For Sitehawk, Indiana’s The Game
Sitehawk Retail Real Estate is an old company with new ideas, expanding clients and a new name.
Randall Shearin

Retailers looking for space in Indiana know Sitehawk Retail Real Estate as a familiar name. The ChainLinks affiliate in the state, Sitehawk has one of the largest tenant representation businesses in Indiana. Based in the Indianapolis suburb of Carmel, the company’s property management and leasing business has been growing steadily year after year. But nationwide, people in the industry are just getting to know the Sitehawk name.

Shopping Center Business recently met with several executives from Sitehawk to discuss the company’s history and its future. In the meeting were company principals Mark Perlstein, Scott Gray, Larry Davis and Steve Delaney.

Sitehawk represents JC Penney in the Indiana market.

While the name Sitehawk may not seem familiar, the faces behind the company will. The executives’ combined experience at the company totals more than 70 years. The leadership team bought the company just over 2 years ago from Gary Linder, who operated it as The Linder Company for more than 20 years. Linder opted to sell his interest in the company to the executives in 2005 and exit the business. After the acquisition, the company changed its name to Sitehawk.

“Since changing the name, we’ve received extremely positive feedback from the local business community and our clients,” says Pearlstein. “A lot of people like that we didn’t tie our names to the company, yet we are still making a unique statement. We had to replace about 150 signs throughout Indiana within a 2-day period. That got us noticed in the market very quickly.”

The company is divided into four business lines: tenant representation, landlord representation, development services and property management. The primary focus of the business is tenant representation and landlord leasing.

“We are not out there as developers, even though we do consulting with developers and project leasing,” says Gray. “We consult on leasing, construction, site planning and so forth.”

Sitehawk has located eight gyms across the Indianapolis area for LA Fitness recently.

The primary business of brokerage keeps the company very busy. On the national tenant representation side, the company represents Costco, JC Penney, Gander Mountain, Gap, Borders Books, LA Fitness and Panda Express in the Indiana market. Sitehawk generally has a stable of approximately 50 retailers that it is representing in the market. Because of the number of lifestyle centers developed in Indiana over the past few years, the company has had success locating a number of retailers in that growing category.

The majority of Sitehawk’s work is done in the Indianapolis metro area. The city’s centralized location in relation to other major markets makes it an ideal location for retail distribution. Indianapolis has more Interstate highways passing through the city than most other major markets. TJX Companies, Gander Mountain, O’Reilly Auto Parts and Guitar Center are among the retailers who have major distribution centers in the market.

“Indianapolis is called ‘the crossroads of America’,” says Delaney. “Within a day’s drive you can reach 80 percent of the population of the country.”

In addition to the vibrant Indianapolis market, the suburban counties surrounding Indianapolis are also growing by leaps and bounds. Hamilton County, for instance, is in the top 30 growth counties in the United States. Hendricks County is in the top 50 growing counties in the U.S. Forbes also recently named Indianapolis the most affordable housing market in the country.

“Our market is dynamic in that there is growth, it’s affordable, and it’s an easy place to live,” says Gray. “Retailers are recognizing that. Retailers used to locate north and south of the city. Now, there are more trade areas that have developed in all directions of the city.”

Sitehawk also concentrates on the rest of Indiana as well.

Sitehawk has relocated a number of Borders Books units in Indiana, as well as found the retailer new locations.

“There is tremendous growth along the I-65 and I-80 corridors extending from Chicago,” says Davis. “Fort Wayne continues to be a solid market for the state as well. The Southeastern part of the state, near Louisville, Kentucky, continues to see strong growth patterns as well.”

Over the last 2 years, Sitehawk has continued to grow as well. The company is moving into larger quarters at the end of the year, and has expanded its staff as well. The company currently has seven brokers, and has plans to add more. In addition, the company has developed some strategic alliances with smaller developers who it shares office space with. Sitehawk also provides leasing and management services to the developers. Sitehawk leases and manages properties for companies like Aegon Insurance, Emmes Properties, Regency Centers, Ramco Gershenson Properties Trust and Sunbeam Development Corporation. For Emmes, who purchased part of the Heritage Property Group portfolio, Sitehawk leases about 1.5 million square feet of retail centers. Overall, the company leases or manages about 6 million square feet of retail space.

“The nature of our business dictates whether we are heavier on landlord or tenant representation,” says Gray. “We are focused on both areas, we’re not focused on one over the other. In the last 2 years, we’ve had a lot of opportunity to lease space for landlords.”

Sitehawk’s principals, left to right: Mark Perlstein, Scott Gray, Larry Davis and Steve Delaney.

Sitehawk’s principals divide their time between landlord and tenant representation, with the exception of Delaney, who concentrates on restaurant representation. The company’s retail representation business has been successful of late, with new clients like LA Fitness locating eight gyms in Indianapolis recently. Panda Express has located several freestanding and inline restaurants in the market as well, with an ultimate goal of 15 to 18 locations in Indianapolis. Aspen Dental, the Syracuse, New York-based dental care chain that has 140 nationwide locations, is looking in the market for space. Sitehawk has done 20 deals for Aspen throughout Indiana. Texas Roadhouse is a restaurant chain looking for several sites in northern Indiana.

Sitehawk’s affiliation with ChainLinks gives it a relationship with other offices around the country, as well as giving the country an introduction to new business.

“We are fortunate to be with the ChainLinks organization,” says Pearlstein. “The Linder Company was one of the first 10 members of ChainLinks, and we are happy that Sitehawk can carry that banner. We’ve maintained a great relationship with ChainLinks.”