Bluestone Single Tenant Properties, LLC, and its affiliates, have executed more than $100,000,000 in triple-net single tenant real estate transactions over the last five years with tenants such as Pilot Flying J, Casey’s General Stores, Thorntons, Burger King, AT&T, GNC, and Extreme Clean Car Wash. Our firm has offices in Chicago, Louisville, and Lake Tahoe and will be opening an office in Fort Lauderdale, Florida in the fall of 2022.
As Managing Partner of Bluestone Single Tenant Properties, I am pleased to announce several organizational changes that will enhance the firm’s capabilities to support the accelerated new store growth plans for our clients as we continue to provide a full range of turn-key professional real estate development services from market planning to site selection, land use entitlement procurement, design and permitting, and store opening.
Zach Matthews has joined as Director of Real Estate. Zach joined Bluestone Single Tenant Properties earlier this year and is responsible for the development of Bluestone’s real estate pipeline, including market planning, site selection, and contract negotiation. Zach manages Bluestone’s network of select local real estate brokers in targeted markets, supports the firm’s efforts in the procurement of land use entitlements, and manages the day-to-day communication with our clients.
Prior to joining Bluestone, Zach was the Real Estate Portfolio Manager for Sheetz, Inc., one of the leading independent convenience store chains in the United States. Before joining Sheetz, Zach enjoyed a 21-year career with Thorntons LLC, a 210-unit chain of convenience stores and fuel centers based in Louisville, KY, most recently serving as its Director of Real Estate & Development. In preparation for the Thornton family’s sale of the business, Zach built a robust pipeline of 35 sites in 18 months prior to the acquisition of the business by BP North America in February 2019. Zach led the post-acquisition execution of the development of those sites that ultimately earned the Thornton family $100 million in contingent consideration from the sale of the business.
Drew Zazofsky has been promoted to Director of Development. Drew joined Bluestone in 2020 as Senior Project Manager and made an immediate impact on our business. Drew is responsible for the day-to-day management of Bluestone’s project pipeline across all markets. Drew draws from his extensive civil engineering and real estate development background to coordinate a range of services for our clients including user-focused conceptual site planning, due diligence & title review, entitlement procurement, and construction management.
Drew began his career with Kimley-Horn and Associates, a national civil engineering consulting firm and acted as the lead consultant for the company’s largest national client, Walmart, Inc., facilitating the development of dozens of Wal Mart stores in the Southeast Florida MSA. In 2014, Drew was recruited by Thorntons LLC as a senior project manager. During Drew’s tenure with Thorntons, the company doubled its capacity to deliver new-to-industry stores. Prior to Drew’s departure, Thorntons opened a record 10 new stores in the span of 6 months between July 2019 and December 2019.
Sam Smith has joined as Senior Development Manager. Sam joined Bluestone in May of this year and provides due diligence, entitlement procurement and project management support for the firm for all ground lease and build-to-suit projects. Sam brings to Bluestone a 27-year proven track record of managing multiple projects simultaneously and successfully delivering those projects on-time and on-budget. Sam is a Registered Landscape Architect and has extensive experience in resolving complex issues related to wetland mitigation, environmental remediation, and storm water management.
Sam served as the Senior Project Manager for Cushman & Wakefield’s Humana account from 2018 until May 2022, managing multiple high-profile projects ranging from “break-fix” infrastructure projects to multi-million dollar office and health care facility renovations. In 2011 – 2018, Sam was a Regional Engineering/Permit Project Manager for Sheetz, Inc. and was directly responsible for an annual new store capital budget of $30,00,000 – $50,000,000.
Michael MacKinnon, former Vice President of Development, is no longer a member of the firm or its affiliates, including BSTP Midwest, LLC. Please direct any future correspondence to me at the email address listed below.
I am confident that the foregoing organizational changes will facilitate the continued growth of the firm and positions Bluestone to become one of the leading single tenant real estate developers in the United States.
Rick Claes
Founder & Managing Partner
Bluestone Single Tenant Properties, LLC