pizza locally. Although they are based in OKC, a large portion of the Yelp reviews are customers living 25 minutes north in Edmond. A good opportunity for them would be adding a location in Edmond, where they know they’ll instantly have a following on the day they open. Knowing where to find your customers is half the battle. If you are a small business, anchor tenants may be high on your list. An anchor tenant is a large, usually nationwide company that brings traffic to the area. The idea is an anchor tenant will drive customers to the building and may come into your business after visiting the anchor tenant. At our Summit Pointe Plaza property in Oklahoma City, we are fortunate to have a T-Mobile flagship store, Slim Chickens and Louie’s Grill & Bar. So someone who may see the new iPhone at T-Mobile may stop by 24 Fit Gym to learn about gym memberships, or visit Meraki Hair Studio after lunch at Louie’s. The Internet of Things Unlike the days where you had to physically drive all over a city to find a space, today’s technology allows us to find everything we need online. If you haven’t used Loopnet, you absolutely should. You can draw the area you want to be in and available listings will sprout up. Click any listing to find out more information and the contact information for the listing agent. Furthermore, you can take the address and plug it in Google Maps to see satellite and street views without putting on shoes and leaving the house. If you’re a business that is heavily dependent on traffic, look up the traffic count database for the area, which can be found on a county/city’s website. If you want a place that’s heavy in foot traffic, try Walk Score. Although it’s targeted for apartment hunters, it can give you a general outlook on how accessible an area is by foot. Drive An Area Sometimes it is as simple as picking a day and driving around the area you want to be. Although Loopnet is the #1 place to find available spaces online, sometimes the owner or property manager will choose to not post the listing online or it’s so new to the market they haven’t had time. You may get lucky and find the perfect location with absolutely no competition to take the suite because they just put up the “For Lease” sign that day. Call Brokers Whether it’s a listing broker of a property or a tenant broker, give a few brokers a call. You will want to know all the details before jumping into a lease anyway. You can even tell the broker what are some important things you want in your next location, so he or she can keep an eye out for anything that matches that description. You will be happy because you have someone to take some weight off your shoulders, and the broker will be motivated to find the perfect space as soon as they can so they can get a commission fee from the building owner. Finding a future location is usually not something you can do in an hour. It may take days, weeks or even months to find the right location for you. Remember to be patient and don’t be afraid to ask for help. If you are looking for a retail or office space in Oklahoma, visit our website to see what we currently have available. If you don’t see anything that piques your interest, shoot us an email with the perfect description of your next location. We’ll get in contact with you if we find something that matches your vision. Be sure to follow/like us on LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter!

Graystone Properties is always looking to grow, whether that is leasing our current buildings or purchasing new properties. We believe word-of-mouth advertising is still an extremely effective marketing tool for us. We are happy to announce our new Referral Program. If you refer us a commercial tenant that signs a lease with us, or give us information that leads to the acquisition of an investment property, Graystone Properties will give you a $1,000 reward. Email us at management@graystoneokc.com with your lead. Once the commercial tenant signs the lease or when we close on the property, we will give you $1,000. It is as simple as that. We look forward to hearing from you soon.