Ampersand Art Supply

Challenge

• Ampersand Art Supply is a growing manufacturing company. To accommodate the real estate requirement of this growth ECR worked with Ampersand for many years to expand to a secondary location and to ultimately expand into the entirety of both properties.
• The obstacle of being in two locations created logistical challenges for Ampersand Art Supply, and further, the company was restrained from further growth opportunities.
• Lastly, the company was susceptible to fluctuations in rental rates in the future given that they were a tenant.

Strategy

• ECR and the owners worked together closely for years to evaluate options ranging from lease to purchase and in different markets in and around Austin.
• Ampersand preferred to own, and as such, ECR helped to put the appropriate resources in place to assist; from SBA lender resources and attorneys to construction contacts.
• After multiple market surveys and tours of prospective properties ranging over a course of 5 years, a unique opportunity presented itself in Buda to purchase a 109,019 SF industrial facility that was 40% leased.
• 4 The remaining 69,000 +/- SF of vacancy provided an excellent owner-user opportunity for Ampersand. The ownership of Ampersand and ECR developed a strategy to aggressively negotiate the most favorable terms possible for the purchase.
• 4 Further, the property needed to be subdivided from a larger tract of land, and ECR helped to put the right legal counsel in place to assist with this process and to negotiate a protective time and economic structure in the contract.

Results

• Through the course of a year to complete the subdivision process, Ampersand retained control of the acquisition of the property and the cost burden of the subdivision process fell on the shoulders of the seller due to the tightly crafted initial contract.
• Further, this time period provided an excellent window for Ampersand to prepare construction documents, finalize pricing, and become well-suited to move their operations.
• Ampersand Art Supply now operates its growing manufacturing business from the new facility with an efficient design, strong economic structure from owning, and growth opportunity that is currently producing revenues through other tenants in the property.