Kotel Investments is off to a good start in 2013 — to the tune of more than 98,000 square feet of leasing activity across its industrial properties.
The deals are a mix of new leases and renewals, says Rami Kotel, a co-founder in Kotel Investments, which is dually headquartered in San Antonio and Woodland Hills, Calif. His partner is his brother, Jeff.
The lion’s share of that activity, 63,000 square feet, is taking place right here in San Antonio,Rami Kotel adds. Some of those transactions have provided both Kotel Investments and its tenants a chance to diversify a bit.
Case in point is the business park that Kotel Investments owns at 12006 Starcrest Drive in North Central San Antonio.
Business owner John Moretta recently renewed his lease of 5,000 square feet at Building 1. The space serves as the dealership for Moretta’s company, Ducati of San Antonio — which specializes in high-quality motorcycles, including the Ducati brand. Moretta has also inked a new lease for 8,000 square feet in Building 5 in the Starcrest business park.
The Vette Center is Moretta’s way of building off of his dealership of Ducati motorcycles — a well-known Italian brand of bikes, and a line that the business owner describes as “the coolest brand out there” when it comes to motorcycles.
The Vette Center gives Moretta a venue for expanding the cool factor. “Corvettes are cool,” he says. “We like cool things.”
Cool factor aside, the Vette Center — with its focus on corvettes and other higher-end cars, also gives Moretta a vehicle for distinguishing his dealership from other independent car dealers.
It also gives him a chance to stay involved with the client base he has built with Ducati — a group of consumers who Moretta believes will also be interested in other “high-end cool toys” like corvettes.
Building a partnership
The latest round of leases at Kotel Investment’s local business parks are an indication of the health of San Antonio’s real estate industry — including its industrial sector, says Rami Kotel.
Those deals also speak to the relationships that Rami and Jeff Kotel have built with their tenants, says Moretta, who opened Ducati of San Antonio three years ago. At the time of Ducati’s debut, Kotel Investments had not yet purchased the business park. The decision to renew and expand at the business park, however, had much to do with that fact that Kotel Investments is the landlord now. “Rami and Jeff Kotel are not just landlords,” Moretta says. “They are interested in seeing us succeed. They are open to accommodating what our business needs are. It’s more of a partnership.”
Fitness express
Gold’s Gym recently announced plans for two new ground-up developments in San Antonio’s far West Side — a 54,000-square-foot gym at Potranco Road and State Highway 151, and a 49,000-square-foot facility at Loop 1604 and Culebra Road.
These gyms will be number 21 and 22 for Gold’s Gym network of facilities in San Antonio.
Make that number 21 and 22 — and counting.
“Our real estate team is fairly active in the market,” says Todd Scartozzi, chief operating officer for Gold’s Gym. But the more traditional prototype may not be the only path to expansion here. The Venice, Calif.-based chain also operates a network of Gold’s Gym Express facilities — which range in size from about 14,000 to 19,000 square feet.
The gyms feature full locker rooms and the chain’s array of state-of-the-art equipment — sans a pool, basketball court, group exercise classes and child care.“It’s a self-service model,” Scartozzi explains.
This model, he adds, is ideal for second-generation real estate — which is still available at good rates given the state of the economy. And it is a good model for filling in a market. The Express facilities are usually built within 3 miles of an existing full-service gym, says Scartozzi, who confirms that Gold’s Gym is looking at sites in San Antonio that could be a good fit for the model.
Of course, more full-service clubs are not out of the question either. “We are very bullish on San Antonio,” he says.