Bud Strang from Six/Ten LLC | Winter Haven, FL

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This episode features Bud Strang, the CEO of Six-Ten,LLC. Six/Ten  develops, leases and manages a diverse portfolio of commercial real estate properties and operating companies across Central Florida, but their true passion is for downtown Winter Haven, where they and others are working to drive smart growth by re-purposing wonderful old building for lease and producing smart in-fill projects that create new urban spaces.

In this episode, John and Bud discuss how Bud and his team have slowly created a work, play and live destination in downtown Winter-Haven. Six/Ten has developed a very interesting funding model which they believe could be a future model for other communities. Tune in, and learn how a small group of investors scaled into a larger group of local investors for the purpose of transforming their downtown. Listeners will gain some practical knowledge and wisdom around the topics of real estate investing, tenant recruiting and retention, and leadership. Listeners will especially enjoy John and Bud’s discussion on the “5 Voices”. 

Insights & Inspirations

  • “downtown real estate, it’s irreplaceable.”
  • “It was just organic, and full disclosure, there wasn’t much of a plan until the 2012 time frame, somewhere around in there.
  • “We should be calling it Florida’s inland coast,” because we do have 91 miles of waterfront in the city, which makes it very unique. It’s not oceanfront, but it’s still waterfront, and very nice.
  • {Changed thinking to the City is the Project} “we consider our Winter Haven project … It’s about 80 city blocks.
  • {Living in your investment} But if you live there, there’s that intangible return, in that the place that you live is being improved and enhanced. I would argue that over time that return may actually outpace the direct financial return.
  • {Different types of leases and investments} But I think in this downtown redevelopment, you’ve got to be prepared to take some chances on some folks, either directly or indirectly, with a lease or a … We’ve done some very creative leases over the years, and as we’ve went, we’ve actually invested directly and started up some of these companies.
  • {Buying businesses that rent from you sometimes}  you gotta do some things that don’t fall under the heading of traditional real estate development.

Guest Information & Links