Complex issues can influence the realm of commercial real estate

Carol Epstein wears two distinctive hats, usually just one at a time.

As owner of Epstein Commercial Real Estate, located at 6 State St., Bangor, she pulls together business deals involving real estate, economic growth, and jobs. In conjunction with her family’s businesses, of which Fransway Realty is possibly the best known in the Bangor area, she develops and manages property, too.

Epstein, a native Mainer with an MBA from Northeastern, became involved in commercial real estate in 1984, when she joined the Boulos Co. in Portland. An accomplished businesswoman then working out of state, she met Joseph Boulos, a well-known Maine developer. He recently developed the new Shaw’s Supermarket on Main Street in Bangor.

Boulos invited Epstein to sell commercial real estate with his company. She agreed to do so “because I thought there were many opportunities in the field, and because I wanted to do something related to my family business, and because I wanted to move home to Maine.”

Epstein obtained the appropriate license to sell real estate and quickly plunged into the hot Portland development boom. She discovered that her degree and her business experience “helped me quite a bit.”

The reason lay in the inherently diverse nature of commercial real estate. The field does not involve residential housing, except for investment property (apartment complexes and subdivision development, for example). Far more can be involved in a commercial transaction than in a residential transaction.

“No two situations are the same, no two deals are mirrors of each other,” Epstein said. “I deal with changes, changing uses in the marketplace. There is no constant in this business.”

Epstein explained that as a broker, she might work with:

A landlord seeking tenants to lease space in an office building;

A landowner seeking to develop property near a mall;

A growing company requiring larger quarters, whether new construction or an existing facility;

A national retailer seeking retail space in different communities;

A municipality looking for a building for an industrial user.

With such a complex work environment, a commercial broker must “be very well-versed from a marketing point of view, a financial point of view, a legal point of view,” Epstein said. “There’s so much to know, so much to learn. It’s an exciting field, but it’s a complex field.”

A commercial broker “really has to understand the mechanics of the deal,” such as the differences between office and retail leases, Epstein explained. She must know about building construction and codes, hazardous waste laws, the hottest local commercial addresses “in every community in Maine,” zoning and planning issues — and the people, the men and women who make the Maine economy work.

Once past its legal and technical complexities, commercial real estate “is people, simply put,” Epstein said. “We’re dealing with people. We help people structure deals that work for everybody. If the deal doesn’t reflect the market realities, it isn’t going to work in the long run.”

After spending some years working in Portland, Epstein moved to Bangor. She opened her company in 1986 and began to coordinate business deals in central Maine.

With a smaller population base and correspondingly less economic activity, the Bangor market has admittedly not been as intense as Portland’s, yet “it’s a busy market, still the same,” Epstein said.

She recently brokered the deal that will lead Eldur AG, a Swiss company, to establish a manufacturing facility at Bangor International Airport. She helped Carlen Transportation find a suitable building on the Mecaw Road in Hampden for the new Carlen Service Center. Epstein has brokered the location of a new Staples at the Bangor Mall and Union Street Athletics near BIA.

These types of projects, while seemingly local in scope, can extend across state and national borders. Epstein works with the local business community and commercial brokers in Portland, Boston, New York City, and elsewhere. There are times when her work involves more out-of-state than local business contacts.

For example, more national companies are using “broker advice for tenant representation,” Epstein said. A retailer “might either have a a location in central Maine and wonder if it’s actually the best location for them, or they are thinking of having a location in central Maine. They work with commercial brokers to find answers to their questions.”

Unlike residential real estate, which employs many agents and brokers, commercial real estate (especially in central Maine) “is a very, very limited field,” Epstein said. “We’re driven 100 percent by demographics, so the job opportunities are better in the larger metropolitan areas.”

She advises any woman considering a career in commercial real estate to develop a business background, whether through an appropriate college degree or business experience. Epstein believes the people who concentrate on commercial real estate “have more of a business background, or they com from the related fields (finance, law, building design and construction, etc.).

“It’s not a field that represents large employment numbers in the state. There are some women in it, but it’s still predominantly men. We do see more women involved in the related fields, and there are some women who are doing very well in commercial real estate in Maine,” Epstein said.

“It’s a great field; it’s been a rewarding career for me,” she stated. “It’s different every day. It’s a very dynamic, challenging field.”