Grubb & Ellis opens new gateway to Mexican market

Real Estate Weekly, Nov 30, 1994

The New York Office of Grubb & Ellis has announced the availability of direct, U.S.-based real estate services for American firms or investors interested in Mexican properties.

The NAFTA concept is to enable Americans to do business in Mexico as readily as they operate in the United States," said Grubb & Ellis New York Executive a Vice President Robert Shapiro. "Our aim at Grubb & Ellis is to make that concept a reality for real estate prospects by providing a resource that possesses deep expertise in the Mexican landscape, but which speaks to American, business people in a familiar context."

Shapiro's firm currently provides brokerage and financial services for commercial industrial, retail hospitality and multi-family properties. Grubb & Ellis. now extends both business and real estate services south of the border.

But, Shapiro noted, given the need of America,s information-driven professional, managers and investors today for accurate, reliable data, acquiring Mexican real estate is often easier said than done.

Conventional sources of information routinely utilized in the U.S. to evaluate a property during the due diligence process are either non-existent in Mexico, or can be very difficult to pin down," Shapiro said. "Grubb & Ellis has closely-linked relationships throughout Mexico that enable us both to pinpoint the type of property or business transaction for a corporation, then, and most importantly, to supply accurate, American-style documentation to support decision-making.

That documentation includes research, market industry investigation and strategic business planning, demographics, and real estate information.

"This means that you no longer have to go to Mexico City to find a broker who can show you Mexican properties...a broker who then must farm out the due diligence process to unknown source." Shapiro said. Now, you've got a fully-integrated American specialist, with a single point of contact who speaks the language that American business requires."

The value of an American face for Mexican real estate transactions is further highlighted by the highly personal nature of doing business in Mexico. "In America, we say that the three most important things in real estate are Location, Location, and Location," Shapiro said. In Mexico they are Relationships. Relationships and Relationships by providing a fully-integrated domestic resource that is fully plugged into the world of Mexican real estate, we can assist American companies or investors in making comfortable and informed decisions when considering Mexican operations, and do it from New York."