Phil Burgess founded Malden-based Burgess Properties, a suburban full-service commercial real estate firm, in 1997.
Phil Burgess’ clients always know what he’s up to. The “BrokerCam” perched on his desk in Malden keeps close tabs on the day’s activities – if he disappears for a few minutes, Burgess can usually count on at least one sarcastic e-mail message when he gets back: “Why aren’t you working?”
Burgess has been working – at Malden-based Burgess Properties, a suburban full-service commercial real estate firm he founded in 1997; on a Web-based business called “Canadian Maritimes,” which he’ll launch on Jan. 1; and on his Internet Web site, a tool Burgess credits with garnering many of his business contacts.
And that’s just in the office. During his spare time, Burgess finished a more than two-year stint as a pro bono chef under Todd English, the Boston restaurateur-entrepreneur and owner of Figs, Bonfire and Olive’s.
“I liken it to getting free golf lessons from Jack Nicklaus,” he said. “I hounded him for months. I love the energy of a kitchen.”
These days, Burgess keeps the cooking in his family’s kitchen; it’s not uncommon for him to arrive home with 50 pounds of veal bones for a stock or to whip up his specialty, duck confit. Word of his skills spread. Toward the end of his tenure at Olive’s, Burgess taught an adult cooking class at Dover High School. A fund-raising auction at his daughter’s school cost one couple $1,500 for a private dinner party featuring Burgess as head chef.
“I hope to open a seasonal place. I’d love to at least try it,” he said.
‘An Excellent Tool’
In the meantime, Burgess is focusing on Burgess Properties, which he founded after working in the commercial real estate industry for decades. Originally headed for medical school with a major in biochemistry, Burgess switched gears and landed his first real estate job with Ryan Elliott & Co. A graduate of Montreal’s McGill University, Burgess has lived in the Greater Boston area since, although a slight Canadian accent gives away his roots.
Burgess later worked at the Real Estate Collaborative, the Flatley Co. and as director of leasing for Combined Properties in Malden before forming his own company.
“The thing I enjoy about the business is that you’re not locked to a desk. You can be creative about putting deals together,” he said. “You can be somewhat entrepreneurial in this business.”
Since the early years of Burgess Properties, Burgess has focused on Internet marketing. Even his e-mails feature sleek graphics, blinking logos, maps and streaming videos.
“That has made me seem much larger than I am,” he said. “I’ve gotten business from England, India, Canada and Scotland, all because of this Web site. It’s been an excellent tool.”
Burgess said that despite the recent slump in the commercial real estate industry, the industrial sector in the northern inner suburban market – including East Boston, Chelsea, Everett, Malden, Medford, Somerville and Charlestown – is keeping him busy. A preliminary report from Burgess Properties found that industrial building sale prices have skyrocketed, reaching the highest levels ever in key towns within the submarket; owner/occupant prices, which previously hovered at $50-$60 per square feet during the boom of the 1980s and much of the 1990s, hit $70 per square foot last year. And in 2003, the prices climbed up to $80 per square foot, marking a new record.
“The northern inner suburban industrial market of Greater Boston has again resisted those full-to-empty space swings that cyclically plague areas such as the Burlington and Waltham office markets,” Burgess said. “This submarket is home to companies that typically don’t have [price/earning] ratios; aren’t [venture capital] funded and operate more like tortoises than hares. This market is predominately populated by old-line companies in decidedly low-tech businesses such as food production, machine tooling, air-freight and vehicle repair.”
That base of industries and companies insulates the northern inner suburban industrial market, making it likely to remain stable in good and bad times, according to Burgess.
“This is a market where purchase prices for desirable properties have continued to rise throughout our recent economic malaise,” he said. “With the exception of some ill-timed telecom-targeted properties, this market has never felt the full brunt of our recent recession.”
The market picked up steam this fall. Recent transactions include Corinthian Colleges’ lease of 30,000 square feet at 70 Everett Ave. in Chelsea and Boston-based Sandstorm Enterprises’ 6,500-square-foot move to The Gateway in Malden. Burgess said that a 70,000-square-foot office lease at One Cabot Road in Medford is also close to being announced.
