Former U.S. Olympic rower Paul Teti pivoted to real estate after competing on the world's top athletic stage, but he still draws on lessons he learned in his boat.
After competing in the Sydney, Athens and Beijing Games in the early 2000s, Teti found himself on a path that led to co-founding New York-based Eagle Cliff Real Estate Partners.
That investment firm, established just over three years ago and focused on a diverse array of asset classes, has recently focused on markets such as Washington, D.C.
"I think recognizing the strengths and weaknesses of your teammates, and giving people that feeling of equal voice around the table, is something I’ve no question taken directly from my experience in rowing."
CoStar News talked with Teti to learn more about his career journey and how he's translated his capacity for teamwork from his time on the water to his next phase of professional achievements.
The following conversation has been edited for length and clarity.
What has your path from rowing to real estate been like?
I started my real estate career in the early 2000s at a company called Normandy Real Estate Partners.
My partner, Giorgios Vlamis, and I, who founded Eagle Cliff, we've actually been together for over 20 years, dating back to Normandy where I was actually his intern right after I stopped rowing. We've been together ever since.
While Eagle Cliff is fairly new, we technically launched in January of 2023; our partnership goes back two and a half decades.
At Normandy, I literally held every business card. I was an intern for a couple of months, and then I went from analyst to associate, VP, head of leasing, and ultimately partner. I was there for the better part of 16 years or so.
In 2020, the Normandy platform was sold to Columbia Property Trust, where I spent the next two years of my career alongside 95% of my former Normandy colleagues. At Columbia, I was the head of real estate.
Then, in late December of 2021, almost two years exactly after the Normandy sale, we sold that combined Columbia business to Pimco. I stayed at Columbia post-Pimco transaction for the first half of that year, and then, once all the dust settled, Giorgios and I decided to start fresh at Eagle Cliff.
What skills have you taken from your days rowing that you still use today?
Rowing is, essentially, the ultimate team sport. I'd say, for me, I was uniquely disposed to rowing because I am one of 10 children, the youngest. In a family of 10, you are effectively on a team from birth, especially when you're the youngest.
That sort of teamwork dynamic is really important, particularly in a sport like rowing where there's no MVP. There are eight guys and a boat, and you all have to cross the finish line at the same time. You're effectively only as strong as your weakest link. I know you say that in a lot of team sports, but it's especially true when you have eight people sitting in the same shell.
That aspect, of not just being a part of a team, but recognizing that the team has to be all together throughout the whole process.
How does that relate to real estate? We don't invest in stabilized projects. We really only invest in things that require work, whether that's leasing or development or redevelopment.
I think recognizing the strengths and weaknesses of your teammates, and giving people that feeling of equal voice around the table, is something I've no question taken directly from my experience in rowing.
I say this jokingly quite a bit, but really it is the truth: rowing is training lots of hours for a very short race and even shorter glory. You might put in two or three workouts a day, six or seven days a week, basically all year, and you're essentially training for one race that lasts five and a half or six minutes. When you think about the amount of work relative to the actual race, I think it's actually quite similar to putting together an investment transaction or real estate transaction where you're going to work on it for months and months, and it does not always end in success, but there is a pain tolerance element to that that I think is directly applicable and I've certainly drawn from.
What can you share about your firm's focus?
Since 2023, we've been quite active across all property types. We're pretty much singularly focused in the Northeast and mid-Atlantic, so think Amtrak corridor. We've been most active between New York and D.C., everything from ground-up industrial and residential projects to office.
We're certainly in the early innings of Eagle Cliff.
Can you share more about your firm's interest in the DC area?
We are long-term believers in the D.C. market. Historically, at prior firms, my partners and I have been very active investors in the D.C. market. We will continue to be active investors as Eagle Cliff in D.C.
I would be comfortable saying that our success over the last two years at 660 N. Capitol St. NW, where we've done over 140,000 square feet of leasing across several transactions, has given us continued confidence in the market.
We are bullish on D.C. long term. We think it is a resilient market and will continue to recover in the future from the depths we've seen during COVID.