Since launching close to a decade ago, Uber has revolutionized transportation, creating a new paradigm that has irrevocably altered the way people travel in markets across the country. Or has it? While the ride-sharing platform has gained significant adoption, it’s been marred by a flurry of negative press, headlined by the termination of the company’s longtime CEO. Also troubling is the fact that Uber is burning money: Despite revenues near $7 billion, the company was $2.8 billion in the red last year, and they continued to lose money in the first two quarters of 2017. With Uber bleeding mone ..read more

It’s Amazon pandemonium: the tech giant continues to grab headlines (and the country’s collective attention) as the search for HQ2 heats up. The official numbers are in, and Amazon received proposals from 238 cities and regions. One of the possible frontrunners may just be our home state of New Jersey, which proposed up to $7 billion in tax incentives – what many are calling the largest tax incentive plan put forward by any state. As a recent piece in Fortune put it, “Amazon had asked for tax incentives. Newark delivered.” In the meantime, many are pondering the potential i ..read more

In the last several years, the food truck trend has exploded. While the craze started on the West Coast, it’s now virtually everywhere, from New York City to Austin to LA. According to a report by Intuit, food trucks are expected to generate about $2.7 billion in revenue in the U.S. by 2017. But it’s not just consumers (me included) who are jumping on the bandwagon. Real estate owners are capitalizing on our obsession to make their modern office spaces an edge. Will this trend last? First, let’s look at what’s feeding the food truck frenzy. Tenants are demanding convenience and variety Quick l ..read more

Since it was introduced about a year ago, the newly launched Snapchat account Snaplistings has been effectively selling and renting properties through social media. As you may know, Snapchat is the mobile app du jour, popular with millennials who send photos and videos that self-destruct after 24 hours. Snaplistings’s first official lease was a $3,000 apartment rented by a young investment banker back in February after he was referred to the account by a friend. The lease came with splashy coverage in the New York Post and CNBC. This is a prime example of how the next generation is usheri ..read more

Ever since Socrates, philosophers have pondered what makes for a happy life, without reaching a conclusive answer. The question clearly resonates on social media nowadays: LinkedIn recently posted a listicle from Inc. magazine about things people can do to be happier. Number two on the list (right after “Learn something new, even if it’s stressful: Mastering a new skill means more stress now but more happiness later.”) was “Make friends who live near you: The sweet spot is a happy friend who lives a mile away.” This insight is loosely based on a still ongoing multigenerational medical study th ..read more

Retail has received a lot of negative press in recent months, but the overall health of the sector is more nuanced than some doomsayers let on. The growth of e-commerce has presented brick-and-mortar stores with significant hurdles, and it’s likely that the worst is yet to come in certain markets. But the old real estate saying, “location, location, location,” is more than just a catchy maxim. A key factor in retail is demographics, and New York and New Jersey are blessed with some of the most densely populated counties in the country. Developers are betting big money that in particularly w ..read more

Newark – now 50 years removed from the 1967 riots that caused thousands of jobs and residents to flee – has been rebounding fast.   While the city is still struggling to shed a legacy of violence, poverty and corruption, the current wave of urbanization that has helped revitalize cities around the country is also spurring major changes in New Jersey’s largest metropolis. Commercial buildings that have been in the pipeline for years are now beginning to hit the market, and a wave of luxury apartments and new cultural attractions – the secret ingredients to drawing coveted millennials – &nb ..read more

Account Supervisor & Media Strategist Desiree Santiago Fagan specializes in digital/social media strategy and traditional media relations for Beckerman’s real estate clients. Her background, expertise and love for all things social has made her the Social Media Guru and led to the expansion of Beckerman’s social media services. We spoke to Desiree further to learn more about the best practices of social media management. When it comes to creating social media campaigns, which platform do you think is the most important for a company to have a presence on?  Every company and client is ..read more

Since breaking into the American consciousness just months ago, fidget spinners have quickly become a $500-million industry. You can’t miss them. Kids have spinners that glow in the dark, and many children are buying more than one. Adults seem to carry them around too, even in our PR office. But will the fad last through the summer? Will it have an impact on our everyday lives?   Backing up for a moment, in case you’ve missed this craze, a fidget spinner is a handheld device made of plastic and metal that lets people fidget without being too conspicuous. A typical one spins — much like a ..read more

I’ll admit, I was late to the podcast game. Like a good number of people under the age of 40, I had listened to The Joe Rogan Experience now and again, and I enjoyed the weekly podcast that the writers of the television show Lost put out back when the show was airing. But that was the extent of my exposure.   Though I was late to the game, it’s safe to say I’ve rallied hard over the past couple of years. At this point, there aren’t many well-known podcasts that I haven’t at least sampled. Most range in quality from “great” to “good” to “that’s three minutes of my life I’ll never get back ..read more