De Rito Partners, INC.

Everyone is looking to save on costs these days and that includes restaurants. Unfortunately, time spent maintaining and cleaning equipment  seems unprofitable to many. For owners of space occupied by a restaurant, it is crucial that their property managers require that the restaurant owner regularly provide proof that they are performing the necessary maintenance and cleaning of their fire suppression and grease interceptor (grease trap) systems, if equipped with them.
Grease fires (even minor ones) in the kitchen exhaust systems of restaurants that grill and/or deep fry can be catastrophic to not only that tenant’s business, but to the entire center.  In the case of a large fire the Landlord’s insurance carrier could deny coverage for the property if the tenant that caused the fire cannot supply proof of cleaning and maintaining their equipment.
Fire suppression system is required in all Type I Hood applications. The hood Fire Suppression system can be automatically actuated via fusible links or manually actuated via manual pull stations. A pre-engineered fire suppression system is a utility shut down and extinguishing agent distribution system that is designed for protecting the hood, plenum, exhaust duct, grease filters, and cooking appliances from grease fires. Gas and Electricity needs to be shut down when the Fire Suppression system actuates.
Annual fire extinguisher inspection and maintenance is required by OSHA, NFPA, and local fire code requirements. All fire extinguishers and suppression systems require annual or semiannual maintenance, a periodic breakdown, and hydrostatic testing. Inspection of Fire Extinguishers includes the parts shown here.

A FINER DINER Regarding grease interceptors (grease traps), as stated previously, these are required for all restaurants that produce grease and are designed to separate the grease from water when greasy dishes and other equipment are washed, and when the floor is mopped.  If not cleaned and scraped regularly, grease may be allowed to enter into the sewer system of the entire center, which is the number one cause of clogged lines that back up into not only their own suite but anyone else utilizing the same sewer line.  Additionally, many cities are randomly testing sewer discharge to check for grease (so that it doesn’t get into the City’s lines), and if found, they are levying fines to the property owners.
Good management will ensure that each grease trap is cleaned regularly with the frequency of cleaning being documented on a maintenance log. A grease interceptor should not be allowed to contain greater than 1/3 the depth in grease accumulation or greater than 1/4 the depth in sediment accumulation.
When fats, oils or grease (FOG) enters sewer lines, it cools, solidifies and builds up inside pipes, trapping food particles and other debris. Over time, this solid mass continues to grow until it obstructs the flow of wastewater causing a sewage back up. The easiest way to solve this problem is to prevent FOG from entering the sewer system.. Installation and proper maintenance of a grease interceptor will ensure separation and retention of FOG.

1. Flow Inlet

2. Inlet baffle slows water down

3. Flow hits integral ramp directing grease and entrained air upwards

4. Ramp creates laminar flow effect, directing food particles toward the outlet baffle

5. Entrained air assists upward flow of grease

6. Grease retention area

7. Food particles are drawn out of tank by outlet suction

8. Water and food particles exit

De Rito Partners Development Inc., has worked diligently over two ½  short years since the purchase, in an economic downturn, to re-fresh the center and bring more options to The Pavilions at Talking Stick shopping center’s growing customer base.   The addition of Hobby Lobby, Mountainside Fitness and Goodwill has filled almost 70% of what was empty space on the South side of Pavilions at Talking Stick.     

Hobby Lobby opened October 24th, 2011 and is now the ninth location in the Phoenix metro area.  The Oklahoma City, Okla.-based company has 475 stores in 40 states.  The craft superstore will occupy a 55,000 square foot portion of the former Mervyn’s space at the Pavilions.  The store will offer crafting supplies, home décor and gift ideas. 

Mountainside Fitness Centers is the largest locally owned health club, with eight locations in Arizona and three in Colorado. The Pavilions facility will be located on the south side of Indian Bend Road, occupying 35,000 square feet in the former Circuit City Building.  Opening near Guitar Center on December 10, 2011.  

Goodwill -  The new store is located on the south side of Indian Bend near the Guitar Center. It offers a bright, clean and well-organized environment with a welcoming exterior.  Incorporated into the store concept is a new training center offering on-the-job training and life skills development for participants.  Not only does the new store provide customers with an easy and convenient way to recycle goods, it will bring more jobs into the Salt River Pima Maricopa Indian Community and surrounding neighborhoods – “putting people to work”.

Commercial real estate is evolving rapidly with the innovative technological advances and communication tools that are available today. With these modern technologies, business professionals now have their office at their fingertips. So how exactly are these changes influencing the field of commercial real estate and the way that De Rito Partners, Inc Professionals conduct business on a daily basis?We’ll begin with the innovative creation of the iPad, which allows agents access to property information while sitting in their cars or standing directly on property sites. Agents are no longer strictly confined to the office as iPad applications now provide the data, facts, and statistics that had been researched through desktop and laptop computers. Some of the most beneficial commercial real estate applications that are currently available are the Loopnet and Costar applications, both of which stem from the highly utilized online websites. At De Rito Partners, Inc., Loopnet has provided a greater potential for contacting and advertising our property listings. With over 4 million users, Loopnet is one of the largest online real estate markets available to the public and is a highly convenient resource for expanding knowledge of our property information. On a similar note, Costar is a momentous source for allowing CRE professionals to compare property information such as property costs, site statistics, and information about the surrounding areas. Additionally, the “cloud” concept has given life to file sharing sites, allowing users access to a network database rather than simply a computer database. With the use of file sharing, professionals have a simplified means for collaborating and editing the same documents. The fundamental differences between the iPad application versus the online sites, are that the iPad application provides tailored upgrades with more physical freedom for the user; freedom to leave the office, expand networking business ventures, and research properties on a more concrete and proactive level. However, the creation of these ipad applications have expanded the networking capabilities of professionals rather than replaced them. Some additional innovative resources for expanding our property information are Landlord sites and text message marketing. With implementation of text message marketing, De Rito Partners can give instant automated property facts via text messaging to clients who happen to come across one of our properties. Thanks to the ever expanding technologies available, De Rito Partners’ professionals have an unprecedented ability to inform the community about what we have to offer!

SOURCE: http://www.loopnet.com/xNet/Mainsite/Marketing/About/PressReleases.aspx?ItemID=249

This week we hear from our property management company,  Case, Huff & De Rito Retail about property damages. 

PRECIOUS METALBASICS OF THEFT PREVENTION

Whether in good times or bad, from an economic standpoint, there always seems to be a steady flow of property damage and theft. Especially in this period of slow economic recovery, there is great need to be prepared. 
Some of your most valuable and most vulnerable exposed assets are roof mounted A/C units. Many property owners are turning to rooftop motion detectors and security beams to monitor for after-hours activity on the roofs.  Tripping the systems set off lights and sirens and they are monitored by security companies which can then dispatch the police as they would with any other burglar alarm. This type of measure can be a very affordable addition to any existing building security by using wireless motion sensors like the one shown at right. A similar system can be employed for ground level units as well.

Don’t think it won’t happen to your property in your neighborhood. A thief with even limited experience can easily cause a great deal of damage and create a financial disaster in a very short period of time. The photo at the left is one of four 7 ½ ton HVAC units that had outside coils cut out and stolen for the copper tubing that they contained.  This was a $27,000.00 insurance claim. Posted security signs can deter attempted theft to some degree, but it’s not worth the loss if your “bluff” is called.

Brass is also fetching a good price at scrap yards these days, motivating criminals to prey upon a variety of openly exposed water systems that often utilize solid brass backflow preventers. Though relatively small in size, you could be unpleasantly surprised by the magnitude of their replacement cost. A device like the ones shown at right could range from $200 to $800 dollars by itself, not to mention any other damage caused to the connecting piping and water system, which will add the cost of additional replacement parts and the hourly rate of a professional plumber.

These devices are now being put into locked cages (another expense of several hundred dollars) but property managers are also wise to paint them with a bright color, as this decreases their scrap value, but not their functional value.  Backflow preventers are costly items, prized by many petty thieves in Arizona. Some measures used to protect these devices include the construction and installation of steel cages and coating them in brightly colored paint to reduce the item’s scrap metal value without affecting their functionality. The cost of both these measures combined is far less expensive than their potential $1,000 to $1,500 replacement cost.