The Matthews Podcast

Mark Leverette on Navigating Risk, Operations, and the Role of AI

Behind every strong real estate decision is a clear understanding of the numbers. As Managing Partner of Client Accounting & Advisory Services at BPM, Mark Leverette helps real estate owners, funds, and operators understand what their numbers are actually telling them. His work sits at the intersection of accounting, advisory, technology, and strategy, giving him a front-row view into where firms get stuck and what separates organized operators from those still relying on outdated systems. In this episode, Leverette discusses why clean reporting matters, how better data can sharpen underwriting and decision-making, and what real estate companies should be thinking about as automation and AI become more embedded in daily operations.

How Fiber Infrastructure Drives NOI in Multifamily with Adam Bell

Most entrepreneurs build by chasing trends. Adam Bell built by noticing what was broken. Long before launching Internet Subway, Bell was identifying gaps in systems, whether in web development, computer repair, managed services, or telecom. Over time, that instinct led him into multifamily real estate, where he saw a major disconnect: internet had become one of the most important services in a resident’s daily life, but at most properties, it was still being treated like an afterthought. Now, as CEO of Internet Subway, Bell works with owners to turn connectivity into a strategic asset. In this episode, he explains how owner-controlled internet infrastructure can improve the resident experience, streamline operations, and unlock meaningful value at the property level. He also reflects on the mindset that shaped his career and why curiosity, more than anything else, has been the constant behind every venture he has built.

Bo Kemp on the Strategic Advantage in Regional Development

How do you actually build the future of a region when the biggest projects require decades of planning, political alignment, and infrastructure that cannot be improvised? In today’s environment, that is the real question facing economic development. Bo Kemp is one of the leaders working at that intersection. As CEO of the Southland Development Authority, he focuses on positioning Chicago’s Southland for large-scale investment by aligning municipalities, capital, and the long-term infrastructure needed to compete for major projects. In this conversation, Kemp explains why demand is accelerating for next-generation industrial uses like data centers, and why the limiting factor is powered land with the utilities, infrastructure, and workforce needed to operate at scale. He also outlines the Southland’s advantage through access to two electrical grids, including PJM, and why that matters as power becomes a deciding factor in where development can happen.

Jeff Enck on Southeast Shopping Center Trends

In this episode of The Matthews™ Podcast, host Matthew Wallace continues the publication takeover series with Part 3 of the National Shopping Center Overview, breaking down the Mid-Atlantic with Matthews™ Senior Vice President Jeff Enck. With 25+ years in retail investment sales and hundreds of transactions closed across the Southeast, Enck explains why strip centers have become one of the most competitive pockets of retail today—and how his Strip Center Roundtable is bringing together many of the nation’s largest owners to compare notes on strategy, leasing, and the outlook for the sector. Wallace and Enck dive into what’s driving Southeast momentum, from population and job growth across major metros to rising interest in select secondary markets as buyers search for yield. They also unpack the “essential service retail” tenant mix that’s powering strip performance, along with why today’s biggest challenge isn’t demand, but simply finding enough product to buy.

The Operational Edge in Workforce Housing with Amy Rubenstein

In this episode of The Matthews™ Podcast, host Matthew Wallace sits down with Amy Rubenstein, CEO of Clear Investment Group, to break down what it really takes to remedy and revitalize distressed workforce housing—the kind of multifamily most groups won’t touch because of operational chaos, stakeholder complexity, and heavy lift-to-stabilization execution. Drawing on more than two decades in commercial real estate, Amy explains Clear’s “value restoration” approach to market-rate workforce housing, targeting underperforming properties in strong, stable markets and rebuilding them into safe, working communities. She also shares how Clear leans on data and AI to tighten underwriting, improve due diligence, and improve day-to-day performance, including operational policy changes informed by delinquency trends and resident payment behavior.