Mastering Real Estate: Transform Your Market Analysis Into Strategic Success

La Macchia Group is one of the few design/builders for financial institutions that helps its clients through strategic market analysis and the real estate procurement process, providing essential data to inform decisions of where to build, buy, or renovate. We sat down with Matthew Weishan, Director of Real Estate & Business Development, to learn more about this process and what differentiates La Macchia Group from their competitors.

Q: How do you evaluate the risk and potential return for a unique client in a study?

A: First, we learn. We spend time with our clients to understand the unique value proposition and institutional goals that they have. Second, we identify. We look for demographic, competitive, and socioeconomic environments that will align with their objectives and provide the greatest potential upside. Third, we calculate. We perform custom pro forma analysis for each project to make sure that our recommendation will create the necessary ROI to justify the solution. If the output of the pro forma does not align with our clients’ goals or expectations, the risk is not warranted. If the pro forma can withstand the appropriate stress testing and still produce the desired ROI, we feel confident that we have done the necessary homework to make a well-informed and data-driven decision. 

Q: When it comes to the planning and real estate process, what do you think La Macchia Group’s biggest differentiator is?

A: I think our biggest differentiator is that we do not rely on the same data inputs year after year.  We are perpetually adapting our analytic model to include data inputs that gain relevance as consumer preferences change and evolve and as new data sources emerge. Furthermore, we do not simply ship static data to our clients and hope that they know what to do with it. We interpret it for them based on our unique industry expertise and provide them with actionable information

Q: When a financial institution enters the real estate procurement phase, what is one of the biggest risks they face?

A: There are a lot of risks that a financial institution faces when they enter the real estate procurement phase. Some are within their control; some are totally out of their control. What exacerbates both types of risk more than anything is not having a well-developed strategic plan. Without a plan a financial institution can end up picking the wrong site in the right market, or what seems like the right site but in the wrong market. They can overspend on land without knowing what size building they need to deploy because they do not have a well-developed building program. They can run into a decades-old easement that encumbers the entire property and was undiscovered due to improper title review during the inspection period. The list of potential pitfalls is long. However, many of these risks can be avoided or negated with a well-developed acquisition plan and a strategic partner that knows how to navigate challenges as they arise.  

Q: What complexities does La Macchia Group handle that helps
put the client in a comfortable position to close on a property?

A: As a diversified design-build firm with a full staff of in-house real estate brokers, architects, designers, and construction project managers, La Macchia Group is uniquely positioned to handle every challenge that will arise during the real estate acquisition process. We can identify target sites, perform site feasibility test fits, and guide our financial institution partners through the due diligence and entitlements process so they are confident that at closing they will be able to complete their desired project on the site they are purchasing.  

More from Matt Weishan
FAIL TO PLAN, PLAN TO FAIL: DOES YOUR BUILDER PASS THE PLANNING AND REAL ESTATE TEST?

Are you considering a construction project? Whether it's new construction, a retrofit or a refresh of your current footprint, the most critical decision you can make is engaging the right partner and taking the right first steps. To level set, if you’re not starting with an insights-driven strategic market analysis and ending with a cohesive project team of real estate brokers, architects, designers, and construction project managers, you could be threatening your return on investment. Read more here.