From helping small-business clients to lease their first property to final disposition of excess real estate — Triangle Commercial does it all.

Besides providing a one-stop shop for commercial real estate services, what makes the company unique is its ability to deliver services on the scale of a big company with the personal feel of a small organization, says co-founder and CEO Salvatore “Sam” DiFranco. An example is a current deal in which a client, who had always been a tenant, is considering the purchase of a $3 million piece of property.

“To the buyer, this is a tremendous investment, and he wants to feel like he is getting a deal,” DiFranco says. “The seller wants to make sure he is protecting his investment and maximizing the profitability of the deal.

“Our goal is to get a meeting of the minds, where everyone feels like he won, and is willing to do a deal together.”

Creating such mutually-beneficial deals is so rewarding that DiFranco doesn’t call himself a “chief executive officer,” but rather a “creator of extraordinary opportunities” (still abbreviated “CEO”).

Established in 2001, Triangle Commercial has five brokers, three support staff and well over 1,000 clients in its nationwide base. Its net annual revenue is about $2 million. The vast majority of its clients are in the Triangle and the rest of North Carolina. The target market is $500,000 to $15 million projects.

The company’s trademark “Tower of Service” includes:

• Land — Triangle Commercial not only helps find sites, but also guides buyers through the process from contract to closing.
• Disposition — Triangle Commercial uses a strategic marketing campaign to identify likely buyers or tenants for the property and systematically target them for maximum results.
• Development — Triangle Commercial has rights to market some of the Triangle’s most attractive properties.
• Tenant Representation — Triangle Commercial provides this service for tenants, looking strictly to the landlord for compensation. The process is not only easy, it’s guaranteed.
• Buyer Representation — Triangle Commercial has more experience in this area than most major commercial realtors. “Seventy percent of our revenue comes from sales, and 30 percent from leasing,” says DiFranco. “That makes us different from most major shops, where the bulk of the revenue comes from leasing.”
• Investment Property — Triangle Commercial leverages 40 years of combined experience to help clients add real estate to their investment portfolio. Both DiFranco and Ed Hoel, co-founder and president, hold a Certified Commercial Investment Member (CCOM) designation. Only 6 percent of people in the commercial real estate industry worldwide can make that claim. The combined total of DiFranco and Hoel’s recent investment sales surpasses $25 million.
• 1031 Exchange Consultation — The 1031 process allows investors to defer capital gains taxes from the sale of one investment property if they purchase another one. Triangle Commercial has assisted clients with 1031 exchanges ranging from $250,000 to $15 million.

The pinnacle to Triangle Commercial’s Tower of Service™ will be the introduction of automotive building technologies to many of its properties. In such buildings, systems actually communicate with each other, helping to conserve energy, predict upcoming maintenance issues and other items.

For example, when a building’s air conditioner breaks down, normally it takes days for the tenant to contact the landlord, who contacts an HVAC specialist to analyze and fix the problem. In the meantime, tenants are uncomfortable, and temperature sensitive equipment (such as computers) can be damaged. In a “smart” building, the computerized system would detect such maintenance needs ahead of time and prevent problems before they even start.

“It’s like comparing a 1980s car to one today,” DiFranco says.

The pinnacle to Triangle Commercial’s Tower of Service™ will be the introduction of automotive building technologies to many of its properties. In such buildings, systems actually communicate with each other, helping to conserve energy, predict upcoming maintenance issues and other items.

Future plans call for constantly seeking other innovative programs. However, the company plans to remain relatively small, growing to only about a dozen employees. This will allow it to maintain its personalized attention to client needs, DiFranco says.

DiFranco’s personal satisfaction comes from the everyday challenges.

“Every day is different,” he says. “You are always meeting different people and different types of companies. It is so diverse, we deal with medical device companies, funeral parlors, biolabs – you name it.

“The most rewarding part is finding niches and creating extraordinary opportunities.” ?TRE

Company: Triangle Commercial
Location: Raleigh
Number of Employees: 7
Services: Epitomized by its slogan, “Your one source for commercial real estate”
Web site: TriangleCommercial.com