In this episode, Scott Choppin joins us for an interview where he shares his unique investment model with Workforce Housing for Multi-Generational Families in Southern California. You will want to hear Scott's story on how he got started, to what continues to motivate himself to improve, and also details on what makes his investment model one to take another look at.

Scott is the CEO and Founder of The Urban Pacific Group (www.urbanpacific.com). The company was founded in 2000 to pursue urban infill real estate development. Urban Pacific is exclusively focused on the innovative “Urban Town House” rental housing model, which was created by Urban Pacific. The Urban Town House is a new construction housing model that pairs private capital with multi-generational workforce rental housing. The Choppin Family has been in the real estate development business since 1960, including the development of the World Trade Center in our hometown of Long Beach, CA. Scott entered the business in 1983, working on family multifamily development projects.

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On this episode, Syed Hasan joins us for an interview where we provides some detailed insight and knowledge as an active investor within the Allentown, PA market. You will want to hear Syed's story on how he and his partner are building an impressive rental portfolio in today's market and how they go about finding and evaluating deals.

Syed Hasan is a partner at Ideal Management Group, a RE investment firm located in Allentown PA. Ideal Management Group focuses on opportunistic multifamily and single family purchases in center city Allentown, Pennsylvania. Syed has been investing in the Lehigh Valley market for the past 3 years. He has an entrepreneurial background with experience in commercial real estate and various other businesses. He has a Masters in Real Estate Development from NYU and has been investing in Real Estate for 10 years.

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On this episode, Rodney Thompson joins us for an interview where we provides some knowledge and perspective as a syndicator who purchases apartment buildings. You will want to hear Rodney's story on how he overcame a huge obstacle in order to close on the 176-unit apartment building.

Rodney is the founder and principle of Solaris Capital Management, LLC. Rodney has been in single-family housing and moved into multifamily after discovering the scalability of multifamily. Rodney has been in the IT industry for 30 years. In the last 20 years, Rodney has been in IT system administration, design, and data security. He has been responsible for multi-city networks and project management, overseeing design and implementation, setting budgets, and maintaining the project costs within the budget. Rodney has a B.S. in Technical Business Management from DeVry University and graduated Summa Cum Laude. He has been married to his wife Pattie for 35 years and has six awesome kids.

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On this episode, Michael Berne, one of North America's leading experts and futurists on the Retail Industry, joins us for an interview.

As the Founder and President of MJB Consulting, Michael has amassed more than twenty years of experience in conducting market analyses, devising tenanting strategies, advising on project site plans and spearheading recruitment efforts on behalf of developers, landlords, investors as well as municipalities, BID’s, CDC’s and other non-profit clients across the U.S., Canada and the U.K.

The firm has long been active across the region, with recent and past engagements in (Philadelphia), Phoenixville, PA, Atlantic City, Newark (NJ) and Westfield (NJ), among others.

Michael is a regular presenter and keynote speaker at industry conferences, including those of the International Downtown Association (IDA), the National Main Street Center, the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC), the International Economic Development Council (IEDC), the American Planning Association (APA) and the Urban Land Institute (ULI), among others.

Michael has lectured at University of Pennsylvania and the University of California, Berkeley. He is quoted often in high-profile publications such as the Financial Times, TheStreet, Planning and the Washington Post.

In addition to his widely followed “Retail Contrarian” blog, Michael is a contributor to and founding Board member of a new online publication called the American Downtown Revitalization Review (ADRR). He has penned numerous articles for magazines and has authored an essay for an upcoming book on the history of the Main Street movement and written a chapter in a recently-published volume on the urbanization of the suburbs called, (“Suburban Remix: Creating the Next Generation of Urban Places”).

Before founding MJB Consulting, Michael worked on market studies and commercial revitalization for a planning consultancy, leasing and acquisitions for an urban retail developer, and policy analysis for a citywide elected official.

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On this episode, Kelly McEllroy, from the Allentown Redevelopment Authority, joins us for an interview.

Kelly has been in the real estate industry since 1999. She started with her new construction Real Estate License at Traditions of America. After working several years for New Construction projects, she ventured into the resale market. She worked for ERA Rudy Amelio and Century 21 Pinnacle. Her main concentrations were in Foreclosures, Property Management and Resale transactions.

Kelly recently joined the Allentown Redevelopment Authority as the Assistant Director, where she works with grant funding and involved with the government processes involved with redevelopment.

One of the main things she has learned over the years is that houses need purpose, just like people; if they lose their purpose they start falling apart and it is costly to bring them back to life. This is especially true with Foreclosure’s and Blight properties. As with any transaction, being involved and invested from start to finish produces the best results. She loves seeing construction from start to finish and ending with a family falling in love with their new home.

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On this episode, Jack Gross joins us for an interview. Jack brings a vast amount of experience and toughness as he leads all of us through 2020 as the President of Greater Lehigh Valley Realtors. Jack discusses the Lehigh Valley Market in comparison to some neighboring markets and why it is attractive to property owners.

Jack began his career in Real Estate at 19 years old, which has spanned 30+ years. In that time, he has been the recipient of numerous national sales awards from HUD, Fannie Mae, Coldwell Banker, Citicorp and Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate. He is President and CEO of two brokerages. Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate Cassidon Realty, comprising of 60 agents, two offices in the Lehigh Valley and Cassidon Property Management that currently manages 500+ units for small to medium size investor/owners throughout the Lehigh Valley PA (Allentown, Bethlehem & Easton)

Currently, he is the 2020 President of the Greater Lehigh Valley Realtors and member of the Board of Directors for the Pennsylvania Association of Realtors.

Jack preaches and speaks often about wealth building through real estate. His development company Petra Holdings LLC & JG Properties has been built over his career through the acquisition of under producing and distressed properties, redeveloping these opportunities, renting them and reinvesting the returns. To date he owns a portfolio of over 125 rental units and is proud of a very low LTV ratio.

He is an approved PA Real Estate Instructor and an occasional speaker on subjects such as leadership, building wealth through real estate investment and a frequent article contributor to Inman News and other media outlets.

Most importantly, he is the father to two outstanding young men. They have been taught the value of good leadership, the necessity for strong work ethic and the need to laugh at oneself from time to time. They have been taught that a strike out is learning lesson and that management is doing things right, but leadership is doing the right things.

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On this episode, Becky Bradley joins us for an interview. Becky is extremely entertaining to listen to and very personable. In this episode, she discusses the important role that the Lehigh Valley Planning Commission plays in multiple industries. If Real Estate Investors are not listening to her and following her, they are missing out! In the middle of the interview, she provides some details that the Lehigh Valley ranked #2 in the WORLD in a specific real estate investment sector. The WORLD... This is a MUST LISTEN EPISODE!

Becky has 20 years of experience in city, regional economic development, historic preservation, transportation planning, including significant implementation experience in community revitalization, infrastructure investment, roadway redesign and trail construction.

She has been the Executive Director of the Lehigh Valley Planning Commission since August of 2013 and is leading a $2.5 billion dollar regional transportation planning program as well as balancing the needs of the Lehigh Valley's rapidly growing population through this organizations county planning responsibilities. She has led the joint effort to combine the Lehigh Valley Planning Commission's General land use plan with the transportation and investment plan through the Lehigh Valley Transportation Study, which was done in 2019. The result which is FutureLV: The Regional Plan, is one of the first regional transportation comprehensive land use plans in the nation and sets the direction for the region for the next 25 years. FutureLV balances the needs of a rapidly growing region and booming freight economy with environmental, housing, education, technology and quality of life goals. In the first half of 2020, she coordinated the adoption of the first bicycle, pedestrian and last feet to transit plan, Walk/RollLV: Active Transportation Plan, launched the expanded Equity and Access to Opportunity analysis and online engagement tool, and finalized the adoption of the nearly $452 million 2021-2024 Transportation Improvement Program, all while managing development proposals for over 2,000 new housing units and 3.9 million square feet of commercial/industrial.

Prior to joining LVPC, Bradley was the Director of Planning, Codes and Development at the City of Easton (PA), where she was instrumental in the over $500 million revitalization of the community, including the addition of the Lehigh Valley’s first sculpture trail, the state’s first road diet, three brownfield redevelopment projects and the opening more than 60 restaurants and shops. She joined the Easton Team after working as a Senior Economic Development and Historic Preservation Planner for the Delaware County (PA) Planning Department, and on Civic Vision’s Las Vegas Arts District Implementation Team and as part of the Historic and Cultural Resources division at Kise Straw and Koldner, all in Philadelphia and it's region. Bradley began her career working for Illinois Lieutenant Governors Bob Kustra and Corinne Wood where she advanced the downtown revitalization goals of the Illinois Main Street program.

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On this episode, Matthew Tuerk joins us for an interview. Matt is Vice President of Business Attraction, Retention and Expansion at the Lehigh Valley Economic Development Corporation. In 2019, the Lehigh Valley's GDP reached $41.2 Billion, ranking 66th out of the 384 largest metropolitan statistical areas in the United States.

During this interview, Matt breaks it down for the listener on conversations that he is having with employers with what they are looking for when evaluating a market to expand into. This data is invaluable for Real Estate Investors and how they can appropriately plan what where and what they invest in. This is a MUST LISTEN EPISODE!

Matt has worked in economic development for over 12 years, all in the Lehigh Valley. During that time, he has developed a deep understanding of the region‘s position in the larger commercial real estate market and has applied it to attracting job-creating business investment to the Lehigh Valley. He earned his international MBA at the University of South Carolina and lives in Allentown with his wife and two teenage daughters.

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On this episode, Michael Keller joins us for an interview. Michael is responsible for launching the initiative and spreading the word about "Made Possible in Lehigh Valley". A ton of amazing data is shared from Michael and his organization that directly impacts real estate investors. You need to listen to this episode!

Mike Keller is the marketing manager for the Made Possible in Lehigh Valley initiative, which is a regional alliance that seeks to enhance Lehigh Valley’s brand and to increase awareness of the opportunities for visiting, working, learning and living in Lehigh Valley.

Guided by Lehigh Valley Economic Development Corporation, Discover Lehigh Valley, and the Lehigh Valley Chamber, Made Possible in Lehigh Valley helps to give a unified voice to tell the world that Lehigh Valley is an attractive and welcoming place to visit, live and do business. Keller has nearly 10 years of non-profit marketing experience in the Lehigh Valley region.

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Discover how Tourism and Hotels have fared during the COVID-19 pandemic and why the Lehigh Valley is built to thrive!

Listen to Alex Michaels, who is the President and CEO of Discover Lehigh Valley, as he shares insightful information that speaks to the commercial real estate market. It is a must listen to episode to gain some inside knowledge of some of the leading indicators within some of these segments.

Alex is a Whitehall High School and East Stroudsburg University alumnus. Prior to Discover Lehigh Valley Alex recently served as Vice President of Sales and Services for Visit Virginia’s Blue Ridge and Virginia’s Blue Ridge Sports Council. He also has held leadership positions for Visit Jacksonville and Daytona Beach Convention & Visitors Bureau.

From 2001-2005 Michaels served in the United States Navy, as a medical hospital corpsman. In 2003 was named Pacific Northwest Sailor of the Year and received The Navy & Marine Corps Achievement Medal.

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