Sept. 16, 2025

#393 - Alex Nyhan - CEO @ First Washington Realty - $9B Portfolio: How Neighborhood Centers Became the Most Resilient Asset in Real Estate

Alex Nyhan is the CEO of First Washington Realty and an owner in FWR's entities. FWR owns interests in and manages approximately $9 billion of top-quality grocery-anchored shopping centers across the United States.

Alex is one of the sharpest minds in real estate and this episode is proof of that. I’ve had the good fortune of learning from Alex for many years and is someone who always brings good insight.

We discuss:

- Lessons from structuring complicated public-private development projects

- The investment philosophy behind First Washington’s 22 million square feet of neighborhood retail

- Why grocery-anchored shopping centers have proven so resilient

- How demographics, education levels, and supply constraints shape long-term value

- The role of relationships and human connection in both tenant selection and consumer experience

Links:

First Washington Realty - https://www.firstwash.com/

Alex on LinkedIn - http://linkedin.com/in/alex-nyhan-b2b4914/

Topics:

(00:00:00) - Intro
(00:04:02) - Alex’s background and early career
(00:15:19) - Alex’s DC Convention Center Hotel project
(00:23:32) - First Washington Realty overview
(00:25:25) - Investment strategy and deal selection
(00:29:21) - Focus on grocery-anchored shopping centers
(00:31:05) - Case study: Kansas City suburbs
(00:32:04) - Navigating supply constraints
(00:32:34) - The resilience of retail in the e-commerce era
(00:33:20) - The impact of e-commerce on malls and neighborhood centers
(00:35:11) - The competitive landscape of retail investments
(00:39:05) - Risk management in retail deals during COVID
(00:41:38) - The value of tenant relationships in retail
(00:44:49) - Balancing risk with mom and pop tenants
(00:50:14) - The importance of education and demographics in retail
(00:52:51) - Government intervention and retail development
(00:57:04) - Consumer spending trends and market dynamics
(01:02:10) - The role of human interaction in retail success
(01:04:21) - Concluding thoughts on retail investment strategies