Recently, we sat down with Paul Picciani, a San Francisco tenant rep broker from GVA Kidder Mathews. He explains that he really enjoys using Rofo to find deals in the market place, especially smaller deals.

Interview

My name is Paul Picciani, I am a tenant rep broker with GVA kidder Mathews downtown.

Has Rofo generated tenant leads?
Yeah it has, it has generated leads, it has generated leads that have turned into closed details and it has been a pleasure to work with.

Is Rofo a valuable resource?
Sure, yeah I would say absolutely. Rofo’s exclusive focus is commercial real estate, typically smaller deals so I don’t look to Rofo for closing large law firm or hedge fund work that I also focus on in my practice. But when it comes to doing small professional services firm deals or sometimes with start ups, it’s an invaluable resource. And there are some great connections you can make there because that’s what people are focused on, they have a real need. They’ve given you the timeline they want to move in so you know, ok, this is something you can work with.

Are Rofo “Space Needs” useful?
Yeah, space needs generally is helpful, but they do self select in terms of size that they’re interested in. It’s great when a perspective tenant puts in some details about what they are looking for. They want to be near Bart/Muni, they want to be near the ball park, they need parking, a roll up door. Because Rofo allows them to put that information in, it makes it a lot more useful and helps to reduce the time for qualification to find out exactly what they are looking for. So as a tenant broker, that’s what I’m most interested in.

Would you recommend Rofo?
I would recommend that brokers sign up, if they’re a listing broker, especially if they have smaller spaces, they should unquestionably list their spaces on Rofo. If they’re tenant brokers, and they’re looking to at least see whats going on in the market and get a sense of whats happening I think Rofo’s a terrific resource. I’ve been real pleased with what I’ve seen with Rofo and with the tenant brokerage business that’s come my way as a result of my involvement with Rofo.