In this episode of The Industrial Real Estate Show, Chad Griffiths & C'Jon Armstead break down one of the most misunderstood yet powerful skills in Industrial real estate: effective cold calling. Whether you're a broker, investor, developer, or anyone relying on outbound outreach, this episode offers a detailed look at what actually works in today’s market—and why most people get it wrong.

We dive deep into the tactics, scripts, mindset, and systems behind successful industrial real estate prospecting. Instead of relying on a transactional “Do you want to sell?” approach, this episode explores how to create value-based conversations that open doors, build long-term relationships, and turn owners who ignore most calls into genuine opportunities.

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Connect with C'Jon: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cjonarmstead/

Connect with us: https://linktr.ee/industrialpodcast

Welcome To The Industrial Real Estate Show. Chad sits down with Professor Tim Minshall, author of How Things Are Made.

We dig into why manufacturing knowledge disappeared from public view, the “illusion of explanatory depth,” and how a simple roll of toilet paper reveals global supply chains, energy, water, and decades of process know-how. We also tackle reshoring, industrial commons, and what governments and companies can realistically do over the next 5–10 years.

Discussion Topics:

How Manufacturing Drives Industrial Real Estate

Reshoring and the Return of Making Things Locally

Supply Chain Resilience vs. Efficiency

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Welcome to The Industrial Real Estate Show. In this episode, Chad sits down with David Hansel, Managing Partner at Lucern Capital, to unpack how his team pivoted from multifamily into multi-tenant industrial. They dig into buy boxes, tenant mix, capital stacks, interest-rate impacts, and what’s next through 2026—plus practical tips for sourcing deals and competing with bigger players by staying scrappy.

Discussion Topics:

Why small/mid-bay industrial can feel like multifamily—without the labor drag

The playbook for environmental insurance (what it covers, cost, timing, real claims)

Buy box specifics: size, locations, construction quality, tenant profiles

Real-world capital stacks (60–70% debt; using pref equity selectively)

2025–26 market outlook: lease duration, downsizing tailwinds, competition

Guest

David Hansel — Managing Partner, Lucerne Capital

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Chad Griffiths — The Industrial State Show

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#industrialrealestate #cre #SmallBayindustrial #NNN #LucerneCapital #ChadGriffiths #DeRisking #EnvironmentalInsurance #EastCoastCRE

Chad Griffiths & author Cody Payne unpack the entire flex/small-bay industrial playbook—from what “flex” actually means, to development models and costs, leasing strategy, underwriting, and the real risks to watch. If you’re eyeing contractor garages, incubator space, showroom-style flex, or multi-tenant “multifamily of industrial,” this episode is your field guide.

Key Takeaways

• ​“Flex” is today’s label for small/shallow-bay multi-tenant industrial—think 1,000–5,000 SF bays with ~10% office.
• ​Development models range from bare-bones metal to showroom and premium; costs scale fast with glass, height, finishes, yards, mezz.
• ​Showroom models (18–20’ clear, strong frontage) often drive rent growth and resale value

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Cody Payne

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In this week's episode I was joined by the illustrious Ken Ashley to talk about tips for new commercial real estate agents looking to break into the industry as well as what existing brokers can do to increase their business!

00:00 Intro & past adventures

01:05 CREI Summit teaser

01:18 Ken’s origin story + “Real Estate Prescription” book mention

04:00 Career momentum analogies

06:43 Market cycles, recency bias & why now is an opportunity

08:51 Choosing a brokerage

10:11 Splits, resources & why mentorship matters more than brand

13:39 How to find/secure a mentor

18:14 It’s OK to pivot—time horizons & expectations for new brokers

20:10 Year-one roadmap to expertise

23:39 Become the market expert—and tell everyone you can help

25:24 Business development

29:25 Marketing vs sales; why social media is one plank

35:10 What to post: Ken’s “Four Corners” content strategy

37:22 What not to post: avoid controversy; handling trolls & staying positive

41:54 Dealing with negative comments

45:40 Inside the CRI Summit: purpose, community & recognition lists

49:05 Digital tools & AI: from tools → tasks; rainmaking focus

51:17 Next CRI Summit details

54:14 Ken’s book details & closing remarks

Connect with Ken:

X: https://x.com/kenashley

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kenashleyatlanta

CREiSUMMIT: https://creisummit.com/

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🚨 New! "Industrialize: The Kids Guide to Industrial Real Estate" is now available: https://mybook.to/industrializejr

📈 "Industrialize: The Insider's Guide to Industrial Real Estate" is now an Amazon bestseller in the category of Commercial Real Estate: https://mybook.to/industrialize

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In this week's episode Ron walked through his track record of about $25M in partner-equity deals with no LP syndications, where he typically sells at a 2× equity multiple plus cash flow.

After selling most of his holdings this year (three sold, one small buy), he’s retooling with fewer partners, longer holds, higher-quality assets with durable leases, and sites that include optional land he can monetize later.

The big takeaways match my playbook: be fast to underwrite and offer, but patient until a real opportunity appears. Tighten NNN leases and keep meticulous documentation because institutions turn diligence up to roughly 10x a normal deal.

Ron’s recent IOS example summed it up well: bought two buildings on roughly 4 acres for $2.35M, corrected overstated acreage, reset a tenant to market before closing, secured about 5% seller financing, re-leased quickly after a vacancy (plus a roof repair), then exited about 18 months later to Blackstone for $4M+ at roughly a 6.4 to 6.5% cap.

Looking ahead, he is eyeing an 80,000 sf Laredo distribution play with two years of term left, comfortable with lease-up risk given a low basis and easy demisability. We both prefer clustering assets in one submarket to cross-shop tenants. Macro view: the economy feels fragile, cap-rate compression is a maybe, and selective small IOS, sometimes all cash, can be the resilient move

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🚨 New! "Industrialize: The Kids Guide to Industrial Real Estate" is now available: https://mybook.to/industrializejr

📈 "Industrialize: The Insider's Guide to Industrial Real Estate" is now an Amazon bestseller in the category of Commercial Real Estate: https://mybook.to/industrialize

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Ethan is a Baltimore-area investor who moved from offices and strip centers into strictly industrial after years of high capex and constant turnover in those assets. His 30,000 sf small-bay warehouse bought in 2013 for $2.15M has run nearly full for 12 years, needed little capex, and is now worth about $4.5M. Limited new supply of small bay, 3 percent annual rent bumps, and sticky tenants made it a cash cow. He sees big funds drifting down-market from big box to chase yield, but notes small-bay tenants are gritty and practical, so local owners who know the profile often have an edge.

He has doubled down on industrial outdoor storage. A 16-acre site near Dover was bought for about $1.2M, improved with gravel, fencing, solar lights, cameras and an app-controlled gate, then run by a truck-parking operator. Pricing is about $175 per spot per month with daily and weekly options, modeled for roughly 180 stalls and now about 65 percent occupied, already covering the mortgage. He financed quickly via a line of credit then plans to refi after stabilization. A failed Phase I led to a clean Phase II, which unlocked the deal. He also owns two 5,000 sf warehouses with 1.5 acre yards leased to a pipe distributor, a contractor and a granite company, plus another IOS site across from Dover being turned into containerized self-storage. Strategy wise he avoids Baltimore City’s higher taxes, favors Harford County and secondary markets near highways on the I-95 corridor, and targets IOS parcels of 3 to 5 acres or more where supply is scarce and demand is deep.

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🚨 New! "Industrialize: The Kids Guide to Industrial Real Estate" is now available: https://mybook.to/industrializejr

📈 "Industrialize: The Insider's Guide to Industrial Real Estate" is now an Amazon bestseller in the category of Commercial Real Estate: https://mybook.to/industrialize

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🚩 Subscribe: / @industrialize

#industrialize #industrialinsiders #industrialrealestate