The Shopping Center GOAT Who Bought 10M Sq Feet Of Commercial Retail Real Estate | Andy Weiner
Millionaire Mindcast
Matt Aitchison Media, Inc
4.4 • 716 Ratings
🗓️ 28 April 2025
⏱️ 55 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
In this powerhouse episode, Matty A sits down with Andy Weiner — the Founder & President of RockStep Capital — to explore how he amassed over 10 million square feet of commercial retail real estate across 11 states. From a childhood immersed in his family’s 159-store clothing chain to mastering acquisitions in “Hometown America,” Andy breaks down how his strategic investments in secondary and tertiary markets are creating outsized returns while revitalizing communities.
He explains why retail is now a bullish asset class, how positive leverage is giving retail an edge over multifamily and industrial, and shares insights into RockStep’s culture built around their unique core values, the “Rock Steps.”
In This Episode, You’ll Learn:
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(03:40) Andy’s origin story: From family retail business to real estate mogul
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(05:02) Types of shopping centers RockStep acquires: neighborhood, power, enclosed malls
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(07:56) Why retail has favorable supply/demand dynamics in 2025
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(10:01) Positive vs. negative leverage in CRE deals
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(13:27) What makes secondary & tertiary markets so investable
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(20:38) RockStep’s strategy for buying distressed malls at 15–17% cap rates
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(28:06) The origin and meaning behind RockStep’s company values
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(42:19) Inside the Hometown America Fund: 8–9% pref, 18%+ IRR goals
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(46:27) Thoughts on alternative investments in volatile times
Resources Mentioned:
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RockStep Capital Website: http://rockstep.com
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Connect with Andy on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andy-weiner/
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Shopping Center Academy on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/@ShoppingCenterAcademy
Episode Sponsored By:
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | 10 million square feet of shopping centers. |
| 0:13.7 | That's across 11 different states. |
| 0:16.2 | You're going to hear how my guest today, Andy Wiener, the founder of Rockstep Capital, has been able to accomplish |
| 0:23.0 | this over his amazing career. He is a proud Houstonian, a fellow graduate from Stanford University |
| 0:30.4 | with his undergrad and his MBA at the University of Texas. And one of the sharpest dudes that I |
| 0:36.5 | know when it comes to large-scale shopping |
| 0:40.6 | centered developments. And we dive in today on his journey, how he has been able to accomplish |
| 0:46.1 | this amazing feat. And all of this stuff that they have going on right now is just extremely |
| 0:53.6 | interesting. Anytime I get to talk to |
| 0:55.2 | somebody that one has had a tenured career over multiple economic cycles and never had any capital |
| 1:04.4 | calls or assets return to lenders, uh, you want to ask a lot of questions, shut up and listen, |
| 1:10.8 | which is what I did today |
| 1:11.9 | in this episode. We talked about his journey and how he started out working for his family's |
| 1:17.5 | retail business, which led him in to shopping center investments, the different types of shopping |
| 1:23.0 | centers and malls that they are investing in now, what his overall outlook is going forward on retail |
| 1:29.8 | and why this is a really insulated, very bullish asset class, according to him when it comes |
| 1:35.5 | to commercial real estate investing and how they are focused on revitalizing hometown America |
| 1:43.2 | through strategic real estate investments. I really enjoyed, |
| 1:47.4 | particularly when he talked about his rock steps, which are some of the cultural values of his |
| 1:54.9 | organization. And I think you'll learn very quickly, one, how smart Andy is, but also how much he cares about |
| 2:02.4 | bringing value to his people, to his investors, and the communities that they invest in, |
| 2:07.9 | and the dude is wise. |
... |
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