Blog entries

Small Business Week is May 20-26, 2012

Ed Zigo — Mon, 07 May 2012 14:47:43 +0100

To all our tenants and other friends of Clarke-Hook,

Whether your business is emerging or well-established in Loudoun County, the Department of Economic Development for Loudoun County, Virginia is sponsoring important activities related to Small Business Week which is coming up in May.

Loudoun Celebrates Small Business Week May 20-26, 2012

The Loudoun County Department of Economic Development and its cosponsors will celebrate National Small Business Week ...

Attention Loudoun Small Businesses & Entrepreneurs! (Event Notice)

Ed Zigo — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 18:55:58 +0100

Funding your business growth… bank loans simplified.

Find out what it takes to get a Business Bank loan.

Friday, January 27, 2012 from 8-10 am.

Your chance to network directly with bankers, SBA, The Virginia Small Business Financing Authority and the Loudoun Small Business Development Center.

Cost: Free!!

Location: Loudoun County Pubic Schools Administration Building – 21000 Education Court, Ashburn, VA 20148

But you must register: c...

Yelp 101 for Small Business Owners

Dave Clarke — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 16:32:17 +0100

As a small business owner, there’s a good chance you might have heard about a website called Yelp.

At its most basic level, Yelp is a social networking site that features listings of businesses and services from all over the US and Canada (and a number of other countries). These listings feature user-submit...

Reflections of 2011

Ed Zigo — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 22:13:10 +0100

Personally, this year hasn’t been great for me, particularly because I lost my Dad last February.

Business has been fairly stable….not good …not bad… BUT….as...

The Value of a Knowledgeable Commercial Real Estate Broker

Ed Zigo — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 20:13:37 +0100

In the course of our leasing and sales operations, we’ve always made it a priority at Clarke-Hook to work and cooperate with the brokerage community. This experienced group plays a vital role in the commercial real estate industry across markets of all sizes. And while we have worked with agents and brokerages from large national companies to regional, we especially enjoy working with a great corps of local professionals, right here in the Fairfax, Loudoun, and Du...

Tips to Having a Successful and Productive Holiday Season

Ed Zigo — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 16:42:54 +0100

Loudoun & Fairfax Small Businesses: It’s that time of year again... the holidays.

Embraced, dreaded, chaotic, busy and seemingly arriving earlier each year, the holiday season, for most of us, is anything but restful. And, usually starting right around Halloween, our office gets calls from our tenant businesses asking what we can do to help generate sales or what they can do in the form of promotion. As a property management firm, that’s natural....

Clarke-Hook: Providing More Than Just Space

Ed Zigo — Fri, 18 Nov 2011 19:58:07 +0100

How Clarke-Hook is Becoming a Small Business Resource

Among small business owners, the landlord relationship is usually pretty standard. The tenant needs workspace and the landlord has it. Throw in the occasional maintenance work and collect a check on the first of the month and that’s what is expected.

But we’re improving on that.

At Clarke-Hook, we’ve always been a property manager that values trusting relationships - with our brokers, ...

Loudoun County Government Means Business!!

Ed Zigo — Fri, 30 Sep 2011 14:40:04 +0100

In our business, which is regional, we work with the many departments affecting real estate including building, planning and most regularly, zoning.

Oftentimes County officials – much like we landlords! - get a bad rap…close minded…overbearing. Lengthy review processes are sometimes to blame for missed business opportunities or at the least, causing hiccups in the transition of businesses moving or expanding or simply redesigning its space to make it more functi...

School Is In

Ingrid Gelinas — Thu, 25 Aug 2011 19:39:09 +0100

With an upsurge in leasing activity, Clarke-Hook is busy working with current and future tenants. Our newest include

Free to Dance Foundation
Happy Feet
Martial Arts World of Ashburn

While the thought of a dance studio and youth athletic training may sound mainstream, these unique enterprises work one-on-one with children starting at a very young age on learning skills, mobility, coordination and most importantly, teamwork.

All three youth-oriented organizations are lo...

Commercial Real Estate – Running its Course

Ed Zigo — Wed, 17 Aug 2011 20:03:33 +0100

Clarke-Hook sticks to its plan!

Recently, a friend said they were going to run a marathon in a certain time on a bet….more of a dare.

Being a long time runner myself, I questioned the motive…..actually, I more than questioned it!!

During my early morning run today, I thought about this and drew an analogy to our Loudoun/Fairfax counties commercial real estate market here in Northern Virginia.

Being a Developer…Landlord….Property Manager ...

Our Brokerage Services At Work

Ed Zigo — Sun, 10 Jul 2011 19:15:58 +0100

For Immediate Release

Contact: Stephanie Kenyon, COO

571-223-4040

SKenyon@LoudounCHC.org

LOUDOUN COMMUNITY HEALTH CENTER TO BUILD NEW CLINIC,

BRINGING NEW JOBS AND HEALTH CARE TO LOUDOUN COUNTY

Leesburg, VA (July 11, 2011) - The Loudoun Community Health Center today announced that after an exhaustive search to find land on which to construct a new clinic, it has closed on the purchase of property located at 163 For...

New Leasing Trends

Ed Zigo — Thu, 30 Jun 2011 12:11:16 +0100

We have been experiencing a new and very interesting trend in leasing recently.

Businesses and uses that we normally wouldn’t pursue are becoming more popular and attractive.

For instance, unique fitness uses such as personal trainers, dance, indoor sports training – baseball/softball, lacrosse, soccer, golf.

We welcome those types of uses and their clientele. These are typically clean & healthy uses which bring a number of frequent and diverse visitors to our cent...

Giving Back is Not a Contest

Ed Zigo — Thu, 14 Apr 2011 21:18:28 +0100

I know there are countless businesses and individuals who devote their time and money for noble philanthropic causes. They/we do this not for any award but to make our community better in all aspects. And also because it’s well…just plain nice.

My family and my company believe that through volunteerism and financial support we are doing our part to help those in need….help those less fortunate than us….and make our community better in all aspects.

We don’t do...

Saying Goodbye to My Hero

Ed Zigo — Thu, 24 Feb 2011 03:15:48 +0100

My dad Ed Zigo, Sr. was my mentor, hero and inspiration. He was a remarkable, compassionate person whose strongest trait was to help others. In doing that, he became a role model to many.

He died on February 19 and was buried with full police and military honors.

Here is a link to the Associated Press story that was circulated around the world on him followed by the text of the story itself. http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=133965000

Edward Zigo, the ...

Don't Just Say No

Ed Zigo — Tue, 08 Feb 2011 05:00:00 +0100

Don't just say no...explain why.

Too often, we Landlords and Property Managers are viewed as the bad guys when a tenant's request is refused.

Shame on us though if we don't share our knowledge and experience with each other to explore workable alternatives.

For example, say a tenant wants to make a change in its business, adding a use not originally approved..."we'd like to start selling food to augment our sales and drive more customers to our place of business."

...

No Matter What

Ed Zigo — Fri, 21 Jan 2011 15:20:24 +0100

We think we are doing the right things … then I get a reminder. No matter what…the two most important rules in customer service, especially in the world of commercial real estate:

#1 – The customer is always right.
#2 – In those circumstances where the customer appears to be wrong, refer to Rule #1.

As landlords to a number of commercial and industrial centers in our region, we are in a constant balancing mode. We deal with a struggling econo...

Landlords ≠ Bankers

Ed Zigo — Thu, 07 Oct 2010 21:03:12 +0100

In the first of a series of interviews with business leaders in the Northern Virginia region, we talk about our concern relating to the ability of prospective customers (in our case, tenants) to obtain financing for their relocation and/or expansion needs.

I was privileged to spend a few minutes with one of the region’s leading bank experts, Harry Rauner, CEO of The Business Bank. After providing Mr. Rauner with a brief overview of o...

I am a Surfer and CEO but not a Dude

Ed Zigo — Mon, 13 Sep 2010 17:10:13 +0100

If I told someone that I was going to run the Boston Marathon (which I have, 3 times), they would likely be impressed and ask me all about it, genuinely interested.

The same would happen after my golf tournaments, snow skiing or game fishing near Cape Hatteras.

But when it comes to surfing, I always get the look that says “Aren’t you a little old for that, Dude!!!”

So, I’m on my flight back from Costa Rica still wearing a sponsor shirt from...

Summer’s Dog Days Bring Cool Surprises. Got Lease Activity? We Do!

Ed Zigo — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 04:00:00 +0100

Usually, during July and August, commercial leasing takes a vacation, but the past two months we’ve had a number of pleasant surprises.

We’ve seen healthy leasing activity in all our Dulles Region centers.

In Chantilly, we welcome Nova Installations and Artistry Lighting to our West Fairfax Commerce Center. Our new tenants were attracted not only for the direct Rt. 50 exposure but also because of the many complementary businesses in the Center. We’re becoming a hom...

I am a Surfer and CEO but not a Dude

Ed Zigo — Thu, 05 Aug 2010 04:00:00 +0100

If I told someone that I was going to run the Boston Marathon (which I have, 3 times), they would likely be impressed and ask me all about it, genuinely interested.

The same would happen after my golf tournaments, snow skiing or game fishing near Cape Hatteras.

But when it comes to surfing, I always get the look that says “Aren’t you a little old for that, Dude!!!”

So, I’m on my flight back from Costa Rica still wearing a sponsor shirt from a famous annual surfing...