Episode 02 | Jeremy Stephenson
Jeremy Stephenson, managing partner of 1820 Ventures, has developed more than $2 billion in multifamily, hotel, and office projects across the country, including as president of Milhaus and co-founder of Onyx+East. With 1820 Ventures, he pointed that experience at his hometown of Indianapolis.
In this conversation, Jeremy talks about naming his firm after the year the city was platted, and about starting with place instead of product.
He explains why aligned capital drives nearly every decision a developer makes. He walks through the Cole Motor project, an early 1900s auto factory that spent about 20 years as a jail and is now 213 industrial-style lofts. He also shares what it looks like to partner with local tenants, ask neighborhoods what they need before pitching the city, and stay honest when community development doesn't go as planned.
Takeaways & Chapters
Key Takeaways
Start with place, not product
Capital alignment drives decisions
Partnering with local businesses
Listening to the neighborhood first
Investing in overlooked places
Patience in a hard market
Key Chapters
00:00 Welcome and the Story Behind 1820 Ventures
03:06 Elevator Hill, Cole Motor, and Following Relationships
05:56 Starting Small in a Changing Neighborhood
09:35 Why Great Projects Get Overlooked
13:09 Partnering with Local Tenants
14:15 When Community Development Doesn't Go Well
16:13 Capital Alignment and Long-Term Investors
22:06 Commercial Real Estate as a Marathon
23:12 Why Indianapolis, and Starting with Place
27:22 Remarkable Projects and Learning from Other Cities
31:53 Cole Motor: From Auto Factory to Jail to Lofts
35:38 Winning the Project by Asking the Neighborhood
41:14 Finding Opportunity in a Hard Market
44:52 Family, Faith, and Pausing to Look Around