Real Estate: Investment Analysis Consultants: 11

Dr. Cristina Benton is a senior consultant with Anderson Economic Group, directing the Market and Industry Analysis practice area. Her background is in Research and Data Analysis, Community and Economic Development, and Urban Planning.

While with AEG, Dr. Benton has worked on a number of auto dealership franchise projects as well as retail, industry, and market analyses. Among the clients for whom she has worked are Holland Tulip Time Festival, the Ann Arbor Area Convention and Visitors Bureau, and Automation Alley. Dr. Benton has also worked with automobile dealerships in matters of sales performance assessments, geographic territory analyses, market opportunity studies, and expert testimony. 

Prior to joining AEG, Dr. Benton worked as a community and economic development assistant with the City of East Lansing, Michigan where she provided analysis and support to the city’s economic development efforts. Prior to that, she was a research assistant at Michigan State University working on the evaluation of economic revitalization programs in Michigan. 

Dr. Benton holds a PhD in geography and a master’s degree in urban and regional planning, both from Michigan State University, along with a bachelor’s degree in public administration from Babes-Bolyai University, Romania. She is a member of the Michigan Economic Developers Association (MEDA).

Litigation Support - Dr. Benton has successfully testified in countless state and federal courts, legislative hearings, and commercial arbitration panels. Her services include thorough reporting, depositions, arbitration, and trial testimony as needed

Areas of Expertise:

Bedrock Investments Group (BIG) acquires undervalued, strategically located single-tenant net-leased properties that deliver predictable cash flow to our partners. Their streamlined Commercial Real Estate Acquisition Process and in-depth Due Diligence result in noteworthy investment opportunities. BIG's conservative, disciplined approach results in investment performance that provides for consistent cash flow and equity growth. BIG has an exceptional track record of delivering cash flow at above-market rates without burdening their properties with debt. 

The team at BIG identifies undervalued net leased properties throughout the U.S. that have solid fundamentals and creditworthy tenants. They acquire and hold these freestanding, single-tenant net leased (STNL) properties as long-term investments. Typical sellers include estates, partnerships in dissolution, lender REOs, and investors facing less than three-year lease terms 

Strategies:

• Complete due diligence and acquisition thoroughly and quickly, thereby ensuring the seller of a timely transaction
• Centralize the decision-making process by eliminating the need for many layers of approval
• Evaluate worst-case scenarios
• Provide hands-on, active property management at competitive rates

Dr. Dick Bridy, a Principal at BIG, brings over 40 years of broad experience in Commercial Real Estate Acquisitions and Development to the firm. He is the entrepreneurial founder and CEO of DBI Group, a boutique real estate firm specializing in commercial retail centers and single-tenant properties. 

Throughout his distinguished career, Dr. Bridy developed expertise in team brokerage, leasing, private equity funding, construction, and asset management. From the ground up, he and his team entitled and built two shopping centers and five single-tenant properties. In addition, he has supervised the redevelopment of over 3.5 million sq. ft. of gross leasable area in 14 shopping centers. Through extensive research, market valuation, physical inspection, and financial analysis, Dr. Bridy targets ideal properties with maximum economic potential for Bedrock’s portfolio.  

View Dr. Dick Bridy's Expert Witness Profile.

James H. Cantrell, CPM® is the President of CANTRELL ASSOCIATES and was President of Cantrell, Harris & Associates, a San Francisco based Real Estate Management and Consulting firm that was formed 30 years ago. Consulting - With decades of Asset and Property Management experience. Mr. Cantrell specializes in the turnaround of properties with Deferred Maintenance and Mismanagement. He has managed a variety of product types. including rent-controlled, apartments, association management, high-rise office, industrial! warehouse properties, retail, and large hotels for both private and institutional investors. His experience has included establishing hands-on management programs that have maximized the values of the various investments. 

Background - James Cantrell began his career with Arlen Realty as a property supervisor, handling properties in the United States Investment Fund Portfolio, and has held the position of Equity Administrator with Clevetrust Realty Investors, responsible for managing numerous properties throughout the Country. He also served as Treasurer of Regency Equities, a Real Estate Investment Trust, traded on NASDQE, and was President of Plaza Equities Management, Inc., with a national portfolio of approximately $275 million of mixed assets under his direction. He currently teaches a number of courses for the Institute of Real Estate Management (IREM) and has taught throughout the United States, in Russia and Poland. He was an Associated Professor at Golden Gate University for 9 years teaching a course in Asset/Property management in the MBA program.

Honors and Awards - Mr. Cantrell served as President of the Institute of Real Estate Management (IREM), San Francisco and has been honored with receiving the IREM SF Instructor of the year in 2001 and 2007. He also received the IREM 2013 Lloyd Hanford, Jr. Distinguished Faculty Award.

Engagements - Mr. Cantrell was engaged as the Featured speaker for the National Facility Management and Technology Conference in Chicago in 2007 and Baltimore in 2008. He was also appointed to the San Francisco Mayors "Building Energy Efficiency Task Force" in 2009.

View James Cantrell's Expert Witness Profile.

CBM1 is a Southern California-based Commercial Real Estate Leasing and Investment Sales Brokerage specializing in landlord and tenant and property investor representation for retail, industrial, and other commercial real estate properties.

Consulting Services - CBM1 has the market knowledge, industry relationships, and marketing prowess to average nearly 300 transactions annually over the past three decades, leasing well over 6,000 properties. Clients have included Walmart, Sprouts, Habit, Popeyes, Sprint, Best Buy, Smart & Final, CVS, Walgreens, Wells Fargo, Subway, and many more. 

Rick Rivera, Principal at CBM1, is a Commercial Real Estate Professional and Shopping Center Property, Asset Management, and Brokerage Expert in the real estate business for over 30 years. He specializes in representing landlords and tenants in the leasing and sale of commercial properties.

Formerly President and CEO of CBM, Inc., Mr. Rivera oversaw 11 million square feet, thousands of tenants, several hundred landlord clients, dozens of property managers, and leasing agents. He was the broker of record for more than 300 leasing and sales transactions annually. He supervised daily operations and directed a team responsible for managing and leasing a 500+ shopping center and retail specific portfolio. 

CBM was a CoStar ranked “Power Broker” for nearly a decade for leasing and/or selling 300+ properties annually. He has personally represented sellers and buyers in the sales of over $300 million in retail properties.

Mr. Rivera is currently listing over 250 properties for sale or lease. His clients include private and institutional investors.

View Rick Rivera's Expert Witness Profile.

Griswold Real Estate Management has been dedicated to providing superior Property Management, Receivership, and Expert Witness Services for over 30 years. With offices in Las Vegas, San Diego, and Los Angeles, they serve southern Nevada and all five southern California counties. Properties include single family homes, condominiums, apartment communities, homeowners associations, commercial and retail space, and self storage facilities. Griswold Real Estate Management has been awarded the Accredited Management Organization (AMO®) designation from the Institute of Real Estate Management (IREM). Across the country, less than 5% of all management firms have earned this distinction, by fulfilling the most stringent requirements in expertise, education, integrity, and financial stability. 

Property Management Services:

Principal, Robert S. Griswold, CRE, CPM, CCIM, ACoM, RPA, PCAM, CCAM, GRI, ARM, is currently active as a day-to-day hands-on, licensed practitioner, consultant, and expert witness in all aspects of real estate (except valuation). A 3-time graduate of the distinguished Marshall School of Business at the University of Southern California with a BS ('81), MBA ('86) and MSBA (2nd Masters) ('88) in real estate and related disciplines, Mr. Griswold is a recognized expert on management of all types of residential real estate. He has actively managed over 70,000 residential units and several million square feet of commercial, industrial, self-storage and retail properties nationally in the last 35 years. He has extensive experience as a court-appointed receiver (nearly 200 times) for private lenders and major financial institutions. 

Litigation Support - In the last 30+ years, Mr. Griswold has consulted on over 4,000 litigation matters, has been deposed over 700 times, and provided sworn testimony in trial or arbitration on over 200 occasions in both state and federal litigation matters throughout the United States. Also serving as a court-appointed bankruptcy Custodian and Referee, his case work is very evenly divided between plaintiff and defense work. Mr. Griswold is uniquely qualified to opine on real estate related litigation matters having authored or co-authored the 9 best selling real estate books: Real Estate Investing For Dummies; Property Management Kit For Dummies; Mortgage Management for Dummies and Landlord's Legal Kit For Dummies. His 15+ years as an On-Air NBC-TV Real Estate Expert and a similar tenure as a major radio station weekly talk show host have prepared him to present opinions to juries.

Author - Robert Griswold is the author of the nationally best selling book on real estate management, Property Management Kit For Dummies, which has sold over 100,000 copies in less than 5 years. He also co-authored Real Estate Investing For Dummies, another bestseller in the category with nearly 100,000 copies sold, and Landlord's Legal Kit For Dummies. 

 View Robert Griswold's Expert Witness Profile.

InspiRE CRE, LLC delivers integrated Commercial Real Estate services that leverage their unique insight and foresight, sound market research, and relevant knowledge. Whether an owner, a tenant, or a real estate professional, the team at InspiRE helps clients optimize the performance of real estate portfolios by controlling expenses, improving productivity and efficiency, retaining tenants and employees, creating asset value, and supporting business strategies.

Services for Property Management and Asset Management Companies - InspiRE shares their operational expertise with property management and asset management companies around the world by helping them:  

Improve efficiencies, Increase profits, Adapt to change, Create unique "experiences" for their tenants and team members, Improve compliance, Streamline operations, Adapt technology (especially automation and AI) into traditional property management / asset management processes, Prepare for the rapid changes on the horizon

Services for Occupiers (Tenants & Owner / Operators) - InspiRE supports occupiers (tenants and owner/operators) by analyzing and providing recommendations in the following areas:

Strategic business alignment, Organization design, including centralization and globalization of the CRE function, Transformation and change management, Process design and improvement, Delivery model optimization, integration, and innovation, Expense management and benchmarking, Sourcing strategies, Performance management.

President & CEO, P. Marc Fischer, MBA, CPM^®, RPA^®, CCIM^®, LEED^® GA, BOMA Fellow is a nationally recognized Commercial Real Estate (CRE) expert with more than 30 years of proven performance in the fields of property management, building operations, and asset management. He is widely recognized as an innovative and dynamic leader, and he teaches, writes, and speaks to audiences around the world about CRE topics.

Highlights Include:

• 30 years of experience in all aspects of commercial real estate (CRE) property management, asset management, property operations, and construction
• MBA in Management / Organizational Behavior

Author of eight (8) CRE textbooks published by BOMA International (all translated into Mandarin):

• Acquisitions, Dispositions & Underwriting textbook
• Measuring Financial Returns textbook
• Lease Analysis, Evaluation, Negotiation, and Approval textbook
• Foundations of Real Estate Management textbook
• BOMA International Proactive Maintenance Guidebook for Industrial Properties
• Managing Industrial Properties
• Guide to Developing a Standard Operating Procedure Manual
• BOMA International Guide to Exterior Maintenance Manual

View P. Marc Fischer's Expert Witness Profile.

Litigation - When a case is not to the point where an expert needs to be designated, clients and attorneys often benefit from consulting with an expert in order to gain a better understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of their case. Our firm offers services in these early stages, allowing the attorney to consider key questions, such as whether or not the case has enough value for litigating, potential settlement value, and often times forming the framework for discovery requests. With our in-depth experience in banking and real estate, we have been able to help our clients identify key issues to investigate in a deposition, consider different complexities of a case, and assist in fact development by suggesting documents or information to request. When we work in this consulting capacity, our communication is covered by the attorney-client privilege, so our clients and attorneys are free to discuss trial strategy without the worry of discoverability. This has allowed us to add value by performing preliminary analyses to assess the viability of different strategic directions for the case.

Bank Negotiation - Situations may arise where you could benefit from the knowledge and experience of an unbiased party in a financial situation. Whether you need help negotiating a short sale on your commercial property, working with the SBA, or renegotiating an operating line of credit with your bank, we can help. Our many years in the banking industry have given us the knowledge and contacts necessary to help you through the transaction. For these situations that require a greater depth of experience than you may have on staff, JBH Real Estate Experts can do the job on a project basis.

Real Estate Brokerage

Jay Hibert is a licensed Real Estate Broker CA BRE #01523075 . He is happy to assist your existing broker, or he can represent you in a transaction. Jay's expertise is in negotiating transactions between buyer and seller, identifying purchase opportunities for 1031 exchange, contract review, and arranging financing.

View Jay Hibert's Expert Witness Profile.

Jeffrey S. Lapin, CPM®, has been directly involved in Commercial Real Estate Management, Leasing and Construction for over 40 years. He is recently retired from his position as Vice President of Property Management for a privately held national real estate development firm. 

Consulting - Mr. Lapin provides commercial real estate operations and maintenance expertise to large and small landlords. His background includes roles with institutional landlords including TIAA CREF, MetLife, The New England Life Insurance Company, and Principal Mutual Life, as well as a diverse group of private property owners. His experience is focused on managing, building and leasing all types of property including commercial and multi-family residential, industrial, office, and retail real estate assets. 

Professional Training - Mr. Lapin is an experienced professional trainer specializing in Property Operations, Lease Administration, Cost Recovery, Customer Service, Maintenance Procedures and related topics. Mr. Lapin has conducted over 50 workshops and seminars on these topics. 

Certifications and Instruction - Mr. Lapin is a Certified Property Manager (CPM®), certified by the Institute of Real Estate Management (IREM®) and a California licensed Real Estate Broker. Mr. Lapin is a certified instructor for IREM® and for the Building Owners and Managers Institute International (BOMI®), teaching courses for these prestigious international property associations, including courses required by IREM® and by BOMI® for the respective professional accreditations they offer, centered around construction and maintenance topics. 

Education - Mr. Lapin holds an undergraduate Business Administration degree from the University of Southern California as well as a Master’s Degree in Business from Pepperdine University’s Graziadio School of Business and Management. 

View Jeffrey Lapin's Expert Witness Profile.

Steven D. Epcar, CPM an Expert in Real Estate and Property Management Issues with 35+ years of experience;including residential, commercial, retail, hotel, condominium and mixed-use properties. Experienced in litigation support including standard of care, partnership conflicts, brokerage issues,landlord/tenant, valuation, personal injury, habitability, environmental, life safety cases. 

Steven is a member of the Forensic Expert Witness Association (FEWA).  He serves as a real estate consultant for institutional and private investors, providing an array of services: asset/property management related assignments, organizational assessments, financial feasibility, due diligence,and new development services. 

Previously, Mr. Epcar served as President, Residential Services for Carmel Partners a R/E investment/management firm in San Francisco, Principal/Founding Partner of Ventana Property Services, a West Coast third party management and consulting firm and President,Prometheus Management Group,a development/investment/management firm.

Areas of Expertise:

Andrew Shedlin, BA, JD, CRX, CLS, CSM, is an acknowledged industry leader in the field of Real Estate Leasing. He specializes in consulting on the Development and Leasing of Shopping Centers & Airports for both developers and retailers. Mr. Shedlin serves as a developer and consultant for dozens of shopping center landlords and tenants. He also has extensive experience in Airport Retail and Restaurants as both landlord and tenant.

Mr. Shedlin has developed or redeveloped more than 35,000,000 square feet of shopping centers as principal or consultant and at all of the top 50 airports in the US, and negotiated more than 15,000 leases as principal, consultant, landlord or tenant (as a business person and attorney), his clients have included dozens of international, national, regional, and local retailers and restaurants. Mr. Shedlin is a longtime member of ICSC’s faculty of the John T. Riordan School for Professional Development and a founding member of ICSC’s CLS Admissions and Governing Committee. He has received the ICSC Trustee’s Distinguished Award, serves on the ICSC Illinois State Committee and was previously NY/NJ state director for ICSC. Mr. Shedlin has taught at both Columbia University Graduate School of Business and Georgetown University Law School and holds a JD from Boston University. He frequently lectures at business schools, law schools, and for industry groups on Shopping Center Leasing, Understanding Leases, and Business Ethics.

Litigation Support - Considered the definitive industry expert in negotiating and interpreting shopping center and airport leases, Andrew Shedlin has worked as an expert on dozens of landlord / tenant disputes involving Interpretation and Enforcement of Leases and Shopping Center Management. He has worked with major law firms in numerous cities throughout the US. His services are available to counsel representing plaintiff and defendant and include written reports, depositions, and trial testimony as needed.

Areas of Expertise:

Background Experience:

• Halperin, Shivitz, Scholer & Steingut - Associate
• Arlen Shopping Centers - Executive Vice President & Counsel
• Equity Properties and Development Company - Executive Vice President (responsible for leasing and development)
• Previously owned and operated 2 retail businesses
• Facilitated entry of several international retailers into the US market
• Authored several chapters in real estate publications on subjects of leasing and understanding the lease
• Co-authored definitive audio tape on lease negotiations
• Frequently quoted in media publications

James D. Wamble, PE, RLS has over 40 years of experience as a Professional Civil Engineer and Registered Land Surveyor. During the course of his career, Mr. Wamble has worked on land planning, land surveying, or civil engineering projects in all counties of the middle and west Tennessee regions, and several counties in east Tennessee. 

Selected Recent Projects:

• Lake Forest Estates – Approximately 5000 residential units and numerous commercial parcels.  This residential development, located in La Vergne, Rutherford County, Tennessee, is the largest subdivision in the state.  My company provided land planning, land surveying, and civil engineering services. 
• Nashboro Village – A mixed-use development on 393 acres consisting of a golf course, commercial development, and 2507 residential units (single-family, townhomes, and apartments) on 28 sites in Nashville, Davidson County, Tennessee.  My company provided land surveying, land planning, and civil engineering services on approximately half of these sites in this Master Plan.
• Morrison Estates – 1,352 mixed-use residential development and six commercial lots on 155 acres in Morrison, Warren County, Tennessee.  My company provided land planning, land surveying, and civil engineering services.
• Provincetown - 470 residential townhome units in a Traditional Neighborhood Planned Unit Development in Antioch, Davidson County, Tennessee.  My company provided land planning, land surveying, and civil engineering services.   

Services Include:

View James Wamble's Expert Witness Profile.