Decade Answers: David Livshin

David Livshin is the president/CEO of The Dagar Group LTD., Fishkill, N.Y. What was one of your corporate or career highlights of the decade? It's really not one experience, but a sequence of several merged together. We have helped countless individuals through the process of looking for space, lease negotiations and finally opening. It's rewarding to see somebody with an idea or dream and being able to help them fulfill their vision. We have worked with so many people like this who never imaged that they would actually be in business for themselves. Many times we have almost had to hold someone's hand through the process of finishing a lease, arranging financing, receiving approvals, designing a sign, finishing an interior and then finally having a ribbon cutting. Just the other day, I walked into a daycare center at one of our properties and the owner greeted me with a big hug. Her smile made the effort all worthwhile. What are your predictions for commercial real estate in the new decade? Over the next decade, I see a shift specifically in retail where properties will be become more focused on individual owner operators as tenants with a mix of regional chains. These centers in the 20,000-30,000 s/f range serving middle markets will become more the focus than the larger centers on major roadways anchored by nationals. This shift started in the last 24 months and I see it as a trend that will continue. In the Hudson Valley these smaller mixed use centers located where people actually live have been enormously successful in terms of lease up.