First Donation (Shriner's Chicago) of 2017

We have made our first donation of 2017. The recipient of the donation was Shriner's Chicago hospital (link here). We would like to thank our partners KDK Fund, KDK Options, and Bullied Comics for their help in making this happen. This is the shortest time period between donations and the trend looks good to continue.

KeaneVCC is dedicated and determined to give a percentage of revenue, NOT PROFITS, to charity. It forces doing high margin business. But the benefits have been great. To be clear, charity is a pillar of the business. We believe in our mission to use the business to find funding for deserving charities. Shriner's Chicago Hospitals is one of these charities.

KeaneVCC is working on a project looking to highlight and promote doctors, administrators, and researchers within charitable organizations (aka Shriners, American Cancer Society, etc.). Please feel free to forward information on anyone you know doing special work. 

Retail and Car Land Opportunity Going On Now

by Michael Keane 1/5/2017

Large Scale Real Estate Opportunity

There is a shift in consumer behavior that is providing for one of the largest real estate opportunities in a long time. There are two industries that currently take up a lot of real estate. Because of the behavioral shift in consumer behavior, these industries are seeing more and more dependance on line and less and less dependence with the on site areas of these businesses. Both are experiencing a tipping point right now. The industries are retail stores and car lots.  This movement should be seen as a great opportunity for developers, business executives, and urban planners.

Just today, Sears announced that they are closing an additional stores (Bloomberg link here). Macy’s also announced today that earnings are going lower. This is not a blip anymore. Consumers have spoken. They are needing stores less and less. This doesn’t mean consumers need the products any less and therefore is not a story on the companies themselves. But their need for paying for the massive real estate that they control is becoming less and less.

Car dealerships are another area that land usage will likely decrease as consumer behavior continues to be leaning more and more to online shopping. This is something that carmakers will ultimately enjoy as they can remove their costs from owning/leasing the land needed to sell these vehicles. Granted, some if not most of the cost is down to the dealership owner, but removing that cost could drive costs down for them without necessarily driving down revenue. Who knows, maybe buying a car will be similar to buying insurance.  

This has to be looked on as a major opportunity. One way Google was able to get to scale was to use the downturn in 1999-2000 and find cheap space for its servers. Are there any companies out there now looking for large scale space? Municipalities should be looking this as an opportunity to use the land for new schools, parks, and other public uses. Residential real estate will always be an option as long as jobs are present in the area. Oh, and what about that start up company that is being created new this space? When 1871 (link here) was created, it received a fantastic opportunity to use space in Chicago’s Merchandise Mart. Now, the building is in the process of being transformed into a tech juggernaut. Health care is also an area that should look to capitalize on this space becoming available. Research facilities should be able to be quickly set up.

There are some changes happening within the retail and vehicle sectors that will almost certainly be providing for the sale of buildings and land. Will there be another Google, 1871, or local developer out there ready to take the opportunity and grow their business? We certainly hope so.

If you or someone you know finds this article helpful, reply back to keanevcc@gmail.com and let us know how. We are always looking to promote and develop businesses.