Fernando De Leon on His Roots, His Rise, and Building a $3B Empire

Fernando De Leon on His Roots, His Rise, and Building a $3B Empire

Season 8, Episode 3: How did Fernando De Leon go from translating legal disputes as a teenager on the US-Mexico border to building Leon Capital Group? Today, we sit down with Fernando De Leon, Founder and CEO of Leon Capital Group, to break down one of the most remarkable founder stories in real estate. Fernando shares how his early life in Matamoros and South Texas shaped his view of risk, opportunity, and systems. We also get into his first real estate equity stake, his time at Harvard and Goldman Sachs, and how he built conviction before the GFC. Whether you’re interested in distressed debt, Texas real estate, AI, data centers, or the mindset behind durable compounding, this episode is a must-listen. Join us as we dive into the skepticism, stamina, and timing that helped Fernando build across real estate, private equity, and operating businesses. Shoutout to our sponsor, Lennar Investor Marketplace. New construction rental investments with comps, returns, and underwriting built in. TOPICS 00:00 – Introduction to Fernando De Leon 07:00 – Early Real Estate Lessons on the Border 14:00 – Harvard, Mentors, and Long-Term Seeds 21:40 – Leaving Goldman and Optioning Texas Land 28:29 – Buying Distressed Loans After the GFC 37:07 – Why 2008 Won’t Repeat the Same Way 46:43 – AI, Data Centers, and Hidden Risk 52:48 – Building Operating Businesses 57:07 – Mental Health, Talent, and New Opportunities 01:04:00 – Mistakes, Stamina, and AI Disruption For more episodes of No Cap by CRE Daily visit https://www.credaily.com/podcast/ Watch this episode on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@NoCapCREDaily About No Cap Podcast Commercial real estate is a $20 trillion industry and a force that shapes America’s economic fabric and culture. No Cap by CRE Daily is the commercial real estate podcast that gives you an unfiltered ”No Cap” look into the industry’s biggest trends and the money game behind them. Each week co-hosts Jack Stone and Alex Gornik break down the latest headlines with some of the most influential and entertaining figures in commercial real estate. About CRE Daily  CRE Daily is a digital media company covering the business of commercial real estate. Our mission is to empower professionals with the knowledge they need to make smarter decisions and do more business. We do this through our flagship newsletter (CRE Daily) which is read by 65,000+ investors, developers, brokers, and business leaders across the country. Our smart brevity format combined with need-to-know trends has made us one of the fastest growing media brands in commercial real estate.

The Silver Tsunami, Senior Housing, and Managing $55B at Fortress w/ Eli Edwards

Season 8, Episode 2: How does one of the nation’s largest real estate capital pools navigate a "real estate recession" while the rest of the economy stays hot? Today, we sit down with Eli Edwards, Managing Director at Fortress Investment Group and Head of US Real Estate Equity, to break down the firm’s strategy in a shifting market. Eli shares how Fortress spotted the San Francisco multifamily turnaround while the "doom loop" narrative was still in full swing. We also get into the "silver tsunami" in senior housing, why student housing is now a game of picking idiosyncratic winners, and how they are leveraging Delaware Statutory Trusts (DSTs) to provide tax-efficient solutions for retail investors. Whether you’re interested in distressed debt, Core Plus yields, or the future of the Sun Belt, this episode is a must-listen. Join us as we dive into the conviction, timing, and risk discipline that helped Eli and his team at Fortress identify growth opportunities where others only saw risk. Shoutout to our sponsor, Lennar Investor Marketplace. New construction rental investments with comps, returns, and underwriting built in. TOPICS 00:00 – Introduction 04:14 – Transitioning from Banking to the Buy-Side at Fortress 10:21 – Contrarian Plays: Why Fortress Went Heavy on San Francisco Multifamily 15:31 – The Sun Belt Outlook and the Looming "Supply Cliff" 18:52 – Why Equity and JV Partnerships Trump Preferred Equity Today 22:56 – Student Housing: Picking Winners in a Shrinking Demographic Pie 25:56 – The Silver Tsunami: Why Senior Housing Fundamentals are "Inelastic" 30:51 – Tax-Efficient Strategies and the Launch of the Fortress DST Platform 40:21 – GFC vs. Today: Navigating a "Real Estate Recession" Without an Economic One 45:54 – Market Outlook: Why 2026 is the Year for Real Estate Fundamental Bottoming For more episodes of No Cap by CRE Daily visit https://www.credaily.com/podcast/ Watch this episode on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@NoCapCREDaily About No Cap Podcast Commercial real estate is a $20 trillion industry and a force that shapes America’s economic fabric and culture. No Cap by CRE Daily is the commercial real estate podcast that gives you an unfiltered ”No Cap” look into the industry’s biggest trends and the money game behind them. Each week co-hosts Jack Stone and Alex Gornik break down the latest headlines with some of the most influential and entertaining figures in commercial real estate. About CRE Daily  CRE Daily is a digital media company covering the business of commercial real estate. Our mission is to empower professionals with the knowledge they need to make smarter decisions and do more business. We do this through our flagship newsletter (CRE Daily) which is read by 65,000+ investors, developers, brokers, and business leaders across the country. Our smart brevity format combined with need-to-know trends has made us one of the fastest growing media brands in commercial real estate.

Presidium: Lessons from Managing 20,000 Units across Multiple Real Estate Cycles w/ John Griggs

Season 8, Episode 1: How did two lawyers turn a handful of Arizona fourplexes into a vertically integrated real estate powerhouse with over 20,000 units renovated? Today, we sit down with John Griggs, Co-CEO and Co-Founder of Presidium, to break down the strategy behind that rise. John shares how he spotted his first opportunity in the "golden age" of the Arizona housing market before shifting his conviction to Texas just as the landscape was beginning to transform. We dive into how Presidium scaled its early portfolio to 5,000 units, the hard lessons learned from internalizing management during the GFC, and the strategic move of acquiring a special servicing company to master the mechanics of distressed debt. Whether you’re interested in ground-up development, creative capital stacks involving HUD debt, or where multifamily opportunity sits in today’s cycle, this episode is a must-listen. Join us as we explore the risk discipline and long-term vision that helped Presidium evolve from a grassroots startup into a dominant institutional investment platform. Shoutout to our sponsor, Lennar Investor Marketplace. New construction rental investments with comps, returns, and underwriting built in. TOPICS 00:00 – Introduction and Presidium's Background 01:32 – From Silicon Valley Law to the 2003 Arizona "Golden Age" 08:03 – Moving to Texas and Raising Capital for Scale 10:11 – Navigating the GFC and Internalizing Management 14:58 – The Institutionalization of Multifamily Real Estate 19:27 – Strategic Acquisition: Buying a Special Servicer 24:56 – Launching a Development Platform and Spotting Market Peaks 31:18 – Today's Creative Financing: HUD Debt and Housing Authorities 36:38 – Targeting Distress and Partnering with Lenders 42:15 – Delo Capital and the Outlook for Sun Belt Migration For more episodes of No Cap by CRE Daily visit https://www.credaily.com/podcast/ Watch this episode on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@NoCapCREDaily About No Cap Podcast Commercial real estate is a $20 trillion industry and a force that shapes America’s economic fabric and culture. No Cap by CRE Daily is the commercial real estate podcast that gives you an unfiltered ”No Cap” look into the industry’s biggest trends and the money game behind them. Each week co-hosts Jack Stone and Alex Gornik break down the latest headlines with some of the most influential and entertaining figures in commercial real estate. About CRE Daily  CRE Daily is a digital media company covering the business of commercial real estate. Our mission is to empower professionals with the knowledge they need to make smarter decisions and do more business. We do this through our flagship newsletter (CRE Daily) which is read by 65,000+ investors, developers, brokers, and business leaders across the country. Our smart brevity format combined with need-to-know trends has made us one of the fastest growing media brands in commercial real estate.

The Back Office is Dying with Henry AI's Sammy Greenwall

Season 7, Episode 6: How did a former real estate analyst turn the pain of building pitch decks into one of CRE's fastest-growing AI companies? Today, we sit down with Sammy Greenwall, co-founder and CEO of Henry AI, to discuss how artificial intelligence is transforming commercial real estate workflows. Sammy shares his journey from college basketball to helping scale Lev into a $100M venture-backed company before leaving to build Henry AI. The conversation covers the inefficiencies of traditional brokerage workflows, why Henry focuses on delivering outcomes instead of software, and how AI is automating offering memorandums, BOVs, and other time-intensive tasks. Sammy also explains why local brokerage data may be more valuable than national databases, how "humans in the loop" remain critical to adoption, and where he sees the future of AI in commercial real estate. Shoutout to our sponsor, Henry AI. The fast track to investor-ready decks that actually stand out. TOPICS 00:00 – Introduction 01:39 – The Genesis of Henry AI and Early Conversations 03:00 – Sammy’s Background: From the Bay Area to Toll Brothers 03:53 – The Pain Point: Spending 70% of the Day in PowerPoint 07:41 – The Lev Story: Starting a Company with a Rabbi in a Chabad House 11:00 – Scaling to a $100M Series B and "Relentless Grit" 13:10 – Leaving Lev to Build a Generational AI Company 15:18 – Why Brokerage Costs Are Under Fire 18:00 – Why Henry Charges 3x More 19:50 – Why the Professional Touch in AI Still Matters 21:56 – Identifying the Single Pain Point 24:08 – The Future of Interactive, Digital Offering Memorandums 27:19 – The Data War 32:58 – Labeling the "Walled Garden" of Commercial Real Estate Data 35:30 – Where the Name "Henry" Actually Came From 38:14 – CEO Productivity For more episodes of No Cap by CRE Daily visit https://www.credaily.com/podcast/ Watch this episode on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@NoCapCREDaily About No Cap Podcast Commercial real estate is a $20 trillion industry and a force that shapes America’s economic fabric and culture. No Cap by CRE Daily is the commercial real estate podcast that gives you an unfiltered ”No Cap” look into the industry’s biggest trends and the money game behind them. Each week co-hosts Jack Stone and Alex Gornik break down the latest headlines with some of the most influential and entertaining figures in commercial real estate. About CRE Daily  CRE Daily is a digital media company covering the business of commercial real estate. Our mission is to empower professionals with the knowledge they need to make smarter decisions and do more business. We do this through our flagship newsletter (CRE Daily) which is read by 65,000+ investors, developers, brokers, and business leaders across the country. Our smart brevity format combined with need-to-know trends has made us one of the fastest growing media brands in commercial real estate.

Betting On Middle America w/ RREAF Holdings

Season 7, Episode 5: How did RREAF Holdings grow into a $4.8B real estate platform across multifamily, hospitality, BTR, and master-planned communities? Today, we sit down with Kip Sowden, Chairman & CEO of RREAF Holdings, and Doug McKnight, President of RREAF Holdings, to break down the strategy behind the firm’s growth across the Sun Belt. Kip shares how he moved from brokerage into principal investing after the GFC, while Doug explains how his fixed income background shaped RREAF’s approach to capital, risk, and liquidity. The conversation covers distressed acquisitions after 2008, bridge lender opportunities today, and why RREAF focuses on “all things residential” across the South and Southeast. Kip and Doug also break down their approach to multifamily, extended stay hotels, beachfront resorts, and large-scale Texas developments, while sharing why they believe a new real estate cycle is beginning. Shoutout to our sponsor, Henry AI. The fast track to investor-ready decks that actually stand out. TOPICS 00:00 – Introduction 03:45 – Kip Sowden’s Early Career in Brokerage and Mortgage Banking 09:28 – Moving Into Principal Investing and Launching RREAF 17:03 – Buying Distressed Notes and REO After the GFC 24:17 – Structuring $500M+ Multifamily Portfolio Deals 30:29 – Master-Planned Communities, BTR, and Texas Growth 36:39 – Why RREAF Is Bullish on Extended Stay Hotels 42:26 – Why RREAF Focuses on the South and Southeast 47:45 – Institutional Capital Returning to CRE 54:30 – Where RREAF Sees Opportunity in the Next Cycle For more episodes of No Cap by CRE Daily visit https://www.credaily.com/podcast/ Watch this episode on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@NoCapCREDaily About No Cap Podcast Commercial real estate is a $20 trillion industry and a force that shapes America’s economic fabric and culture. No Cap by CRE Daily is the commercial real estate podcast that gives you an unfiltered ”No Cap” look into the industry’s biggest trends and the money game behind them. Each week co-hosts Jack Stone and Alex Gornik break down the latest headlines with some of the most influential and entertaining figures in commercial real estate. About CRE Daily  CRE Daily is a digital media company covering the business of commercial real estate. Our mission is to empower professionals with the knowledge they need to make smarter decisions and do more business. We do this through our flagship newsletter (CRE Daily) which is read by 65,000+ investors, developers, brokers, and business leaders across the country. Our smart brevity format combined with need-to-know trends has made us one of the fastest growing media brands in commercial real estate.