Experienced Businessman and Entrepreneur
The Retail Tenant That Changed How I Think About Community
There's a version of commercial real estate that treats tenants like line items. Occupancy rates. Rent rolls. NOI per square foot. I understood that version well for most of my career. It's not wrong; those metrics matter, and anyone who tells you otherwise is...
What 25 Years in Commercial Real Estate Have Taught Me About Knowing When to Walk Away
There's a deal I almost closed in 2009 that still comes to mind when I mentor younger investors. The numbers looked reasonable on paper. The seller was motivated. My team had put in months of due diligence. And then I walked away, three days before closing. It was one...
The Supply Drought That’s Defining Hospitality’s Next Decade
Why the pandemic's construction freeze created a generational opportunity and how the projects we built during it are now reaping the rewards. The hospitality industry has never received a stranger gift than the COVID-19 pandemic. For the owners and developers who...
The Golden Arches Never Lie: What McDonald’s Mastered That Most Brands Never Will
It’s not about the burger. It’s never been about the burger. McDonald’s built the most influential commercial real estate empire in the world and built a restaurant around it. In my previous piece about traveling through the small towns of southern Spain, I wrote...
Adaptive Reuse in the Pacific Northwest
Transforming industrial heritage into modern commercial space, and why the Pacific Northwest's working past is among its greatest development assets. The Pacific Northwest built its economy on timber, fishing, shipping, and manufacturing. Drive through Seattle's...
What Spain’s Small Towns Taught Me About the Global Rise of American Brands
Walking through the whitewashed streets of Andalucía, I kept pondering retail real estate and how outdated the US seems in that area. That line from my travel notes stayed with me, even as I realized something else during the trip: American brands are everywhere and...
Why Utah Is the Most Underrated Commercial Real Estate Market in the Mountain West, and How Long That Will Last
The Underrated Market Thesis Every experienced commercial real estate investor has learned the same hard lesson at least once: by the time a market is widely recognized as exceptional, the best opportunities have already been taken by those who got there first. The...
Skip the Financial Tutor: Why Your Family Is the Best Financial Education Your Teen Will Ever Get
In my previous posts on teen financial literacy, I’ve stressed the importance of money education and what teenagers should do about it. The response has been huge, and one question keeps coming up more than any other: “Akki, I want my teenager to learn this stuff, but...
Terra Quest: Where People Are Moving Across the West, and What It Means for the Markets We Build In
There’s a running observation in my office: I can usually tell which direction a market is heating up by watching moving trucks. When I start seeing more U-Hauls pulling into a neighborhood than out of it, I pull over and call my site selection team. I'm only half...
Why Out-of-State Capital Is Discovering Nevada Commercial Real Estate — And What Local Brokers Should Do About It
The Capital Is Already Moving If you're involved in the Nevada commercial real estate market and haven't noticed a rise in out-of-state buyer inquiries over the past two years, you're not paying enough attention. California investors like high-net-worth individuals,...