Paul Sheppard spent 24 years inside the publicly traded REIT machine. The UCLA grad and Texas native built portfolios for some of the biggest names in the business. Over the course of his career, he’s observed the deliberate and cautious approach they take when weighing new opportunities.
Today, Paul trades the committee-driven approach for a more streamlined process as NewMark Merrill’s Vice President of Acquisitions and Development for the Mountain States region. When he’s not hunting for assets, he spends his time fly fishing, eating BBQ and skiing Colorado’s slopes.
A line from Winston Churchill keeps him pointed forward. “Success is not final. Failure is not fatal. It is the courage to continue that counts.”
We sat down with Paul to talk about what pulled him to NewMark Merrill, what he looks for in a deal and how he envisions the firm’s portfolio five to ten years from now.
Q: What brought you to Newmark Merrill?
Paul: What brought me to Newmark Merrill is the entrepreneurial mindset that Sandy and the rest of the executive team hold. We’re privately held, which lets us move quickly on opportunities while bigger competitors are still building consensus. After spending most of my career at large institutional firms and publicly traded REITs, that pace is a breath of fresh air. Speed wins or loses deals in this business.
Q: How have your previous experiences prepared you for this role?
Paul: The underwriting, acquisitions, operations and development run on the same fundamentals across the board. What separates a good deal from a great one is whether you have the relationships, the local knowledge and the discipline to know where you should and shouldn’t be playing. Any major MSA west of the Mississippi is a market I’ve either worked in or have contacts in.
Q: What has been the most rewarding part of your role thus far?
Paul: The team. Everything is easier when the people you work with hold the same standards as you. We have a tight crew in Denver covering property management, leasing, marketing and operations, and when I need development or construction support, the Calabasas team picks up the phone every time. Newmark Merrill is the flattest organization I’ve ever worked in. When we need a decision, we get it in hours, not weeks. That’s how you compete in a market where speed is the deciding factor.
Q: What does NewMark Merrill look for in a new property?
Paul: Dense, diverse neighborhoods anchored by daily trip needs. Grocery, convenience and service-oriented tenants are the kinds of uses people visit regularly. We look for centers where our operational sense unlocks value the previous owner left on the table. A lot of the retailers we work with are running the American Dream in real time. Our job is to give them every chance to succeed.
Q: How is NewMark Merrill leveraging technology in the acquisitions and development process?
Paul: AI is not picking our real estate for us, but it is a serious accelerator. We use it to dig into the psychographics and demographics of a neighborhood, track market trends, and study traffic patterns around the assets we’re underwriting. Research that took days now takes hours. That gives us more time on the ground.
Q: What do you envision Newmark Merrill’s portfolio looking like in 5 to 10 years? Any new markets on your radar?
Paul: We’ll keep building density across the Rocky Mountain region, California and Illinois. Texas is where we’re focusing new energy, specifically Dallas-Fort Worth. The metro added more than a million people over the last decade. The demographics and economic profile match the kinds of neighborhoods we already operate well. We’re long-term holders. We rarely recycle capital, which gives us the runway to make a real difference in the communities we invest in. The next 12 to 18 months are about getting Newmark Merrill on the ground in DFW.
Q: What separates NewMark Merrill from other places you’ve worked?
Paul: “Doing retail better” runs the company top to bottom. Sandy’s commitment to the communities we serve shows up in everything from how we treat tenants to which deals we walk away from. That kind of leadership is rare in this industry, and it’s the part of this role I want to help grow.
Twelve months in, Paul has NewMark Merrill pointed at its next phase. The team is hiring a leasing professional to keep pace with the growth Paul brought with him. Interested candidates can apply through the Newmark Merrill careers page.