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Clarity

Gregg Kennelly

New York, NY

NYC Commercial Real Estate Manager: 10 Years in Construction followed by 10 Years Managing Commercial Real Estate, Building Operations Enthusiast, MEP (Mechanical, Electrical, Plumbing), Boilers (Steam and Hot Water), Heating Plants, Roof Tanks, Service Contracts, Operating & Capital Expenditure Budgets, Analysis, Improvement, NYC Local Laws, Life Safety, NYC DOB, BIS, FDNY, EPA, New Construction and Improving The As-Built Environment.

Passionate about improving Real Estate Operations and reducing waste.

After a decade of hands on construction experience, I turned my attention towards managing NYC real estate.

I have managed over 100 NYC office build-out's, 6 lobby renovations, untold common corridor/bathroom renovations, 4 elevator modernizations, 3 roof tank replacements, 2 boiler replacements, 5 LL11/facade restoration projects etc. etc.

I've managed high rise office buildings (union and non-union), cooperatives, condos, luxury rental buildings and malls. Whether your building is new or old, union or non-union, proper management begins with a "thoughtful" Operating & CapEx Budget! You cannot improve what you don't measure...

So now I'm leading a large team at the intersection of CRE (Commercial Real Estate) & Technology called BuildingOps.

To recap, my professional life began in construction, grew into commercial real estate management and evolved into a hybrid organization focused on commercial real estate and technology.

Clarity is an amazing product that allows me to give back and I genuinely enjoy helping. Accuracy & Clarity Always Provided, whether you are a broker, facility manager, technician, building engineer, property manager, building manager, building owner, investor, VC, technologist, LP, CEO or intern I'm here to help.

All the best,

Gregg M. Kennelly
https://www.linkedin.com/in/greggkennelly

$3.33/min

5 Calls

3 Reviews

36 minutes
Avg. call

Real Estate Portfolio Management Operations Operations Management Property Management Leases Commercial Real Estate Consulting Corporate Real Estate Facilities Management Market Data

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Construction Management/Capital Improvements

10 Years of Construction Management.
10 Years Managing High Rise Office Buildings.
Projects include:
Office Build-Outs, Lobby Renovations, Common Corridor Renovations,
Restaurant Fit-Outs, Bank Fit-Outs,
Elevator Modernizations, Boiler Replacements, Domestic Water & Sprinkler Tank Replacements and of course the associated permitting, expediting, asbestos abatements, air monitoring etc. etc.

Whether you want to discuss insurance coverage amounts, contract details or terms like liquidated damages, timelines, prices per square foot in NYC or anything in between, I'm happy to share what I have learned over the past 20 years.

Warm regards,

Gregg M. Kennelly

I Give Back by Volunteering to Analyze Your Steam Boiler for Free!

Will I really visit your building and analyze your boiler & steam distribution system for free? Yes!

Happy to spend the required time (usually 1-3 hours) analyzing your boiler, burner, controller (heat timer), oil tank, distribution piping and radiators free of charge.

The goal is to leave you empowered with an understanding of how your system works presently and what you can do to improve its performance, only using your existing “in-house personnel.” I do not gain financially in any way whatsoever.

I offer this service for free, because it's the right thing to do. I offer this service to reduce your oil and/or gas consumption. I educate your staff and leave your tenants happier.

The material costs for the common fixes are extremely minimal. The most common deficiencies are improperly pitched radiators and/or distribution lines, un-insulated pipes and air vents broken in either the open or closed position. The payback to order these materials and fix these problems “in-house” is incredibly quick.

I'm happy to help you reduce your fuel consumption free of charge, no strings attached.

Building Operations Specialist: 20 Years in NYC Commercial Real Estate.
Property Management/Core Building Equipment Optimization/Service Contracts/
Routine Maintenance/Boiler & Burner Maintenance/Budgets/Legal.

With 20 years of hands-on experience in construction & real estate management I am happy to help answer any of your real estate questions.

If your NYC Building is between 30,000 - 300,000 rentable square feet I'm happy to help. In fact, I just optimized The Music Building's steam distribution system to reduce the owner's fuel consumption by 32% per annum. Your building operations can be improved and I really enjoy helping, so email anytime: Gregg@BuildingOps.Com

Answers 14
Reviews 3

Answers

Gregg Kennelly answered

How to attract users to both sides of a double-sided marketplace (legal Q & A)?

This is how you do it:
You launch with ONLY one legal specialty, like real estate law for example. You share equity with 5 real estate lawyers, one who mostly handles closings, one who mostly handles landlord/tenant court and so on. Pick their brains individually, for the "easy money" questions they are routinely asked by their existing clients and the most routine services provided to their existing clients and become a high level expert in their respective areas.

Their involvement and your commitment to understanding their business is the first step towards getting your new equity partners to generate your content. For example your new partner that focuses on landlord/tenant court will reveal to you that when a landlord has a non paying tenant, that landlord usually notifies your partner after the delinquent tenant hasn't paid for 75 days, so his challenge is setting expectations for the landlord.
Then he/she will reveal that the first step is for your new partner to assess the landlord's situation and level of documentation/correspondence, followed by a 3-day rent demand letter, a summons and complaint and depending on the circumstances a court date within 45 days in either landlord/tenant court or Supreme Court. And then your new partner has to explain to his landlord client that a judgment is only as valuable as the ability to collect funds, meaning the tenant may not have enough assets to cover the delinquent amount owed. Then of course landlords can get blind sided as tenants fight for a "partial constructive eviction," which is essentially when the tenant says "Hey I would have paid my rent, but the heat was off or the toilets didn't work, so I wasn't able to conduct business, therefor I am entitled to reduced rent."
That is exactly how NYC Real Estate Law works right now and understanding the minutia is key b/c you need to share this information to be perceived as an expert.
You can offer lawyers and their clients meaningful value by analyzing what is being done currently, how it can be improved, but most importantly for right now: How it can be illustrated so you and your lawyer partners can be viewed as the experts you are; This is a great opportunity to illustrate these processes/systems using infographics, so if you don't have a designer, get one. Inform landlords how things work and they will appreciate it immensely, b/c it makes for more accurate reporting and conversations with their partners, more accurate financial projections etc.

Showing people how things work gets them involved and loyal, so I hope this helps.

Btw, who cares about other services that look similar on paper and failed, you are going to be dynamic and offer truly meaningful value and that always wins...

All the best,
Gregg M. Kennelly

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Online Marketplace

Business Model Development

Marketplaces

Gregg Kennelly answered

Venturing Into Dairy Farming with prospects of expanding into biogas, biomass and hydroponics farming.

Consider reaching out to companies like Foodem and Root. Perhaps you've never heard of these names, but i've always liked Foodem's b2b model and for some reason I've always liked their videos, who knows... Root happens to have a great product (and team btw) Eric is a great guy, I'm sure he'd be happy to chat if you introduce yourself.
I am speculating, but I suspect they may be able to connect you to a handful of interesting people. I am certain you can find many companies/founders in a similar space; inquire, ask, make new connections etc. etc.

When time permits, I get the greatest reward from sharing and helping; we all do... While I can't be certain, I suspect many "funded entrepreneurs" share that same desire to give back and see others succeed.
Good luck with Root and Foodem. They are completely different companies and hopefully offer completely unique insights/connections/perspectives etc.
Good luck-keep connecting!!

Continued success,

Gregg M. Kennelly

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Agriculture

Early-stage Startups

Funding

Gregg Kennelly answered

When hiring a creative firm to work with our branding needs, what are some questions and deciding factors we should ask and evaluate?

Hey Gary,
You've already received great answers, so I'll keep it brief:
While things like references and examples of other branding projects are important, the most important variable is "Chemistry."

When interviewing potential firms, just make sure you interview the "point person," because this is the person you will be communicating with for the next 6 months, exploring with, laughing with, having complex conversations with etc.

It is incredibly rewarding to create a great product with people you genuinely like and respect, so interview that "point person." If you're lucky your "point person" will be the firm's creative director and if you hit if off, you'll have a wonderful brand development experience.

And btw, since you're asking these questions and receiving such thoughtful feedback, my prediction is that you're going to do a great job!

-Gregg

P.S. If you need the name of the agency I used, feel free to reach out anytime: gregg@buildingops.com

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Brand development

Branding & Identity

Corporate Branding

Gregg Kennelly answered

If you have an idea for an awesome product, but it is really easy to copy. Would you seek help from someone experienced? What if they steal the idea?

Coming from a founder that spent too long worrying about the same issues, listen to Tom Williams! He's spot on, it's all about execution. Know your numbers, know your product and know how you're going to execute.

If it's an amazing idea that raises money, or begins to monetize without Angle/VC, you'll still have a difficult road ahead, just in terms of recruiting top talent.

Even though it's digital, it's a business right? So trust me brotha, get to work! And I mean that in the kindest and sincerest possible way. Start connecting, asking, sharing, going to meetups, whatever you have to do. Just put it all out there and you'll find that incredibly great and talented people will avail themselves to help you throughout this journey. Plan, Pivot & Bust Your Ass!

If you need straight answers from someone that's been in your shoes and didn't buy the idea that "people are too busy to steal your idea," I'm sure I can give you the information and maybe even the confidence to make your idea a reality. I shoot straight without a filter, but at the end of the call you'll know exactly where you're headed...

Back to work!

-Gregg

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Business Ideas

Gregg Kennelly answered

What are some of the hidden costs most property development beginners miss on their first development?

I developed a multi-family prefab and it worked out well, but I had to compromise on a few things.

Upon visiting the manufacturing facility I realized I could never have the large ceiling heights I wanted, b/c each level is shipped on an 18 Wheeler and because of the low bridge heights, my desired ceiling height was cut down by a foot.

Pre-fab base finishes are bare bones, you'll want upgrades, from laminate crapola to higher end finishes like granite or hard wood.

Wen your levels are connected with large lag bolts or equivalent, there's obviously plumbing and electrical connections to worry about and then of course the inevitable landscaping that has to take place after construction is complete and if you're talking about Canada, you could be living with a nasty muddy frozen lawn with tire tracks all winter (snowy trip hazard :))

In any event, once you have your title insurance and taxes figured out, as well as architect, permits and fees, you should be good to go!

Good luck and btw RECORD THE PROCESS! Keepsake for the kids, a nice record for yourself etc. Nice to have, wish I recorded everything...

-Gregg

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Real Estate Development

Real Estate Investing

Real Estate

Gregg Kennelly answered

How can I effectively market my online business to baby boomers / senior citizens?

"Baby boomers and senior citizens" are not a homogenous group, but AARP is a relatively trusted source of information for seniors. Have you considered advertising with "AARP The Magazine?" AARP has about 40 million members.
Something else to keep in mind is that seniors usually have Medicare, approximately 60 million members over 65 years old.

Not sure if that is helpful. If You share more about your model, perhaps I can offer more valuable insight.

Happy planning,

Gregg Michael Kennelly

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Marketing Strategy

Online Marketing

Digital Marketing

Gregg Kennelly answered

What is the best inexpensive way to create a privacy policy and terms and conditions for a website that has a social networking component to it?

I have read the Terms & Conditions for Google Chrome, The NYSE, ebay & Dwolla.
My Advice: Take the Terms & Conditions seriously!!
Please do NOT listen to irresponsible advice calling for you to simply "replace" your name with your competitors name. That is completely irresponsible.

While you should absolutely read every word of your competitor's Terms & Conditions, do that to glean interesting details about their business models. I promise you will have a better understanding of how your competitors operate by reading their Terms & Conditions and that's hugely valuable.

Print the Terms & Conditions of your competitors (3-5 companies is enough) and carry them around with you. Read each of them carefully, mark them up with a red pen and you'll notice that they do have some identical paragraphs, which are the standard ones that are in fact probably safe to re-use. Since I happen to be putting the finishing touches on my own Terms and Conditions right now, I pasted a portion of the opening paragraph below.

"Although we would love to have a one page membership agreement with a few bullet points, our increasingly litigious society makes that impossible. To make this more interesting, we highlighted some key points below and tried to avoid the legal ease at every turn. But website Terms & Conditions are contracts, so please read the entire membership agreement.
Here goes.."

All the best,

Gregg

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Legal Advice

Legal Writing

bootstrapping

Gregg Kennelly answered

How do you balance attending life events (friend's weddings, bday etc) with running your startup with no cash?

Having made many of the same sacrifices, I can tell you it absolutely gets more rewarding with each passing month and milestone hit. I think this Dave Ramsey quote sums it up:

“If you will live like no one else, later you can live like no one else.”

-Gregg M. Kennelly

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Work Life Balance

Startups

Early Stage Startup

Gregg Kennelly answered

I'm running a two sided marketplace. Should I charge a subscription fee on the supply side or take a commission off each transaction?

Would you like to compare & contrast our two side marketplaces? If so, I'd be happy to chat for 10min today.

Def healthy to have a call comparing models, strategies, goals, milestones etc. Fair warning though, I see nothing wrong with leaving some money on the table when it translates into rapid adoption, higher user involvement and greater loyalty...

Warm regards,

Gregg M. Kennelly

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Business Models

Marketplaces

Business Strategy

Gregg Kennelly answered

How can I sell a service to insurance companies?

One very interesting company right now disrupting the insurance industry is Zenefits. They employ a small army of insurance brokers and if you haven't researched them, it's def worth a few minutes of your time. You'll appreciate their business model.

As for selling to insurance companies, I have a good friend (David Bodansky) who owns a boutique insurance brokerage and I've spent quite a bit of time in his office. I'm sure he and his staff would be open to the idea of helping sell a product they believed in, so perhaps your angle is to leverage the existing relationships that every insurance broker already developed?
I think it's safe to say all insurance brokers have relationships and memberships to AM Best, hopefully that helps...

Good luck!

-Gregg

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Insurance

Sales Process

pitching

Gregg Kennelly answered

What does it take to develop a money transfer service?

Take a look at Dwolla (https://www.dwolla.com/) and their competitors' business models. All $ transfer companies are still largely bound by the same ACH batch processing constraints, meaning $ doesn't move instantaneously, yet...
Good luck!
-Gregg

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Money Management

Software Development

Startups

Reviews

Gregg went above and beyond what I expected before we even had a phone call. His rate is too low. I'm already looking forward to tapping his brain again in the future.

Matthew Burton Source: Clarity

Gregg is amazing, he walked me though all aspects of the real estate market with great data and I've learned so much from his advice. He know the business so well and his help is very valuable. I highly recommend talking with him about anything related with real estate!

John Doe Source: Clarity

I didn't have a lot of clear questions, but he was still able to supply some information that will most likely be quite useful to me in the near future.

William Hinshaw Source: Clarity

Member since January 2014