Strategy
Why secondary markets outperform on a risk-adjusted basis
The thesis behind two decades of focusing on markets larger institutional developers overlook.
Commercial real estate development
We develop buildings that outlast the market cycle they were built in
Kestrel develops mixed-use and commercial properties in secondary downtown markets, holding long-term ownership stakes rather than flipping projects at stabilization.
- Square feet developed
- 3.2M
- Square feet developed
- Active markets
- 9
- Active markets
- Developing since
- 2005
- Developing since
Trusted by teams at
- Wynbrook Capital
- Hatchford Logistics
- Dunmore Retail Group
- Piedmont Ridge Bank
- Bellamy Health Partners
- Larkin & Sowell Architects
What we develop
Mixed-use development from acquisition through long-term ownership
We stay involved in every project through stabilization and beyond, since roughly 70% of what we build stays on our own balance sheet.
Mixed-use development
Ground-up development combining retail, office, and residential in walkable downtown districts.
Adaptive reuse
Converting historic and industrial buildings into modern commercial and residential space.
Office repositioning
Renovating underperforming office assets to meet current tenant amenity expectations.
Retail & hospitality
Ground-floor retail and hospitality development designed to anchor foot traffic in a district.
Public-private partnerships
Structuring development deals alongside municipal partners on downtown revitalization projects.
Long-term asset management
In-house property and asset management for the majority of what we develop and hold.
Developing downtowns other investors overlooked since 2005
- Occupancy across portfolio
- 94%
- Occupancy across portfolio
- Projects currently held
- 31
- Projects currently held
- Capital deployed
- $680M
- Capital deployed
- Municipal partnerships
- 12
- Municipal partnerships
Selected developments
A few projects we can discuss publicly
Most of our portfolio is held long-term. These are projects far enough along to show meaningful performance data.
Mixed-use development
Millhouse District
Converted a former textile mill complex into 340,000 square feet of office, retail, and residential space, anchoring a broader downtown revitalization effort.
96%leased within 18 months of delivery
Office development
Hatchford Logistics HQ
Delivered a build-to-suit headquarters campus ahead of schedule and under budget, using an integrated design-build delivery model.
-4%under our original construction budget
About Kestrel
Betting on downtowns other developers overlooked
Kestrel was founded in 2005 with a thesis that secondary downtown markets were structurally undervalued relative to their long-term fundamentals. We've stayed disciplined to that thesis through two market cycles, holding long-term ownership positions rather than trading projects for short-term gains.
- Hold what we build
- We keep long-term ownership stakes in most of our portfolio, aligning our incentives with decades of performance.
- Secondary markets, first
- We focus deliberately on markets larger developers overlook, where our local relationships create real advantage.
- Municipal partnership
- We work directly with city planning offices from the earliest stage, rather than treating entitlement as adversarial.
- In-house management
- Asset and property management stay in-house for what we hold, keeping tenant relationships direct.
Leadership
Walter Kestrel
Founder & CEO
Danielle Fournier
Chief Investment Officer
Marcus Ridley
VP Development
Elena Sabatini
VP Asset Management
What partners say
“Kestrel brought us into the Millhouse District before the first permit was filed. Our store there now outsells locations in markets twice its size.”
Ellery Dunmore
Principal, Dunmore Retail Group
“They delivered our headquarters ahead of schedule and under budget, which almost never happens on a build-to-suit project this size.”
Gordon Halsey
COO, Hatchford Logistics
“As a capital partner, what stands out is that Kestrel keeps skin in the game after stabilization. That alignment is rare in this industry.”
Vanessa Cho
Managing Director, Wynbrook Capital
Development notes
Notes from our development team
Development
What makes a public-private partnership work
Lessons from a decade of structuring development deals alongside municipal partners.
Adaptive reuse
The real economics of adaptive reuse versus ground-up
A candid comparison of cost, timeline, and leasing performance across our recent projects of each type.
Frequently asked questions
We focus on secondary downtown markets across the Southeast and Midwest, typically metro areas between 150,000 and 2 million in population.
Bring us a market before someone else notices its potential
We're always evaluating new markets and capital partnerships. Reach out to discuss a specific opportunity.