Zak Klinvex, Chief Investment Officer, Post Brothers
Key points
- You can live in a high-quality building in Center City, be 10 minutes from the train station, and get to New York in under an hour or D.
- Take 1001, for example — it is a mega-scale project with a gym that rivals or exceeds any commercial gym in size and quality, a pool better than any private club, and a coworking space that outshines any WeWork or third-party coworking space.
- The higher-profile opportunities had messy tenancy, adding risk in terms of buying out office tenants, or the need to convert blocks of floors while leaving tenants in place in other floors, which we have never been able to do, making it hard to drive a premium experience.
In an interview with Invest:, Zak Klinvex, chief investment officer of real estate development company Post Brothers, said that the company’s success stems from a commitment to quality, thoughtful market positioning, and confidence in Philadelphia’s long-term potential. “Philly has tremendous potential, and we’re excited to be part of that future.”
What makes Philly an ideal place for your company to continue investing?
There are several factors, but at a high level, affordability is the biggest tailwind for Philadelphia. When you look at the major cities on the I-95 corridor from Boston to D.C., Philadelphia stands out as a much more affordable city, both for residents and businesses. That’s driven a lot of growth, especially as people realize they’re not just getting lower costs but also great value.
The city offers fantastic amenities, from dining and entertainment to culture and accessibility. You can live in a high-quality building in Center City, be 10 minutes from the train station, and get to New York in under an hour or D.C. in about 90 minutes.
What do you think makes you more competitive than others in the market?
We are first and foremost a consumer product company, so we’ve always focused on delivering the best product and creating what we call a “competitive moat” around our developments. That means offering the best amenities, the highest-quality interiors, and top-tier services from our management and concierge teams. In times of elevated supply and competition, people tend to gravitate toward quality. They want the best. And we’ve benefited from that. Take 1001, for example — it is a mega-scale project with a gym that rivals or exceeds any commercial gym in size and quality, a pool better than any private club, and a coworking space that outshines any WeWork or third-party coworking space.
That’s been a key driver of our success.
What other trends or emerging opportunities are you seeing?
We’ve done a number of adaptive reuse, including office-to-residential in the past, particularly in Philadelphia, although not recently. We did just close a $465 million CPACE loan on an office-to-residential conversion in D.C., which is the largest CPACE financing ever, but in Philly, other than one building that was bought by an out-of-town, blue-chip developer, the available opportunities haven’t quite made sense to us. The higher-profile opportunities had messy tenancy, adding risk in terms of buying out office tenants, or the need to convert blocks of floors while leaving tenants in place in other floors, which we have never been able to do, making it hard to drive a premium experience.
