Sobelman starts new NNN firm

Triple net lease specialist and Calkain Cos. co-founder David Sobelman has left the Herndon, Va.-based firm to start his own commercial real estate brokerage.

Like Calkain, the new Tampa-based 3 Properties is focusing on triple-net deals, in which tenants pay pre-arranged operating and other expenses such as taxes, insurance or utilities.

But Sobelman intends to revamp his brokerage business model for 3 Properties and charge clients less in transaction fees, by “drastically” eliminating overhead and expenses.

He adds that company agents will receive more in commissions than standard brokerages, and that many services will be outsourced to consultants and vendors.

“There's more information out there about real estate than ever before, so there's less need for traditional intermediaries,” says Sobelman.

“We plan to be the Uber of commercial real estate and triple-net lease brokerage, while everyone else will still be running a taxi company.”

He adds the new company will have no impact on his other business venture, Generation Income Properties, a real estate investment trust that targets triple net deals, where he is CEO.

Generation Income earlier this year acquired its first property, in Washington, D.C., and is in the process of acquiring others in Georgia and elsewhere.

Sobelman hopes the REIT will be able to raise as much as $500 million next year to fuel further purchases.

“My belief is that they'll feed off and support each other, the new brokerage and the REIT,” he says. “They serve different purposes, and force us to look at the markets from different perspectives.”