Gibson (“Gib”) Kerr, CCIM, serves as a senior advisor for Sperry Van Ness in Kansas City, where he specializes in the sale and leasing of office and investment properties. With over 20 years of commercial real estate experience, Kerr has completed numerous landmark sales in recent years, including the sale of 95 Metcalf Square (151,000 SF retail/office complex in Overland Park), the City National Bank Building at 18th & Grand (65,000 SF), the Argyle Building at 12th & McGee (117,000 SF), and the Screenland Building at 17th & Washington (45,000 SF). Prior to joining Sperry Van Ness in 2006, Kerr served as vice president at Tower Properties where he oversaw leasing of a roughly 2 million SF office and industrial portfolio.
We heard you are involved in downtown real estate deals. Tell us about those projects.
I’ve been working the downtown market since I moved back to KC in 1992. I was a downtown guy before downtown was cool. It probably would have been a lot easier to work the suburban office markets, but I’ve always loved the history and architecture of the older parts of Kansas City and it’s a personal challenge for me to help breathe new life into the urban core.
What is your niche? What is your company’s area of expertise and what makes it stand out?
Sperry Van Ness is a national brokerage firm that specializes in the sale of investment properties. With over 900 brokers in about 150 markets throughout the country, Sperry Van Ness provides me with an outstanding national platform for marketing local properties to investors from all over the country. It has been exciting for me to sell KC properties to investors from California to the East Coast and places in between. We are a very “broker friendly” company and, unlike many of our competitors, it is our policy always to split our fees with buyers’ brokers on all of our listings. We believe that’s in the best interests of the sellers whom we represent, and it’s simply the right thing to do. I am excited to announce that I have entered into a strategic alliance with RED Brokerage to expand our respective investment sales and office leasing services in Kansas City. I have relocated my office to RED’s office at 4717 Central and am getting used to working on the Plaza after 18 years downtown. Teaming with RED will allow me to better serve my office clients, while building the investment brokerage business for both our firms.
Tell me about an interesting deal this past year or one in the works.
Sperry Van Ness’s Accelerated Marketing Team was just selected this week to auction off a major portfolio of historic warehouse properties owned by the estate of Tom Levitt in the Freight House/Crossroads area. Altogether we will be offering six buildings totaling about 225,000 SF, along with three parking lots, most of which are eligible for historic tax credits and/or TIF. For buyers who like exposed brick & timber, along with colorful KC history, in one of the area’s most desirable cultural locations, this will be a great buying opportunity. It may be the biggest commercial real estate auction in KC since the RTC days in the early ’90s.
What have you heard recently that’s stuck with you, in regards to the outlook for 2010 and beyond?
The investment brokerage business was decimated in 2008 and 2009. There are some promising signs for 2010, though, as investors gain confidence and sellers recognize the realities of today’s reduced valuations. More and more lenders are moving assets off their books, and this is leading to some great buying opportunities. But the deal flow is still more of a trickle than the “tsunami” many predicted.
What are your biggest challenges these days?
The biggest challenge is bridging the gap between buyers’ and sellers’ expectations. Too many buyers today expect to pick up properties at 30 to 40 cents on the dollar, like in the old RTC days. In most cases, the sellers aren’t that desperate. Sellers who can afford to ride out the storm are doing exactly that.
What are you involved in outside of work?
With four kids, my life revolves around their activities (football, hockey, baseball, soccer, basketball, etc.), but when I get a chance, I love to get out and hunt (upland birds and turkeys) and fish. And when I’m not nursing an injury, I am an avid runner and swimmer. On the community front, I am proud to have started the Downtowners organization, which has grown to over 800 regular attendees. We are now entering our 10th year and are recognized as a leading organization for networking and downtown engagement. I have also been very active as a board member for the Kansas City CCIM chapter, which is one of the top CCIM chapters in the nation.