Chris & John
- Mar 25, 2021
- 3 min read

Ep 135: Commercial Real Estate in a Post-COVID World with Dan Lewkowicz

While a lot of uncertainty remains around the pandemic and its effects on multifamily, commercial real estate professionals like today’s guest are confident in the industry’s ability to withstand COVID-19 and reach greater heights in 2021. Dan Lewkowicz is a seasoned real estate veteran with over 15 years of experience. He is Director of Investment Sales at Encore Real Estate Investment Services and specializes in shopping centers, medical office buildings, industrial fulfillment centers, quick service restaurants, and automotive repair and parts stores. He is an expert in industrial commercial real estate and multifamily, particularly the current economic undercurrents facing these asset classes in today’s post-COVID world. In this episode, Dan shares a bit about the value of collaborating rather than competing, why he has chosen to focus on brokerage, and how you can leverage phantom equity to your benefit. Tuning in, you’ll learn more about refinancing in commercial real estate, how retail has remained resilient during COVID, and how Dan is advising both buyers and sellers in the commercial space. Ultimately, Dan believes there has never been a better time for commercial real estate brokers, so make sure to tune in today to learn more!

Key Points From This Episode:

Dan shares a bit about himself and his specialty in net lease investment sales.
Buying a house in Detroit coming out of a recession; how Dan capitalized on that opportunity.
How to tune out the naysayers by surrounding yourself with people who support you.
The value of having an abundance mindset and collaborating rather than competing.
Focusing on brokerage versus investing when the market is oversaturated with buyers, inventory is tight, and prices are high.
Learn more about repurposing capital into new deals and leveraging phantom equity.
People make the best decisions when they are well-informed: how Dan adds value.
Some differences between refinancing industrial or commercial real estate and multifamily.
Leveraging as an instrument that allows you to increase your cash-on-cash return.
The importance of understanding exactly what you are looking for as a buyer.
Dan’s advice for building better relationships with brokers: be completely transparent and keep communication lines open.
How Dan is planning to capitalize on future opportunities like single-family rentals and shopping centers deals.
Why retail space remains popular, despite the spike in e-commerce trends during COVID.
Find out how Dan is advising sellers and buyers during COVID, depending on the asset.
Hear why he believes there has never been a better time for commercial real estate brokers.
Dan recommends being weary of overpaying for multifamily assets when the market will produce distressed assets shortly.

Tweetables:

“I’m always a fan of buying things as they are coming out of their ‘bottom’ because you truly don’t know where the floor is until the floor has evidenced itself.” — Dan Lewkowicz [0:08:01]

“By surrounding myself with people who were ahead of me and people that I could do deals with, that helped me to grow and those are the supportive people that I want in my circle.” — Dan Lewkowicz [0:13:32]

“I consider myself to be an advisor, not just a broker. I like to add value. I find that if I add value, everything else follows.” — Dan Lewkowicz [0:26:21]

“Always focus on cash-on-cash return and then you can utilize debt vehicles to lever that up significantly.” — Dan Lewkowicz [0:32:03]

“A lot of these shopping center deals have strong tenants, a good, diversified lease rollover in terms of when the leases expire, and they have built in rental escalation, some of them two or three percent annually.” — Dan Lewkowicz [0:43:55]

“We’re trying to make hay when the sun is shining and, even though the rest of the world has been in a pandemic, for us, our heads have been down, our feet have been on the gas. As a commercial real estate broker, there has never been a better time” — Dan Lewkowicz [0:51:01]