Leaving a Banking Career to Build Flex Space Parks | Khalid Motorwala

In Episode 1 of the Flex Space Network Podcast, host Hamza Ali, founder of the Flex Space Network (FSN), sits down with Khalid Morrowala, Managing Partner of Scale Up Flex Parks USA, to discuss how he transitioned from a senior career in the banking and financial services industry to becoming a flex space developer.

Khalid shares the story of how he went from managing residential rental properties to developing multiple flex space and small bay industrial business parks. After spending nearly two decades in corporate banking, he realized that traditional real estate investments weren’t scalable enough and began exploring flex space development as a higher-growth opportunity.

Today, his team is actively developing multiple office warehouse and flex space projects, with plans to scale even further.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

• Why many professionals are leaving corporate careers to invest in flex space real estate
• The key differences between residential rentals and flex space investing
• How developers raise capital for small bay industrial and office warehouse projects
• Why investor credibility and reputation are critical when syndicating deals
• What returns investors typically expect from flex space developments
• How developers scale from one flex space project to multiple business parks
• Why the flex space asset class is still in the early stages of growth

Khalid also shares how his team structures investments, raises capital internationally, and plans to scale their portfolio by building multiple flex space business parks and potentially bundling them into larger institutional investments.

About the Podcast

The Flex Space Network Podcast with Hamza Ali explores the fast-growing world of flex space, office warehouse, and small bay industrial real estate. Each episode features developers, investors, and industry experts discussing strategies, deals, and insights into one of the most exciting sectors in commercial real estate.

Subscribe to stay updated on the latest trends shaping the future of flex industrial real estate. 🚀

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:01

Hey guys, welcome to the Flex Space Network podcast. This is season one, episode one, and my very first guest on the podcast, who I'm really excited to introduce, uh his name is Khalid Morrowala, and he is a managing partner at Scale Up Flex Parts USA. And currently developing how many flexpace uh developments?

SPEAKER_01 0:23

Uh two underway, and the third one is in feasibility.

SPEAKER_00 0:26

Okay, we'll get into all of that. So um uh yeah, uh thanks for joining me on the podcast. Really glad you're here. Uh, you are our first guest, so I wanna welcome you.

SPEAKER_01 0:37

Thank you.

SPEAKER_00 0:38

Um, and obviously, guys, I'm your host, Hamza Ali. I am the founder of the Flexpace Network. We've been around for about I'd say almost around three years, maybe a little bit more now. Uh, really exciting things happening uh in the world of Flex Spaces. And uh here we are talking to our first guest, and we're gonna get into uh Khalid. First, we're gonna get into how you got started into Flexpaces. So generally, the way I look at it is most people have some type of real estate knowledge before they come into Flex. But I'm curious to hear from you uh what you did in the past and what you turned that off and what got you uh into Flex Spaces.

SPEAKER_01 1:16

Sure, thanks uh Hamza. So I um have been in uh financial services and senior roles with the credit card industry. I'm based in Delaware, which is where most of the banks are headquartered. So I've been in financial services for uh almost two decades, and I was contemplating I always had a passion for real estate, uh, so I was able to build a portfolio of rental residential rental properties with my buddy who's based out of Dallas. Uh, and he is the one who's uh very closely connected to the construction industry, and uh he and I we are childhood friends, we always talk about business, and uh he's been able to scale an architectural railing company uh in the last 15-20 years, he's done very well. And he came across your um and he himself was a flexpace user uh uh as he was scaling his company, so he's been through the different phases of a company's life cycle, and then he right and recently he built a 65,000 square foot uh corporate uh headquarters with a warehouse in uh Lewisville, uh Dallas area. Uh so he came across your TikTok videos, Hamza, and he was very familiar with uh the advantages of uh the construction concept, he felt it was relatively easy. Kind of what you talk about is that uh it's very easy to build and maintain, it's very hands-off and stuff like that. So he encouraged me to study this. Uh so I studied it, um, joined your team, your network, uh, and then um uh I obviously didn't have all the pieces, but because I had my partner who's in the construction industry, and I come into the business world with the financial services background and uh a network of uh individuals who I can raise capital from. We just formed a very good team, and then my partner's brother also joined us full-time. So uh the three of us are kind of that's how we got involved.

SPEAKER_00 3:07

Okay, and so you mentioned that you were in some other type of real estate prior to getting into Flex. So you had some type of awareness. Can you talk to us about that and why you left that for this?

SPEAKER_01 3:16

Uh well, I realized that the residential real estate portfolio was not something I could uh it was very um uh hands-on uh dealing with different tenants, uh, and the tenants' issues and breakages and fixes were very costly. Uh, and then during the pandemic, we didn't get paid. Luckily, we were not leveraged for we had bought all up our properties, cash. So we we didn't lose our sleep much because we didn't owe the bank any money. Uh so those kind of operational issues, and I was not able to develop uh a big enough income through that to kind of walk away from my job. So I knew that in order for me to make it worth my while, I needed something that I could scale and it would be big enough for me to kind of justify leaving a highly paid uh executive level role in my banking job.

SPEAKER_00 4:08

Okay, and so now you've left your job for flex space?

SPEAKER_01 4:12

I did.

SPEAKER_00 4:13

Okay, so you see the scalability. What like what made you take that decision?

SPEAKER_01 4:17

Uh part of it was uh uh understanding first I didn't I didn't I was not reckless and I didn't pull the plug on my job uh immediately. I was in your network for about two years uh before I made that decision. I studied the business model um and I uh was able to get my first deal going. Um and then I got to a point where I felt that if I spend my hours uh rather than working full-time for someone else, if I spend my hours looking for the next deal and the next deal, and if even if I find one or two deals a year, it'll kind of be more worthwhile than doing a job 40 hours a week. So that was my uh thought process. Uh and and it did pan out because I was able to find uh two deals after the first deal. Uh and when I do the math, and if everything pans out, uh I think I'll be okay financially. Okay. So more than enough to replace my job income.

SPEAKER_00 5:15

Okay, great. I mean that's great to hear. Uh obviously, you know, you and I go way back. Uh you're one of the I would say uh original members, maybe, or very close to. Um, and you and I have been working very closely, so I'm very well aware of uh your business parks. Now walk me through residential, you know. I'm I'm assuming these are small homes that you were in. Now you're talking multi-million dollar flex developments, there's a capital requirement, there's banking relationships that you need to build. Um, and obviously these are all things that you have to do, right? As a as you as the developer. Walk us through your thought process on that and how far ahead like you were before you decided, okay, yes, this is what I'm gonna do. Like from what I'm trying to get to is that if someone brand new is coming into this, what are the things that he really needs to understand before he gets into one of these type of developments?

SPEAKER_01 6:08

Uh ability to uh bring your own capital to the table is crucial. Uh so you need to be financially sound uh before you take that step. You also need to have a decent amount of reserves to sustain yourself while you were uh building and cash flowing your first project. Uh, because it's not I was in a unique position because I had already worked for 20 plus years in my job and I had uh you know uh like a war chest saved up to sustain myself for a couple of years if there was no income coming in, and I was willing to burn through that because I'm just I'm taking a risk. Uh so it's a mindset thing. A lot of people will not be willing to do that. Uh part of it is because uh, you know, it's uncertain, right? Because anything could happen. But that's the mindset. Uh you that that's something you can't really promote or talk about much because it's a very personal decision I took. Uh, part of it was that my job was also getting to a point where it was getting very uh toxic, and they wanted me to take on more responsibility and promote me to managing director and stuff like that, and I was not willing to uh take on that additional responsibility, so they stuff at my job started going downhill. So that was one of the triggers. Uh so in terms of uh timing of uh me coming into the business full-time was uh a factor of uh getting the right deal, partnering up with the right bank, having enough uh capital available. I was also confident in my family's support because uh before I came to the US, I was a founder, co-founder of uh Commodities Trading Business Back Home in India, which is done really well. It's one of the top uh five or six in India at the moment. So we had that uh backing as well uh in terms of uh capital. So I was in a very unique position, I would say, to take advantage of this opportunity.

SPEAKER_00 8:01

Okay, well, I mean that's great. Um you went from one to two, and now uh this is the first time I heard here about the third development. Um you know, they always say that the first one is the hardest. Yes, and then uh and then it becomes like a function of like literally just repeating the process, and because these like developments, these metal buildings are so easy to put, um, you just literally are rinsing and repeating them. And is that like could you walk us through that process for you? Like, what did it look like?

SPEAKER_01 8:30

So I I have not completed a flex project end-to-end yet. So the first deal uh was frustrating as you could uh because we were trying to uh find land based on the checklist you gave us. So it took us a while uh to find the first piece of land, but uh once we found it, um uh we had to put together the right team of uh engineers, architects, etc. Uh, and uh we were able to successfully do that through the network that my buddy had in the construction industry, so that was helpful. Um, and then um uh the second deal was more of a byproduct of uh having relationships within the construction community, just happened to uh fall into our lap. Uh, and then the third deal, I think I touched on it a few weeks back. I the land was still not under contract contract. I mentioned it to you, uh, and now it is under contract, uh, and uh things are looking good. We are in the site plan and uh pre-approval stage with the city. So it was, and obviously, my confidence level in the third deal is a lot higher because I was able to uh get things done a lot faster. Uh so the the lesson learned here is that uh you have to be patient for your first deal and be persistent, both, which I think we were because we kept I kept coming back to the weekly calls and I kept uh hearing uh how other people are finding deals. So that was definitely uh something that encouraged me to just stay persistent.

SPEAKER_00 9:57

Yeah, I think that's that goes for any business, you know. Whatever you do, persistence is definitely gonna like you know help you uh get ahead, right? And that's sort of I think you know what the network really does. Shameless plug, guys, but like what what the network really does, it allows you to understand what everybody's doing. So there's a there's like a level of uncertainty that is sort of eliminated from your thought process. And that unfortunately, I haven't found a better way to really eliminate that, you know, outside of having other people do it, so you can sort of, you know, yeah, uh walk in their footsteps, or you create something where somebody else can then later on uh walk in your footsteps, you know.

SPEAKER_01 10:35

No, I I I I agree because uh had it not been for you as a sounding board every week and the different coaches we talk to, are my ability and my partner's ability to make decisions and just uh having our decisions vetted by somebody, uh it would have been very, very hard because it's a hit off if you're if you don't have that support of the community. Also, uh, you know, learning stuff, uh whether it's financial planning from Lillian or you know the the site plan from Vanessa or uh your calls or Cody's calls, all of them kind of helped us, helped me at least uh connect the dots because you hear a story in one call and then six weeks later it becomes more real for you. Uh, because it had the same situation happened in my business use case, right? So definitely without the community, uh it would have been a lot, lot harder. And I don't think I would be in a position now to confidently uh sit here and raise the money required to build two parks simultaneously and working on a third park if I didn't have the 360-degree view, which was only possible because of the information I got from the network.

SPEAKER_00 11:42

Yeah, I mean, absolutely, I totally agree. You know, the thing is I've learned, I myself am also, you know, a student of the network, and I learned from because you know, there are so many different strategies, so many new things happening. It comes to a point where I can only innovate myself so much, you know. Ultimately, then I have to look at what other people are doing, and I learned from that, and believe it or not, my next business part, the one I'm building, uh, is also a learning and what I'm seeing from everybody else, you know. Um walk us through how like um you know um how someone in your position, so executive, corporate, professional, structured, you know, all of that, then becomes an entrepreneur, then becomes a real estate developer, um, and then starts raising cash, like it's sort of like how how did you do all this, you know, like what is what what is the process?

SPEAKER_01 12:36

I I think uh the process is uh a lot of it is based on your credibility and your relationships. Uh so if you had a career where you've always uh you know done the right thing, uh people trust you, uh your network um you know will not question your judgment, and you've basically kept your nose clean and uh done a good job, uh then it's a lot easier when you go to market uh raise the capital. So I think a lot has to do with the relationships and who you are and your career.

SPEAKER_00 13:07

Reputation.

SPEAKER_01 13:08

Yeah, yeah. So luckily, um, you know, my partners and I, we have uh had a good good reputation over the last 20 some years in the respective careers that we've had and the respective businesses we've built, whether it was a job or a company. Uh, and so when we uh did a loan syndication for a first and a second project, so I talk about the first project. Uh I was trying to raise so first of all, we we ourselves were very vested. We brought in a significant amount of equity in our first project because the way we did it is we bought the land ourselves and paid for the soft cost. So our other, I would say if equity is $100, about uh close to 35% was already ours. So we had to raise the other 65% equity. Uh and uh we were oversubscribed in five days just because we made some phone calls, and I guess it's all a function of who you are and your credibility and how how much people trust you. Uh so uh between my contacts and my partner's contacts, we were able to hit that target in five days, and we still we had a wait list literally of people to invest. And then the second uh deal, I just got back from an international trip to Dubai. Uh very similar response. Uh okay.

SPEAKER_00 14:18

And people are familiar with the product, like when you tell them I'm building a flex space or no, not overseas, no.

SPEAKER_01 14:23

Okay. Especially uh on and also people who are so I have uh in my case, right? There were two kinds of demographics I was dealing with. One is the white-collar professional uh who I have worked with for the last 20 years alongside me. Their risk appetite is a bit different than somebody who's a business owner who's running a big business in India or Dubai or South Africa or wherever. So there are two different kinds of investor pools I'm dealing with. So both have different needs uh because the white-collar professional will not take an exposure of a quarter of a million or half a million. Uh, he'll be more like a hundred thousand dollar type of a person. And then the guys who own run big businesses, they have a larger appetite, so they are they're okay with the half a million to a million. And I have to tell them, well, don't invest a million in one project, let's do two or three projects, right? So it's different uh profiles of and so people in um I had to explain the product to all of them, uh, and uh most of them are just interested in the returns in the term sheet, and they know you as a person, so they know that uh, you know, very few people ask me about the uh X see one or two investors are savvy uh and they challenge you. Uh and I had a couple of those guys who challenged my underwriting, who challenged my downside scenarios, who challenged me and helped me revise some of the assumptions. So that is a good check and challenge, I feel. So you need those kind of people too. But for the most part, most people said, you know, uh, hey, if you're doing it, and the kind of people involved, like my partners have a lot of credibility when they read the bios, they're like, Okay, you know what? It seems like you guys know what you're doing. Uh, I'm willing to invest X amount of dollars. So it was not an uphill task, mainly because of who we are, what we've done, what we've built, and our credibility.

SPEAKER_00 16:06

So I would say you know, just looking from top down, you guys are the reason that people are investing. Like you built the brand, let's just call it build the brand, sort of so to speak, and people are investing in your brand, but you guys as a brand believe in the flex space. So as a result, all your investors are now believing in flex space. True, true. Okay.

SPEAKER_01 16:27

There are some investors who came into my first deal and they all came into my second deal.

SPEAKER_00 16:32

Okay. Wow.

SPEAKER_01 16:33

Without me having to prove anything, because a lot of people will say, build one, sell one, then we'll talk about the second deal. But a lot of them uh they they see the value. And uh, like we have a very savvy investor who's based out of Dallas, he's uh hedge fund guy, and he's actually he understands the flexpace model. Uh, and uh he's he pretty much evaluates these kind of deals all the time. And I have a very savvy investor who's uh based in India, uh, who keeps getting offers from the US to invest in deals uh and loan syndication type deals, and uh he's he was very familiar with flexpace, so they were chasing me with their money uh because of uh you know, because they wanted to invest in our project because of who we are and you know uh our credibility.

SPEAKER_00 17:16

Yeah, okay. So makes sense. Um let's talk about returns a little bit. So obviously, investors are looking for returns, you guys are dealing with investors, as am I. Um, everybody has a different return structure. What is yours?

SPEAKER_01 17:30

Uh my return structure is uh pretty much uh the fine-tuning that you and I did over the years, uh over the months, last few months, because I was struggling with that. I wasn't sure uh what the market uh would again. Uh I came to the conclusion that I have two different investor pools. Uh, the guys who are white-collar professionals are happy with uh anything north of 12%. Uh and so when I offer them uh 15 plus percent IRR all the way up to 18%, it could go up to 18%, they're very happy. Uh but the guys who are uh business owners, uh who are high network individuals, they are used to some speculative deals because they've they're used to making a little bit more money uh because they take more risks. So for them, sometimes the 15% is not as attractive. You know, so I've had guys tell me uh last week I was in a meeting in Dubai, and the guy said, Well, the returns you're offering is not very extraordinary because he gave me examples of how he doubled his money in two years.

SPEAKER_00 18:27

Right, in Dubai.

SPEAKER_01 18:28

Yeah, in Dubai. So different market. Different market. And I had to explain to him that you are in a developed uh market, more mature market like US, and uh and whatever happens in Dubai, Dubai in my opinion, uh could be it's very cyclical, you know. It is sometimes even I don't want to use the word, but I feel there's a house of cards, you know, in Dubai and it could come crashing down. Uh so it's it's and he he agreed to it. He said yes, it's opportunistic. So at this point of time, if you compare the returns of what some high net worth individuals who invest north of a half a million uh in a project and they're willing to uh sit on it for let's say five years until the market becomes favorable, they have that appetite and that they could take that, they have that tolerance, they could walk away with a better return. But I think for the most part, uh we are offering much better returns than what people are seeing in the market, and it's very impressive. So I would say north of 15% is what I'm offering.

SPEAKER_00 19:24

Okay, no, I mean north of 15% is amazing, it's great, it's unheard of uh in today's in today's syndication world. I mean, obviously there's a lot of people who make promises, uh, but you know, they're all performance-based, and nothing is like really, you know, uh solid, especially the multifamily guys. Those guys, I've I've seen those guys, they're they're falling down literally every day, you know. Um now how can how how does somebody invest? Like what are the requirements, what are the needs, what what what do they need to provide you if like, for example, somebody wanted to invest with you?

SPEAKER_01 19:57

So um uh because I'm doing loan syndication, right? Um my investment contracts have that questionnaire for an accredited investor. Um so they just have to fill that out. Uh, and then uh they have to understand the structure of the deal. Where typically what I do is I have two companies, one is a funding company, one is a development company, and uh I don't burden my investors with the of raising the debt component. That is something that we handle uh as our GPs, we handle that ourselves, and we charge we charge a small fee for that for raising the debt, and then the funding company transfers the money to the development company, and that's how the whole deal happens. The exit happens, and development happens, say the rental happens, the exit happens, and then the money comes back.

SPEAKER_00 20:43

Okay, but that's actually very unique. So you're saying your investors do not guarantee the debt. No, you guys do that all, so you're taking the burden on yourselves 100%.

SPEAKER_01 20:53

Yes.

SPEAKER_00 20:53

Oh wow, that's actually very unique. That by the way, that's a very comp like uh it's an advantage because a lot of investors want to invest and they don't want to take the risk. True. And a lot of syndicators want the investors to take the risk, so they so they don't have to, you know. So that you guys are doing both. You guys are actually running the show and taking all the risk uh outside of the money.

SPEAKER_01 21:11

The the reason I'm able to uh charge uh rather justify uh the fees that I'm charging in my development is number one, I buy the land. Uh when I say I, I mean me and my partners, we buy the land, we mitigate all the risks around permitting, and we get the project shovel ready before we take a dime of investor money.

SPEAKER_00 21:31

So we are even So basically there's almost no risk uh for the investors. They're entering correct. When and are they entering at cost basis if you don't mind me asking, or is there like a premium charge markup on the land, little markup, not a whole lot.

SPEAKER_01 21:44

Okay, a small markup for our efforts and for mitigating the risk with permitting. And we we we uh we allow them to come into the project when it is completely risk free, and um they participate during the construction phase, so their project, the money is. Not even locked in for the entire four years or five years, it's a little less than that because you're investing in the land purchase or the soft cost.

SPEAKER_00 22:07

Yeah, that was my next question. So what is the term? Like how long does one have to invest uh to get the return?

SPEAKER_01 22:13

The the the first two deals I've done, uh the the term is four years, out of which the first six months the investor doesn't invest. So it's basically three and a half years.

SPEAKER_00 22:23

Okay, and you're saying roughly around 15%, let's just say minimum a year, so that's 60% return.

SPEAKER_01 22:29

Yes.

SPEAKER_00 22:30

Over the course of four years. Now, uh I'm I mean, as far as real estate is concerned, that is a phenomenal return. For every hundred thousand, you're basically giving them back $160,000.

SPEAKER_01 22:40

Yeah, cash and cash, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 22:42

Right?

SPEAKER_01 22:43

Yes.

SPEAKER_00 22:43

Uh wow, that's pretty impressive. Okay, so uh tell us a little bit about your vision for your flex space deals. Obviously, first, second, and I do remember, yes, we did discuss the third. Um what is your vision? Where where are you going with this? What do the next like five to ten years look like for you in the world of Flexpace?

SPEAKER_01 23:03

Um, I feel that as we develop capabilities within our team. So, first of all, we are blessed that we have a good um uh combination or complement of skill sets within my team between me and my partners, and my son also happens to be working with me part-time on this. So, between the four of us, we have a good set of complementary skill sets. So, we are our goal is to specialize in each vertical. Uh, you know, so I'm focused on land deals, underwriting, and uh raising capital. My partners are focused on construction, one is focused on marketing, etc. So our our goal is to get to a point where we are so good in finding deals that we have six, seven projects going on simultaneously and we have a fund structure where the money comes in, it's agnostic to the project, and we have a fund, and that's where we are headed. Uh, most likely we'll do it for a fourth deal. Uh, maybe we'll do it for a third deal, I don't know, but that's where we are headed. And one question I had for you on our next call tomorrow was how does one build a brand and create an asset out of this kind of business model? Because it seems like it's more like project to project. Can you ever build a brand and get some valuation from that?

SPEAKER_00 24:09

Absolutely. So there's two things. Um, I personally am building a brand currently uh on these developments. Um, I unveiled it at the uh conference that I held uh last year. Um the brand is a separate IP than the actual development. The brand moves around and can be uh put and removed from existing. So just think about it like a hotel flag, you know, very similar. Um and I if I were to just sum it up, I think the business model would also be very similar to that. So some is owned, some is not owned. Um, and I think if you think about it that way, the scalability actually becomes achievable because there's a lot of mom and pop, or I say mom and pop, they're like, you know, that's uh their family office caliber, but their operations when it comes to running flex is mom and pop, that you could optimize and in exchange uh put a flag or a brand uh onto the development. So I do think that there is a place for this. Um, I do actually see that in the next couple of years this is going to be something that we are going to be like uh uh competing in as well. Not only the flex space uh development, but the amenities and the brand as well are gonna come into play.

SPEAKER_01 25:20

And with that in mind, I I kind of created a brand, a logo, etc. for my company is called Scale Up Flex Parks, and we're gonna put that on every park that we build. And we as long as we own it, because we'll try to create some consistent service levels or some consistent construction quality, which a tenant can expect in all our parks.

SPEAKER_00 25:43

Yeah, absolutely. And look, I think we are still a lot of people uh think about um like oh the asset class is going to get is going to mature at some point. And the thing is that what people don't understand is we have a lot of free room to still play around with what we can build. Um with storage units, you're limited to storage units, you know. What are you gonna do? What what else can you do, right? People are coming there to store units. Uh with multifamily, you see the most amount of amenities, obviously, because people live there. Uh with office buildings, I think we we have also started to see a little bit of amenities, but you are restricted because those buildings are vertical and it's limited, you know, to what you can do. Uh with flex, I think we are still in the very beginning of the what I call the um the hockey stick curve uh level of competition. There's going to come a point, not yet, but definitely in the next 10 years or so, where we are now competing uh at a whole different level because you know these buildings can be used for so many different things. Um, and I think it's going to come to a point where we ultimately consume retail. Um, and that is ultimately something that I've been giving a lot of thought, you know. Uh how do you consume retail uh with flex?

SPEAKER_01 26:57

So actually that's a good point. My second park, I had the opportunity because I have some highway, decent highway frontage. So I have uh my 75,000 square foot is divided into 20,000 square foot of um retail slash showroom, and the other 55,000 is regular flex. So we are trying two elevations. I think I showed it to you uh and you thought it was a bit rich. Uh, but I told you the area is very affluent, uh, and we're still working through that. Uh and then coming back to your first question is what is my vision for five years? Uh, one more thing I thought about and uh learned uh through different uh LinkedIn posts, etc., and my learnings is that institutional money is not coming into flex yet because of the ticket size of each park. So my goal is to have maybe bundle three or four parks of my own together and then sell it at a better cap rate. Uh so that's something in my vision because I I believe that uh we already have two parks and they're almost simultaneous, and the third one will hopefully start end of this year. So we might be in a position to kind of bundle them together.

SPEAKER_00 27:58

Okay. Um that's good. Yeah, I think I think that's great. I think you're right. Institutional equity is slowly trickling in, and once it does, it's gonna get really competitive because there's gonna be a lot of money uh that was not non-existent uh in the past in the asset class. Okay, let's talk about operations. Fine, like you know, uh now you have this thing built. What do the operations look like for you off each individual park? What is the process? What are the steps?

SPEAKER_01 28:22

Something I still have to solve, Hamza, being very honest. Uh I'm like I said, we are building capabilities within our team uh to specialize. So that's something that my son and I are working on, and he's uh taking the responsibility of learning the operations and the leasing component and your the Facebook strategy you taught us is helpful.

SPEAKER_00 28:41

I I guess my question is more like I mean, you've run residential in the past. What would be different here?

SPEAKER_01 28:48

No, because uh I uh I I was what I've learned from you and all the conversations we've had is that you don't really need to have a property management company running this park. Uh and I haven't seen that yet. Uh meaning trying to run it with a single-person team or two people, two-person team, or a part-time employee. Uh, so that I I have not decoded that yet. Uh just I'm not there yet. But I expect that we will develop enough capabilities within our team to run the park ourselves. And uh I understand that uh it's one of the USPs of you getting a good exit is efficiencies and operations. So we cannot be uh slacking in that. So it has to be cutting edge, it has to be really top-notch, and we will figure it out because right now we are in the construction phase, uh, and maybe you will start thinking about operations in a couple of months.

SPEAKER_00 29:40

Okay, yeah. I mean you still have plenty of time. You have two years or a year at least, you know, uh depending on where your parents are.

SPEAKER_01 29:46

Definitely something on my radar.

SPEAKER_00 29:48

Yeah, yeah, for sure. Always, always good to look ahead. Um, yeah. Uh Khalid, great talking to you. Uh, thanks for being my first guest. Really appreciate it. Thank you. Um, I'm really looking forward to putting this out there, and hopefully, everyone who is looking for education and information uh in the world of flex space gets some tremendous value from this conversation. Uh, with that, guys, uh, that will be it for this episode. I'll see you guys next episode.

SPEAKER_01 30:15

Thank you.

SPEAKER_00 30:17

All right, let me stop recording.