When I first launched what would eventually become RockStep Capital, it wasn’t called RockStep. It was Wiener Development. I started in a small architect’s office, literally borrowing space from a good friend. Back then, I knew a bit about the shopping center business, but real estate development? That was a different beast entirely.
I didn't understand anything about the development business. I didn't realize that you have to spend a lot of money for a very long time without any income. You're shelling out cash for travel, engineers, surveyors, legal and civil services, long before a deal is even real. So I sat down with a blank sheet of paper and thought, How can I get going in this business?
My closest friend, Brad Schlosser, was already in the game. He agreed to partner with me to help show me the ropes. I started cruising around the suburbs of Houston, looking at aerial maps, trying to figure out where Walmart or other major retailers might want to set up shop next. I ended up putting under contract a piece of property in Spring, Texas, that Walmart wanted. We sold 20 acres of it to Walmart and developed a power center on the remaining 15. That was the spark.
The Next Step: Expanding The Vision
The initial success led to more opportunities for us. We proceeded to secure deals with Walmart in Spring, El Dorado, Kemah, and League City. Following those, we focused on a property in Navasota. Both Walmart and Tractor Supply expressed interest in it. I chose to build a relationship with Tractor Supply, which allowed me to develop new locations for them in southeast Texas and southern Louisiana. This experience further immersed me in secondary and tertiary markets. At that point, I started to really enjoy these markets and the opportunities they present.
From Building To Buying: Shifting Gears After The GFC
Things were going well, but then the Great Financial Crisis (GFC) of 2008 hit. It changed everything. Retailers slammed the brakes. New construction wasn’t being built, so I made a move. I figured the next best play was buying existing shopping centers. That meant raising equity for the first time in my life.
I began my journey in Vicksburg, Mississippi, where I started raising funds from local investors. This experience led me to develop a thesis: to focus on local investors and local lenders. This concept became the foundation of our business model. Ultimately, it evolved into a portfolio that includes 16 malls and various shopping centers located in secondary markets, consisting of syndications that combine both local and other types of investors.
What Surprised Me Most About HomeTown Markets
As we settled into these HomeTown markets, I started to see things I hadn’t expected. If you’d asked me back then, I might have had the same assumptions as anyone else: these markets are slow, maybe a little behind. But I’ve seen something different.
These markets have a very vibrant community and civic leadership. In smaller communities, people are just as busy with activities, organizations, family, and work as they are in big metropolitan areas. In places like Mississippi, Arkansas, and Louisiana, I’ve seen communities come together in powerful ways. The community's leadership worked very well together to solve the problems. You have to live together, and a big component of that is solving problems or addressing concerns collectively.
Another myth? That small-town business owners aren’t sharp. They're smarter than all of us combined. Their sense of how things are and how they should be is more robust and uncomplicated by the complexities of “big-city” life.
Vertical Integration And The RockStep Way
As our portfolio grew, we realized that to truly excel, we had to keep things in-house. Nobody manages money as closely as we do. This isn’t the case for every company, of course. Outsourcing can be a great strategy for companies that don’t have the needed expertise within their organization. For RockStep Capital, however, and just doesn’t get the job done like our people.
You are able to learn all of the nuances of leasing, property management, and construction management. You, in particular, learn about how tenants want landlords to do things like tenant improvement, landlord work letters, and how that needs to be negotiated to protect both the landlord and the tenant.
When it comes to tenant relationships, the rules are simple. Be transparent, speak straight. If there’s a problem, and there are always problems, give a heads-up.
My Experience With Navigating The Evolving Retail Landscape
The retail world hasn’t stood still. As things evolved, so did we. It’s more experiential, more service-oriented, more medical. Department stores are fading. What matters now is: How resistant is this tenant to e-commerce?
We like off-price retailers, fun experiences like Hobby Lobby, and "category killers" like Best Buy or Home Depot. But we’ve had our wake-up calls, too.
We got caught in the COVID construction scare. Delays, costs, you name it, and no force majeure clause to back us up. We didn’t have a force majeure provision, and therefore, we got stuck.
The RockStep Ethos: Learning, Adapting, Leading
Throughout it all, we've continued to learn and improve. We are getting better at predicting the performance of an asset. Additionally, we are learning how to be quicker at selling and disposing of properties. Local ties matter. We're connected with local investors, city leadership, city government, and lending leadership, and we engage with them. We often get them as investors, lenders, or partners. It's very critical to what we do.
One of the most important aspects of our organization is the culture we've established. Although we started the RockSteps only about ten years ago, they have become essential to our operations. You need to have rules of behavior, and you must have enforcement mechanisms, rituals, and regular conversations. These must be taken seriously at the top, and that will trickle down through the organization.
How I'm Implementing What We've Learned
Reflecting on this journey, I see more than just the story of a company. I see the story of relationships, lessons, and reinvention. RockStep was never about following the conventional playbook. It was about figuring things out along the way—pivoting when markets shifted, listening to communities, and always investing in people first.
The experiences I’ve shared here weren’t just milestones in business; they were moments that shaped my understanding of what success means. It’s not just about growing a portfolio. It’s about building something meaningful in places that others might overlook.
There’s no perfect roadmap. But if I could talk to my younger self, I’d say: It all starts with people. Know your community, choose good partners, and build a way of doing things you believe in.
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