RE Q&A: VICKERS BOTH TENANT REP AND LANDLORD REP - AND SHE SHOWS OTHERS THE WAY

Sheryl Vickers is the CEO of Select Sites LLC.

With decades of experience negotiating real estate deals, Sheryl Vickers is building up a network to help other women succeed in an industry still heavily dominated by men.

Vickers owns Select Sites Commercial Real Estate, a Kansas City-based commercial real estate firm that started out in tenant representation and shopping center leasing.

In 2016, she partnered with Audrey Navarro of Clemons Real Estate to create WIRED, Women in Real Estate Development. Ten years strong today, the group focuses on empowering and mentoring women who aspire to be brokers, developers or investors in commercial real estate.

The Kansas City Business Journal talked with Vickers about her career and plans for WIRED. This conversation has been edited for length and clarity.

How did you get involved in real estate?

I got my real estate licenses in 1996 after leasing apartments for Cohen-Esrey, a large local firm. Years later started buying property with very limited funds by going to the Jackson County (Delinquent Land) Tax Sale. I have, a strong desire to see the urban core East of Troost developed, so I purchased some property that could be assembled for a 1 acre retail developer and others as a blank canvas for new mixed-use development on the East Side.

I worked on that for 10 years, investing little by little into the area. I wanted to see the community develop for itself rather than outside developers. The lack of local minority developers led me to supporting the ULI Redi Program and founding WIRED. When I sold some of that property, I moved my investments to Shawnee, KS.. Downtown Shawnee is an Opportunity Zone. The EDC had identified some blight and needed to energize the downtown area, and they have successfully turned it into a vibrant entertainment district.

What factors do you consider when picking projects?

In the beginning, I only focused on retail and restaurant tenant representation, so I was just leasing space. I was mostly representing the tenant side, looking for the right space to lease. I was driving them around sharing my market knowledge for their site selection. After years of that, I started realizing the tenant could be the driving force of buying a property that the tenant could rent from me.

Clients who trusted me could be my tenant in my own building. That was a big learning curve because, at the time, I didn 't really have the cash in the bank or experience as a landlord. Once I started developing, that was the way I wanted to go - owning property and having passive income through tenants who I had selected the site for. That led me into the redevelopment of properties that you can buy more affordably, fix up and value-add. How do you build tenant relationships? Definitely word of mouth.

There ’ s a phenomenon that you make a relationship and you do a good job, they trust you, and as their careers grow into new bigger roles, you roll with them throughout their career, if you ’ re lucky! I love to represent local restaurants. For instance, I helped Providence Pizza out of the Parlor food hall. Then they told Mother Clucker Chicken, then they told Chingu, which was Sura Eats, they told Thai Orchid, etc.. I helped all of them expand.

What is the value in having a women-focused mentorship group like WIRED?

WIRED has become so overwhelmingly inspirational because we believe, you have to see it to be it. Since we host our events at women-owned projects with the women who did the project sharing the ins and outs — the good, the bad and the ugly — you learn ... and can ask questions and can relate. It completely changes the game when you have people you can call and ask them questions.

Every single day of the week, I call someone from WIRED to brainstorm or strategize about something. There ’ s nothing more important than having a group of women that want to support and advocate for you. It’ s a game changer, and I would not want to do this without them.

How do you want to see WIRED grow?

We have a strong membership chair, investment chair and programming team, and because we have 2 great events per month and a strong mission, vision and incredible volunteers - the word-of-mouth network is insane. We really don ’t aspire to grow in numbers as much as we want to inspire. My goal is that women own at least 51% of all the commercial real estate assets in the world since we are 51% of the population. . To get there, we need groups of women to invest in properties together, get comfortable and then do their own investments with their daughters and personal circles and family members. That is how it will catch on. For more information check out WIREDKC.org and SelectSitesLLC.com