The US just implemented a tariff increase up to 50% on Canadian steel. What kind of impact is forecasted for US steel (or other avenues, ie Mexican steel). With demand already sky high, what does this change do to cost and project economics? I’d love to hear from some builders - @Tyler Jones @Justin Fike @Wayne Woolsey @Nick Basso

Thank you Barry and Nick and sponsors for the Tuesday night meetup. It was great to get to know everyone better and I think as we all continue to share our experiences and knowledge we will all be better for it. This was my second Connect event and at that first one I was much like most of the people in the room. I took away a lot of information from that one and was amazed at how it has helped me get to the point I’m at now. I’ve been drinking from a firehouse of CRE and Flex knowledge for over a year now. At this event I really enjoyed getting to know people better and thanks to Will and Thaddeus and anyone else that gave me some feedback on my project. I’m a firm believer in seeking wise counsel. My take aways this time were affirmations of what I’ve learned over the year but also new nuggets of gold from the panelists. Chris and Mason of Rigid are the go to guys on anything PEMB. I toured their plant last year and was amazed at how it’s made. I deal in steel for weld up buildings so biased but the pre engineered have their benefits. I love what Steve Garrison is doing and it’s a great niche. In his discussion he described his ideal business park and it had most of elements of what I’ve been working on for my park. The Legacy builders had some great efficiency build tips which has been a big take away for me. Also I think it was Cody that said last year if that extra dollar spent doesn’t bring more rent then don’t do it. Legacy has it figured out on the weld up construction and site work. Vanessa Ballard was sharp on the development diligence and her magazine has a great checklist. I would recommend her doing one of our sessions. Don was asked about signage and what he said has me re evaluating my digital sign idea. He may have just saved me 55 k. He also told me that once I’m doing flex development I’ll be wanting to move on from my existing business. That thought has crossed my mind as I really want to move into this full time. I was also very impressed with Jace who at 25 years old is building flex parks. My son just turned 30 and is also a part of our team and has a bright future ahead doing this with me. So I’m pretty excited about where we’re headed.

Thanks to everyone that showed up in Houston. We packed the room with over 50 people. It was great to meet everyone in person and talk Flex. A big thank you to @Barry Sherman Sherman at S3 Partners and @Nick Basso Basso at Kiwi II for sponsoring the event.

I am looking forward to seeing everyone in Houston for the Flex Space Connect Conference. I organized a Basecamp networking event the night before the event. It will be great to meet many of you in person. Date: Tuesday, September 29th Time:6:00-9:00 PM Venue: The Flying Saucer, Sugar Land Town Square (private room in the back) Walking distance from the Marriott, which is hosting the conference. No agenda, no slides, just a chance to put faces to the names you've been seeing in the community every week. Come have some food, a drink, talk shop, and meet the people building alongside you. Hope to see you there. wS

Anyone else planning to be there? I'll be at Flex Connect this year. Two days, fully focused on flex and small bay: construction costs, financing and capital stacks, deal structure, live underwriting, the real operator stuff, not general CRE fluff. I negotiated a discount rate for Basecamp members, link below contains the discount code. Also floating an idea: if there's enough interest, I may put together a casual networking event, happy hour, dinner, the evening before (Sept 29th) for anyone in town early. Drop a comment if that's something you'd want, that'll help me gauge numbers. I am not affiliated with the conference, but I attended it a couple years ago and found it very informative. https://flexspaceconnect.com/home?am_id=willskillman8975