Terry Tallen Joins Homer Hoyt Institute

Terrence “Terry” Tallen has been inducted into the prestigious Homer Hoyt Institute as a Hoyt Professional Fellow.

“I am delighted to be a part of this great prestigious, ground-breaking international institute,” Tallen said. “The opportunity to collaborate with this extraordinary group of intellectuals and practitioners is a tremendous opportunity and I am deeply grateful.”
Tallen is the chairman and CEO of Tallen Capital Partners, a real estate investment and development firm based in Del Mar, and a member of the policy advisory board of Burnham-Moores Center for Real Estate at the University of San Diego’s Knauss School of Business.
“A humble guy with a big heart,” is how Stath Karras, executive director of the Burnham-Moores Center, described Tallen. “It’s important for him to give back,” Karras said. “I’m talking about time and talent.”

Honoring Leadership

Tallen was inaugurated in May as a fellow in the Homer Hoy Institute by Hoyt President Jeffrey Fisher, PhD, professor emeritus at Indiana University and founder of the Indiana University’s Center for Real Estate and Norm Miller, Hahn Chair of Real Estate Finances at USD’s Knauss School of Business and vice president of the Homer Hoyt Institute.
“We are honored to welcome our colleague and friend, Terry Tallen to the Homer Hoyt Institute,” Fisher said. “His influence and support for the commercial real estate field, especially his involvement in education and melding the worlds of education, athletics, and philanthropy has been outstanding. We know becoming a Professional Fellow will help extend his impressive commitments.”
Based in North Palm Beach, Florida, the Homer Hoyt Institute is an independent, nonprofit research and educational foundation established in 1967. The institute brings in leading real estate academics and professionals from around the world to discuss applied research and current market trends affecting real estate.
The Hoyt Professional Fellows are a group of industry leaders honored for their leadership and accomplishments in the field of professional real estate. They interact with the Hoyt Academic Fellows to provide real time research and educational initiatives.

Taking Pride

Growing up in the Ohio city of Hamilton between Cincinnati and Dayton, Tallen made a name for himself playing football at Hamilton Badin High School where he became a versatile player as an All-State offensive guard and was elected team captain at middle linebacker for the 1977 Ohio All-Star Game.
He went on to play at Indiana University and first came to San Diego in 1979 as team captain and defensive star of the university’s nationally ranked 1979 Holiday Bowl championship football team. He was one of the rare individuals in major college football to twice be elected team captain of winning college bowl teams.
“Living in California and specifically in San Diego was a dream that I pursued until it came true,” Tallen said.
While staying at the Hyatt Regency Islandia – the team hotel for the Holiday Bowl — “I recall telling my teammates that ‘someday, I will live in San Diego,” Tallen said.
He started his San Diego real estate career in 1998 and was recruited to lead the redevelopment and portfolio leasing for the Burnham Pacific REIT (Real Estate Investment Trust) as a senior executive and corporate officer.
After graduating from Indiana University with a degree in finance, marketing and management, Tallen was hired by Pepsi Cola Bottling Company’s executive training program in Melbourne, Fla.
“I saw the Florida real estate boom first-hand and at the time there were a net new 1,000 people a day moving to the Sunshine State. I thought that it was a terrific opportunity at the age of 25 to learn the business and become a professional investor and leader in the industry,” Tallen said.
Tallen founded his current company, Tallen Capital Partners, in 2013. Other Tallen entities have been active since 1994.
“I take great pride in being a self-made professional in the commercial real estate industry,” Tallen said.
He and his wife, Diane, have two daughters and one son.
In 2017, through his relationships with Fisher and Miller, Tallen was invited to join the policy advisory board at the Burnham-Moores Center.
Always Strive to Learn, Improve and Grow
By joining the advisory board, Tallen was reunited with Malin Burnham, an icon of San Diego’s commercial real estate industry.
Looking back on his career, Tallen said the advice that he would give his younger self comes from something that he was told by Lee Corso, a former coach at Indiana University and elsewhere and a sports broadcaster for ESPN – “never, ever compromise your integrity in any manner and never compromise your integrity to get a job or keep a job.”
“Looking back, I would say never quit, always learn and reinvent yourself, grow, respect others — and play your cards close to your vest,” Tallen said.
To those just entering the field, Tallen’s advice is “develop relationships with mentors.”
“Having good mentors not only speeds up the learning curves, it also provides for valuable contacts and experiences,” Tallen said.
The commercial real estate market is far different in 2022 than when he started out.
“When I came up in the business, specifically in retail real estate investment and development, most of the retail portfolios were owned by families and now most of the larger portfolios are owned by institutional investors, private equity firms, and REITs (Real Estate Investment Trusts), etc.,” Tallen said.
Technology has also changed the commercial real estate market.
“I am very interested in this compelling aspect of the business,” said Tallen, who has invested and become an advisor to a real estate platform focused on business development marketing, analysis and deal management called RealNex.
“Finally, the emergence of focused, professional educations and curriculum in real estate studies available to students is dramatically different. A prime example is the USD undergraduate and graduate programs,” Tallen said. “It is a great pleasure to work with Stath Karras, our outstanding colleagues on the Burnham-Moores Center Policy Advisory Board and their faculty and staff to improve and enhance the fortunes of USD students in the highly competitive commercial real estate industry.”

Tallen Capital Partners
Founded: 2013
CEO and Chairman: Terrence “Terry” Tallen
Headquarters: Del Mar [and Mill Valley, CA]
Business: Commercial real estate investment and development
Employees: The company engages consultants and independent contractors and has operating partners on a case-by-case basis.
Website: www.tallencapital.com
Contact: 858-314-9836
Social impact: Terry Tallen donates time, resources and provides financial support to a variety of organizations in communities throughout California and the western and midwestern U.S.
Notable: The company is a national markets firm known in the retail real estate industry for the acquisition and repositioning of properties and achieving significant returns on invested capital through the redevelopment of under-performing shopping centers and retail projects in both urban and suburban markets with high barriers to entry.