Have you ever thought about real estate beneath the stores where you shop? Evan Mouhalis does, and he does it well.

In this conversation, Chris Ressa and Evan, a real estate entrepreneur and managing partner of Mahalas Capital Management, discuss Evan's journey from commercial real estate finance to developing retail properties and venturing into the tire business. The conversation covers various aspects of real estate development strategies, market challenges, tenant relationships, and insights into operating a tire business. Evan shares his experiences, lessons learned, and future plans, emphasizing the importance of adaptability and strategic decision-making in a changing market.

What you'll hear:

• How Evan's career in commercial real estate finance helped develop his primary focus on retail development, particularly single-tenant net lease assets.
• Why he prefers to enter deals with tenants already in place to minimize risk.
• How he has developed properties for notable tenants like Chipotle and Sprouts.
• He has thoughts on the current market challenges of high costs and compressed spreads.
• The importance of transparency with tenants during negotiations.
• How the tire business was his path to gain control over his expansion plans.
• The importance of marketing in the success of his tire business.
• Why owning the real estate for his tire stores is a long-term play.
• What Evan thinks the future holds many opportunities despite market uncertainties.

00:00 Introduction to Evan Mahalas and his journey

02:59 Real estate development strategies

06:09 Navigating market challenges and tenant relationships

08:50 Venturing into the tire business

11:53 Insights on operating a tire business

14:58 Marketing and customer engagement in the tire industry

18:03 Future plans and market predictions