Dead Retail, Live Returns with Neil Henderson

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Neil Henderson is a general partner and Director of Investor Relations at Nomad Capital, a Wilmington, NC-based private equity firm with a twist on self-storage: they buy vacant big-box retail buildings and convert them into climate-controlled storage facilities.

The numbers behind their model are hard to ignore. Ground-up self-storage construction runs $120-130 per square foot and takes nearly three years. Nomad's conversions come in at $60-65 per square foot, acquisition to occupancy in 12-14 months. Half the cost, a third of the time.

In this episode, we get into:

- Why old Kmarts and strip malls are the perfect conversion targets
- How vertical integration keeps construction costs at cost-plus-12% vs the industry standard 25%
- Their current deal: a 171,000 sq ft strip mall in Rocky Mount, NC for $6M with seller financing
- Why 2026 loan maturities could create a wave of distressed self-storage opportunities
- The Sam Zell principle that guides every acquisition: buy below replacement cost
- Neil's Las Vegas condo in 2005 and what it taught him about buying when everyone else is greedy

Learn more about Nomad Capital at nomadcapital.us

Book recommendation: "How to Break Up with Your Phone" By Catherine Price

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• Clark St Capital -> Passive real estate investments for busy business owners and executives
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