Shopping Centers Today is the news magazine of the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC)
Issue link: https://sct.epubxp.com/i/739734
N O V E M B E R 2 0 1 6 / S C T 59 MAN R yan Cockerill is hardly one to take the path of least re- sistance. He graduated in late 2008 from the University of Michigan with a bachelor's in engineering, but rather than go into that field, Cockerill decided to pursue his interest in real estate. The recession was making those dark days for the industry, but Cockerill was undeterred. "I come from an entrepre- neurial family," said Cockerill, explaining his decision to shift to com- mercial real estate. "Real estate caught my attention, and I was always trying to learn more about it." In 2009 Cockerill took a job at Marcus & Millichap as a junior-level agent focused on investment sales of retail properties leased to single tenants on a triple-net basis. His responsibilities there grew to include invest- ment sales of shopping centers on a national level. "Brokerage is a great way to start and learn the real estate business," said Cockerill, who at Marcus & Millichap was instrumental in closing some $200 million in transactions. "You are forced to take owner- ship of your success or failure quickly. There is really only one metric that measures suc- cess — and that is results." It appears Cockerill is just warming up. In April, he joined Agree Realty Corp., a publicly traded REIT focused on net-lease retail properties, as director of developer solutions. He is responsible for leading the fast-growing firm's Partner Capital Solutions program, one of three external-growth platforms. The PCS program, launched in 2012, sits at the crossroads of the company's acquisitions and development platforms. Through PCS the company acquires assets in partnership with private developers on existing projects. Bloomfield Hills, Mich.–based Agree Realty provides development and construction expertise as well as access to capital at competitive rates. The company makes a commitment to purchase the projects upon completion. Cock- erill is responsible for raising the program's profile within the develop- ment community. He describes it as one-stop shopping for developers of net-lease retail properties, which continue to face a fairly conserva- tive lending climate, relative to the boom times before the recession. The PCS program "is the most seamless way to find the money you need to get the project done and, at the end of the day, you need an exit strategy," said Cockerill. "There are few places you can go to find capital funding to give you 100 percent debt or equity and mitigate any market risk you face down the road as your project comes out of the ground." The program has played a critical role in the evolution of Agree Realty in recent years. In 2010 the company, founded some two decades ago as a shopping center developer, owned just 73 properties across 16 states. A significant portion of its rental income came from community center holdings. The firm also had a heavy degree of expo- sure to just three retailers: Borders, Kmart and Walgreens. Over the past six years, the company has invested nearly $700 mil- lion to expand and diversify its portfolio, which now consists of nearly 340 net-lease retail properties across 42 states. The company has also sold properties to reduce its exposure to noncore assets and has hired new talent. Within its asset class, the company focuses on acquiring properties leased to big-box retailers that hold up well during a recession and continue to thrive in the face of rising e-commerce sales, partly by becoming omni-channel retailers them- selves. These include auto-parts stores, discount retailers, convenience stores, and supermarket and pharmacy chains. "The bottom line is that consumers today want an efficient shopping experi- ence," said Joey Agree, the company's president and CEO. "They are moving faster and faster, and net-lease retail properties are right in that wheelhouse." Agree says Cockerill's experience at Marcus & Millichap gives him a "baseline tool kit" for success in commercial real estate. But it was his personality that set him apart from other candidates for the job he holds. "Ryan has what one of our board members calls a warrior mentality," said Agree. "He has amazing passion and energy, but it is coupled with a level of humility that is unique." Interestingly, what impressed Agree most about Cockerill's expe- rience was his stint managing a large sports bar on campus at the University of Michigan, of which Agree is also a graduate. That kind of job is not for the faint of heart, Agree asserts. For one thing, it entails managing dozens of employees, many of them still college students themselves. "He is a special person and a fantastic team- mate," said Agree. "And he has leadership qualities he gained run- ning a bar that can't be taught." S C T Ryan Cockerill is finding development partners for Agree Realty Corp. By Rebecca Meiser