As longtime broker Ted Schwartz pays close attention to square footage, lease rates and escalation clauses in the deals he works, he also closely tracks another vital number: his blood sugar level.
Schwartz, who joined Avison Young as a senior vice president last year in Atlanta, has Type 1 diabetes, a chronic autoimmune disease where the body’s immune system mistakenly destroys the insulin-producing beta cells in the pancreas. He, like many others with the condition, has to monitor and manage the amount of sugar in the blood with insulin and diet to prevent complications and avoid passing out. He also organizes fundraising to find ways to better treat Type 1 diabetes.
"We have a [candy] bowl, in case Ted goes down, other people go down, they need energy," Schwartz said in an interview. "And, you know, sometimes it happens. I'm not going to say, it's funny. Type 1 diabetes is about being a chemist."
While managing his diabetes is challenging, it hasn't stymied him in his pursuit of commercial real estate deals. During his career that stretches more than three decades in mostly office and healthcare tenant representation, Schwartz has completed more than 550 transactions across the country in the office, industrial, medical, retail and land sectors.
Living and working with diabetes also has led to Schwartz forming bonds with other brokers managing the disease cross the country, he said. Volunteer opportunities also help him make connections. He plays an active role in the Breakthrough T1D Real Estate Games, an annual fundraiser supported by the commercial real estate communities in Washington, D.C., Chicago, New York City and Atlanta to benefit Breakthrough T1D, formerly known as the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, as it works to help find a cure for Type 1 diabetes.
A native of South Florida and huge Miami Dolphins fan who still travels to watch them play, Schwartz started his career at Alan Joels Partners, a commercial property firm. Before joining Avison Young, he worked at Carter Hill Advisors, an Atlanta-based boutique commercial real estate firm. CoStar News caught up with Schwartz this summer. The following has been edited for length.
After 30 years working the Atlanta office market, what surprises you now?
There are certain office markets that have a really wide spread in lease rates for space in the same class. A great example is the Cumberland-Galleria market. You're getting space close to the Braves stadium that is $50 a square foot, Class A space. You could go to Wildwood Center, and it goes for $32 a foot. It's not that far away, and it's an $18 spread. They have all the conference rooms and the cafe and all that stuff, but yet they're not at the mixed use development. They just go where the action is, and their theory is, that it helps recruit people, it helps get people to the office.
What role does artificial intelligence play in helping a tenant pick an office location?
AI comes into play for everything, but ultimately AI is not going to get you the deal. I mean, it can make you look smarter, but it's all about talking one on one. AI makes this simpler, but it still needs to be backed up. You can't just trust it. You got to check it just like you're a journalist. You use the tool to understand data, but at the end of the day, it's about putting the deal together and having the right mindset between the two parties.
Which property sector is healthier right now, medical or office?
Healthcare is in a much more stable point than office. You know, we have, especially here in Atlanta, we have aging demographics [that are] steadily rising. And the increase of investment in healthcare is absolutely way beyond office. In fact, office, you know, the only building in town is right around the corner from Promenade.
What frustrates you the most about the office market?
It takes forever to get a deal done. I calculated the number of days I've been working on a lease itself, not including the proposals, all the RFPs, all that stuff. Just the lease. I'm at day 51. You know, I've never seen this in my career. It takes this long to get something done.
How did Atlanta do this year in the Breakthrough T1D Real Estate Games?
The Real Estate Games was started in Washington, D.C., by Savills broker Adam Singer, and now it's in New York, Chicago, and Atlanta, where this was the second year. In our first year we raised $119,000 and this year we raised $144,000. We've grown it to about 15 teams. And it's a day, it's a field day, with potato sack races, dodgeball, tug-of-war and more. We look forward to doing it for a third year.