Haven't Posted in Quite a While, So Why Now? He's Trying to Find a Buyer for Shaker Hall!

I turned on my computer earlier this morning to check e-mail and as usual, a number of Loopnet listings appeared along with my other morning mail. One e-mail stood out - Shaker Hall of Cleveland is for sale and you can only guess who the owner / poster to Loopnet might be.

After clearing some of the messages that need immediate attention, I got a strong cup of coffee and delved into the Shaker Hall post. It has a well stated opening statement, nice photo, well respected location, yet I know it is not a property that we could ever be interested in. There is understandably too much 'history' and clearly too much knowledge of the Property, the Seller & financial presentations.

I took some time to read through the rent roll, historic operating numbers and 2008 operating budgets. To say the very least, it is nice to know that some in today's multifamily business are very optimistic. I'm trying to recall the last QUALITY management team that tried to raise projected rents [with paid occupancy, of course] while coming off of a 15% vacancy for the prior year or reducing payroll on site for a 104 unit property when the total payroll is slotted for 2 people or ...

According to the Office of the Auditor for Cuyahoga County, the Property currently has an assessed value of $742,000 and a market value $2,120,000. With an offering price for the Property at $3,650,000, I do wonder when the Buyer of this asset will find an increased tax bill in his mailbox? I wonder if the Seller has some magic way of keeping the taxes in check without full & fair disclosure to the County Auditor? I guess you could attempt to take over control of the existing ownership entity itself, but I am not one who would want to step into the potential for contingent liabilities, even with some form of 'hold harmless' from this Seller. Maybe one of you is more daring!

In any event, if you would like to talk about this property, if you have done business with this Seller before & have advise to those looking at Shaker Hall or if you are just curious about the way some do business in this world, I do look forward to hearing from you. You can contact me here or via e-mail @ Mitch_Greenstein@Yahoo.com

PICKING UP WHERE WE LEFT OFF

Over the course of the past several month, many have sought us out to talk about their experiences with / exposure to the infamous Mr. Nessel. Everyone seems to have a story and each story seems to end without a kind word nor a smile. The stories from Cleveland are no different than those in Dallas - not a surprise.

After Thanksgiving we will pick up where we left off, seeking the advise and wisdom of those who might help to bring some 'justice' to situations where many feel as if they have been treated unjustly.

If you have a story to share, an insight into this mind, please contact me @ Mitch_Greenstein@Yahoo.com

Thanks and blessing on us all.

Peace / Out

OUT OF THE WOODWORK [AS THEY SAY]

While I cannot fully articulate at this moment all of the reasons that we started this blog, something quite interesting [no, I would dare say "revealing"] has taken place over the past two weeks or so. It has helped me to understand the power & energy / the breath & reach of the blogosphere.

Three separate and very different groups have reached out to make contact, to compare notes and stories and even concerns relations to their dealings with Ariel [Ari] Nessel of San Francisco. Their business dealings were all formatted quite differently with Ari, they were not all in Cleveland but each expressed concern over HONOR, ETHICS and business dealings that 'play in the grey'.

When one person on a blog gets such diverse responses on a hard-to-find blog, I must wonder about a few things:

• How many others are out there with similar stories?
• Does repetitive 'playing in the grey' lead [morally or legally] to a pattern of abuse that can & should be challenged at law?
  

Please let me hear from you on these questions. Post your comments here [with a method for me to contact you] or comment directly to me via e-mail. I do hope to be able to discuss these things with you in great detail.

Many thanks.

Mitch Greenstein

Which Ariel Nessel you ask?

I did not realize that there was more than one Ariel Nessel.

He sometimes goes by Ari and operates under the corporate name Nessel, Inc. among others. I've heard him use 'Shanti Holdings' as well.

Yes, it is the same gentleman who lives in San Francisco and does business in Dallas as well. Any of you Texans doing business with this gentleman? Please let me hear from you. We would like to learn from the experience of others and share our knowledge as well.

Thanks.
Mitch