[February 05, 2010] Broker is happy to be where he was in '90s Tweet Feb 05, 2010 (The Wichita Eagle - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- RP Realty Partners has hired commercial brokers Doug Malone and Leisa Lowry to handle leasing at Brittany Center at 21st and Woodlawn and Normandie Center at Central and Woodlawn. The brokers, who are with J.P. Weigand & Sons , will work closely with Debbie McNeal , who manages the centers. With Malone and Lowry focusing on leasing, they say McNeal will be able to concentrate on property management. "'Those two properties have really stood the test of time over the years," Malone says. Malone, a lifelong Wichitan, says, "I can remember going to the corner of Central and Woodlawn, and that was east Wichita." Numerous other centers opened on Rock Road and farther east through the years. But he says Normandie and Brittany "are always going to have a demand for retail." Brittany has a 95 percent occupancy rate. The available spaces there range from 1,200 square feet to 4,000 square feet. Normandie has a number of spaces for lease. Malone says prime locations include 22,500 square feet in the former Star Lumber space and 10,778 square feet in the former Gessler's space. A potential deal for Wal-Mart to bring one of its Neighborhood Market concepts there fell apart last year. Malone formerly handled leasing at Normandie in the early 1990s. "It's kind of fun to be working on this again." Addicts in the making John David Burkholder is unabashedly passionate for his iPhone . "It is quite a business tool," says the manager of content and strategic positioning for Preferred Health Systems . When he first got the phone a few months ago, Burkholder says he spent "several weeks of staying up late into the night looking for apps." But, he says, "With over 100,000 apps in the iTunes apps store, you're never going to get a good chance to see what's in there. There's a lot of gems as you dig deep down into the app store." That's why he's now forming a group --iPhoneatics --through which he hopes business people can meet and share what they've found to be helpful (check out www.iPhoneatics.com). "Are there things that we can learn from one another that we're able to improve ourselves at work and even at home?" Burkholder says. Eventually he'd like to create a basic list of apps that make sense for business people to have. "You start to realize you're holding a gateway," Burkholder says. "I really started on a search of productivity apps." His favorite app is Toodledo , which helps organize to-do lists. The first iPhoneatics meeting will be at noon Feb. 12 at Greteman Group at 1425 E. Douglas. Anyone is invited, but Burkholder says it's "a little bit more focused for the business user." He says it's BYOBB -- Bring Your Own Brown Bag -- but drinks will be provided. Burkholder thinks it will be worth people's time to attend. "There's going to be questions answered that you didn't even know to ask." You don't say "I promise I'm more creative than my name." --Sharon Durmaskin who recently started Durmaskin Communications Got a hot tip or quirky story? Call Carrie Rengers at 316-268-6340 or e-mail [email protected]. To see more of The Wichita Eagle, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.kansas.com. Copyright (c) 2010, The Wichita Eagle, Kan. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For reprints, email [email protected], call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA. [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]