2024 Ones to Watch - Innovators in CRE: Ryan Lewis, ERG Commercial Real Estate

Ryan Lewis has been the managing director of ERG Commercial Real Estate since January of 2022. ERG Commercial Real Estate is a full service commercial real estate firm with a diverse platform of services including investment sales, traditional financing brokerage, direct private lending and property management. Lewis’ primary focus is originating new business and sourcing deals, overseeing the team’s deal flow and training, evaluating new opportunities for the company, managing the day-to-day operations of the firm and being a problem solver and resource his clients and team can lean on. ERG Commercial currently has a team of 12 and are actively looking to expand.

Innovative Solution:
Unfortunately, the primary focus currently are the properties that are hurting due to high maturing debt. I stress, if you do not have to sell and have the stay power, “don’t sell.” However, for owners who must do something, the focus is to use ERG’s diverse platform of services to be a resource landlords can lean on to help them out of these situations. I look to understand the issues and use our vast knowledge, experience and strong network to find the path forward out of the problem. It can be selling the property or note, obtaining bank financing or a private mortgage, or negotiating a short sale or a deed in lieu. One has to be flexible and comfortable in these distressed situations to close transactions.

Innovative Outlook:
The biggest opportunities for innovation in the commercial real estate sector are still coming from advancements in technology. Commercial real estate is still an “old school business” of being on the phone and building relationships but we are also in the information business. I need to have and use the best information and data to compete and produce results which is always a top priority. However, the difficulty has always been how to obtain and organize that information to analyze and use it to the best of one’s ability. As technology moves forward, innovating and implementing with these new technologies and tools will be a vital part of being successful in the commercial real estate business.

“Although this is an “Old School Business,” Ryan has always had the ability to be a critical thinker who can identify trends and implement new strategies to maximize results for us and our clientele. For example, he recently added a receivership division to our existing full service platform which includes investment sales, traditional financing, private lending and property management. I am very proud of his accomplishments and his role as managing director.” - James Guarino, chairman, ERG Commercial Real Estate.