On today's episode, I sit down with Chris Powers, Founder and Executive Chairman of Fort Capital and host of The Fort Podcast. Chris is a serial entrepreneur with more than 18 years of real estate development and investment experience.

To date, Fort Capital has invested over $2 billion in Class B industrial, Commercial, Multi-Family, student housing, and residential land development projects throughout the state of Texas and the Sunbelt. Chris spends his time focusing on Fort's long-term strategy, fostering strategic relationships, and building capital partnerships that will help complement the firm's growth.

As host of The Fort, Chris has published over 255 episodes through a series of raw business conversations with leaders and entrepreneurs. Many will know Chris as a member of the ReTwit community, which is a group of real estate professionals that are active on Twitter.

I've had the opportunity to get to know Chris over the last several years, including as a guest on his podcast, and today I'm excited to flip the microphone on Chris to get to know him and learn more about his personal journey and the story of Fort Capital.

Links:

Follow Chris on Twitter

Check out The Fort Podcast

Learn more about Juniper Square

Provide feedback for the podcast

Connect with Brandon Sedloff on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bsedloff/

Topics:

(00:02:18) - Chris’ journey into commercial Real Estate and early career

(00:05:39) - Why do you think Real Estate was your calling?

(00:08:19) - Did your studies at TCU play into your eventual career?

(00:11:30) - When did Fort Capital come into existence?

(00:18:29) - Who’s Jason Baxter and what’s his role?

(00:20:08) - How did you transition out of housing development and into industrial?

(00:24:23) - When you got into industrial, how did you find your niche within this asset class?

(00:33:15) - What are the headline stats on Fort Capital today?

(00:35:26) - What is the process of finding a deal and the syndication model you pursue?

(00:43:39) - How have you become so skilled at raising capital?

(00:50:00) - The power of social media & Twitter

(00:58:04) - What do the next 5 years for FC look like?

(01:04:21) - How do you think about transitioning from building trust with non institutional capital to raising from institutional capital?

(01:08:04) - How has technology played a role in the success of Fort Capital?

(01:19:15) - What are 3 reasons investors should care about Class B Industrial in the Sun Belt?