Danburg on Loopnet Answers -What does modified gross mean ?

That is a great question. Because the simple answer is that a modified gross lease means that you are going to need to ask the landlord what modified gross means.

If it is a modified gross, it means the lease is not a net lease, but it is not a gross lease. It is a hybrid and the tenant is going to have to cover some portion of the operating expenses. The possibilities are just about endless - kind of like Baskin Robbins - at least 31 different flavors.

In our case, some of our properties include janitorial service and some do not. Some modified gross leases include electric, some do not. In some cases we cover operating for the initial calendar year of the lease (Base Year) and the tenant pays the increases going forward. In some cases, operating expenses are paid by the landlord but the tenant is responsible for increases in taxes and insurance.

So to summarize, the only way to find out what modified gross means, is to ask each individual landlord what modified gross means to him or her.

http://answers.loopnet.com/Question/What-does-Modified-gross-mean_3222/

My First Blog Response

Dr. Sue Antell of Forensic Neuroscience, a tenant at Boca Commerce Center writes:

Hey Ken,

I don’t Facebook, Twitter, U-Tube or Blog. I cannot imagine how “social media” could offer me anything except another way to burn up hours that I already have too few of. For those of us who refuse to be dragged into a endlessly (pointlessly?) connected world where everyone is a philosopher (or rumor mongerer depending upon your take), I do hope you will continue sending us messages via that ancient late 20^th –early 21^st century technology known as EMAIL!!!

My response:

I’ll continue to send what I hope is useful information via e-mail or whatever means possible. If you look out your window, you may see me sending smoke signals – we just want to try to get our message out. You should check out the link to the Southpark episode which also expresses your sentiments. My daughter tells me they will remove the new episode from the site for 3 weeks after this Wednesday.

You're going to have to wait 3 weeks before the Southpark Episode goes back online. But it echoes Dr. Antlell's sentiments.

Social Media is here to stay. To some it will be a major time waster, some people will get so immersed in their online virtual life that they may lose touch with their actual life; and we will see cases of cyber stalking, cyber bullying etc.

But Social Media has the ability to be a very useful tool both in our personal life and for business. In simple terms it is a new media source just like TV, Radio and the Internet. There is good TV and bad TV, good websites and bad ones as well as good publications and bad ones. But Social Media must be considered as a component in any marketing effort. We hope to be able to be one of the organizations that uses Social Media in a positive way.

And yes, we will continue to use e-mail and I may occasionally even write a letter.

By the way, Dr. Sue Antell is at http://forensicneuroscience.net/

Dr. Antell has a very specialized practice where she tests and evaluates brain function in connection with various disabilities.

Just Do It - Danburg Takes the Social Media Plunge

Just Do It.

Not our tagline, but I think it summarizes Danburg Management’s Social Media Strategy which begins in earnest right now.

I’ve been sticking my toe in the water with Facebook over the past few months just to understand the dynamics and it has been an eye-opening experience. I’ve reconnected with old friends, family members and classmates, I’ve gotten to peek a bit closer into my kid’s lives, and shared some key life events.

If you haven’t figured it out, Social Media is and has been the next big thing; but for those of us over age 16, we are just starting to realize it. In our lives, we meet hundreds or thousands of people we care about and want to share our lives with, but there are simply not enough hours in the day.

While there is no substitute for true human interaction, Social Media extends our reach, just like the computer extends our brain. If used properly, Social Media can enhance our lives. Having majored in Mass Communications, it is fascinating that the ability for an individual to communicate with a mass audience, which was once restricted to TV, radio and the print media; is now available to anyone via the Internet. That is the revolution that is Social Media. (for fun go to http://www.southparkstudios.com/episodes/267112/ )

But what does that mean for business ?

Well, I don’t think we’re going to see Bill Gates and Warren Buffett playing Farmville any time soon, but through a Facebook Fan Page, a Twitter Account and a Blog, we are able to effectively communicate with tenants, vendors and prospective tenants in order to get our message out.

We have two primary objectives for our Social Media Strategy.

1. We want to continue to develop our brand identity and let the world know who we are and what we do.
2. Most importantly, we want to develop a sense of community among our over 200 tenants. Our stock in trade is to provide a home for businesses. If our tenants/customers are successful, then we are successful. You can lease an office or warehouse from anyone. We’d like to believe that our properties are well-located attractive, well-kept and provide good value. We’d like to go one step further and develop a network for our tenants to refer business to each other, almost like our own Chamber of Commerce. That extra value-added is what we believe can set us apart so we can all thrive in today’s challenging marketplace.

We will try to do our part in providing consistent content – news that affects your business, success stories about our tenants and other helpful hints. I will be getting this off the ground, but all of our Danburg team will be involved.

For this to work, it has to be interactive – we look forward to your suggestions and your contributions. E-mail me, give me a call or post to our fan page or blog. I am hoping our entry into Social Media is useful to all and I have high hopes. My reluctance to get this started has been based on our ability to “feed the monster” – to continue to provide valuable content that will cut through the seemingly endless layers of useless information that comes to our computer screens every day.

I can’t tell you whether this thing will be successful of fall flat on its face, but there is only one way to find out and that is to Just Do It.