As I read the article in today’s Orange County Register, “New Boss rides the rails to OCTA” I wondered, “Same old status quo or new direction with innovation?” The article welcomes Will Kempton, the new chief of the OCTA. Tough job ahead and he needs the support of the business and residential community alike. One-half of the article was devoted to his pay, which is not a good way to welcome him. Why not discuss more about his past credentials, success, and what he accomplished with his former position as head of Caltrans?
I hope to see some bold statements and vision from this transportation chief. He should be thinking like Walt Disney did 50 years ago, or like the Google founders did while in college. Can you imagine what Steve Jobs is dreaming about right now? I’m talking about big dreams for Orange County and California -- the “What if…?” questions. Or, dreaming about “When people take the monorail from destination A to B they will experience…” Real Estate development, consumer experience, our entertainment, and the culture of OC will be radically changed by what the vision of our transportation network will look like.
When I travel to other parts of the country, I see retail on the ground floor of buildings, apartments, condos, student housing, and senior housing on the upper floors. I see people carrying a cup of coffee from their homes to the office because it’s only a half block away. I see mom and dad walking their child to school because school is down the block. You see, living and working in the same neighborhood is possible. The hubs of transportation centers will be places to invest, they will hold their values with a greater degree of appreciation because people will clamor for such prized positions. As one scans across San Diego, Orange County, Riverside, San Bernardino and Los Angeles transportation corridors and potential transportation hubs you can’t help but to see the future value of retail, apartments, condo, offices and homes. This is where the action will be. Real estate investors this is a key area to be thinking about real estate investments.
On our vacation this past week, I challenged my family to determine what would make mass transit work in Orange County or Los Angeles? I asked, “If you could take a monorail to La Jolla for some shopping, would you do it?” Everyone said yes. We debated for hours on this question of mass transit. We talked about the pros and cons of electric cars, light rail, monorail, day jets, people movers, and everything in between. We boiled it down to two areas. Cost and convenience. If I can take my family to a Los Angeles Angel’s game where I can walk to a transportation hub within two-blocks from my house, travel by mass transit, and then be let off two-three blocks from smelling hot dogs and peanuts at Angel Stadium, we would do it. And if I could do it for one-half to two-thirds of the cost of driving, then I would be sold. We would all leave our cars home. Would our environment benefit? Yep, it sure would.
We lived in the Philippines for a year, I have visited several countries around the world and you can do this very thing in many parts of the world. It’s being done in the poorest countries and the wealthiest countries. Why not here? Because convenience and cost is holding back the consumer. Will Kempton, may I suggest that you first dream about developing the first and last one-quarter mile leg (some call it the last mile) and you will be a hero. In the Philippines, we walked outside our front door about one block to a tricycle depot (motorcycles with a sidecar – room for 2-3 people). We got on a tricycle for a block or two to catch the nearest Jeepney, which carried up to 12 people. We then took a Jeepney from ¼ mile -15 miles depending on the route and our destination. We then transferred to a bus, a boat, ferry, or airplane and traveled to our destination. What was at the other end? We never worried. There was either a tricycle or Jeepney waiting at the other end. Innovation and imagination always wins.
Will Kempton, we are cheering for innovation and imagination, but it must be convenient and cost effective.
Michael Duhs
Managing Broker
East West Commercial Real Estate
http://www.EastWestCommercial.com/
Representing clients in the investment and sale of apartments, senior housing, and triple net properties in the counties of Orange County, San Diego, Los Angeles, Inland Empire (Riverside and San Bernardino).
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