#2 - Daniel Guadagnoli, Director at The Fallon Company

Slice of Life Sciences Real Estate

Introduction:

Dan Guadagnoli, Director of the Fallon Company. The Fallon Company is a privately held commercial real estate owner and developer of transformative, urban mixed-use environments headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts. Since 1993, The Fallon Company has developed over $6 billion in real estate, representing more than six million square feet of property. TFC has grown across the US with offices in Boston, Charlotte, Raleigh, and Nashville.

Background:

• Where are you from, where’d you go to school, and what were your personality strengths going into the real world?
• How’d you get into the real estate industry and at what age did you know it is what you wanted to do?
• Have you always focused on the same market and what’s your focus at TFC? How do you filter through potential development opportunities?
• How many different departments does TFC have and is the mission the same throughout the markets i.e. core investments, value-add, opportunistic

The Fallon Company:

• TFC has a unique vision in their developments, emphasizing collaboration and respect for the community…What goes into ‘Master Planning’ large scale, urban-mixed use environments? Is each asset in the development ecosystem TFC creates intended to enhance the performance of these assets individually?
• Who’s involved from the beginning, outside of just TFC’s team? Local stakeholder’s architects, community groups, public leaders, etc? How does their knowledge and buy in help your team in what you are building?
• What does it mean for your neighborhood’s to reach their maximum potential? How important is walkability, amenities, natural/cultural elements, etc? Are you crating a true neighborhood, not just one asset?
• Different years have different trends where different types of developments will prosper. How adaptable and flexible are TFC’s views? I imagine it is less reactive and more so being the trailblazer? I say that because everyone talks about lab developments nowadays, but TFC developed the Vertex campus in the Seaport before there was any other lab in the entire submarket….
• Talk to me a little bit about the investment philosophy of your firm. How do you evaluate / manage the risk that any developer goes through and do you take a long-term approach to your investments?
• Knowing you have a presence in Boston, Charlotte, Raleigh, and Nashville…, how does your team look at each of the markets? Are you investing in a particular asset class for each?
• With so many large biotech companies in the market for new HQs and/or GMP facilities, how does the process work for a ‘build-to-suit’? Do you partner with the client to acquire land in a certain market and what is the timeline for land acquisition, re-zoning, design, GC pricing, and construction for a ground up project?
• What’s the difference between a build-to-own versus a build-to-rent? And how much upfront investment would be requirement by a company if they were interested in a build-to-own? Do you share the underwriting and financial models with the client to back into a build-to-rent structure?
• With covid’s effects, has anything changed in your philosophy? The great office versus lab debate comes to mind

Case Studies:

• In 2005, TFC transformed nine city blocks of abandoned parking lots into, in my opinion, the most vibrant submarket in Greater Boston. What went into attracting Vertex to become Fan Pier’s anchor tenant with two properties totaling 1.1M square feet and was this key in the fantastic, surrounding retail, residential, and restaurant spaces that truly make the area work, live, play?
• Fast forward to the present and latest addition, the MassMutual building at 10 Fan Pier, which is a staple office building in the neighborhood. Is an anchor tenant like Vertex or MassMutual common for your various investments?

Looking Forward:

• What are some of the things you are working on now?
• Is TFC growing in new markets such as Nashville and expanding in more established markets like Boston equally?
• What excites you most about looking ahead at the opportunities that you and your teammates are working on / have in the pipeline?
• What gives you the most satisfaction from what you and your team do?

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