Five Questions: Erik Fjeseth

After 10 years with Simon Property Group (NYSE: SPG), Erik Fjeseth joined real estate newcomer O’Reilly Development Co. as finance and portfolio manager. The company, started by Pat O’Reilly this year after a split with Miller-O’Reilly Co. partner Matt Miller, also promoted Brenda Nix to assist Fjeseth. Managing Battlefield Mall for the past five years, Fjeseth has turned his attention to O’Reilly Development’s nine property portfolio, including The Jefferson and Deep Elm student housing complexes. The company also is developing a $35 million transitional senior living facility in Joplin and renovating a former Folgers plant in Kansas City.

Simon Says
“I graduated from East Central University in Oklahoma with a bachelor’s in environmental science with a concentration in industrial hygiene. My focus was in the chemistry and environmental side of things (and) East Central was really geared toward filling positions for the petroleum industry. When I got out, there wasn’t much available at that time in the job sector, so I got into retail management. … With Simon, I was in Tulsa, [Okla.], and I went with it to Indiana. I (managed) five properties in Indiana – all retail, mall-type properties. We were a long way from home. My wife’s family is from the Tulsa area, and my family is from the Oklahoma City area, so we were looking to come back closer. When the opportunity came here in Springfield at the Battlefield Mall, we took it.”

Battlefield Exit
“Simon is a great company, and the Battlefield Mall has been a huge benefit to this community in terms of tax revenue, providing jobs and bringing great retailers to Springfield. I enjoyed my years there, but sometimes relationships separate into different paths, and my path has led me to O’Reilly. … Because of confidentiality, I can’t go into the specifics. We just went different directions.”

Somewhere to Grow
“I was doing research into local developers and the opportunity presented itself. I was looking for a company to grow with. … I manage the financial side of (O’Reilly Development’s) portfolio and oversee the property management companies that provide us with that service. … It is not much different from what I was doing previously. This company is, I think, more geared toward development, and that was the pathway I wanted to go.”

Development Docket
“The opportunity to help rebuild Joplin is very exciting. That community is very resilient, and in time, will be back to where it was. Instead of just cheering from the sidelines, we wanted to be on the frontlines of reinvesting in Joplin. … In Kansas City, we purchased the old Folgers building, and it will be known as Roaster’s Block. It is going to be a historical renovation, Class A complex. I think there is a lot of potential in historic renovations, and we are going to look for those opportunities. Then there are the continuum care communities, such as The Fremont. The development we are excited about in that line is The Parkway in Blue Springs. We will be started on that in the first part of next year.”

Portfolio Management
“In the beginning, I will be managing the existing portfolio that we have. As the things move forward, that is probably going to morph over time. We do have a development person who works on that side, but there is a lot of blending right now. We are a small company, and we wear multiple hats. I’m sure (my job) will eventually get defined, but right now, it is an all-hands-on-deck situation. … In the short-term, we are going to try to do as much as we can off our back porch in Missouri. There is still a lot left to do here, but in the next year or two, we may be stepping out into some of the different states. We have properties in Boonville, St. Joseph, Joplin, Kansas City and in the Springfield area.”