From Wakeboarding to Warehouses: Nick Jones’ CRE Investing Journey
Podcast
The Crexi Team
April 16, 2025
This episode focuses on the value of hard work, successful investment strategies, and Florida CRE market trends with Nick Jones, Founder of Alakai Capital.
The Crexi Podcast explores various aspects of the commercial real estate industry in conversation with some of the top CRE professionals in the space. In each episode, we feature different guests to tap into their wealth of CRE expertise and explore the latest trends and updates from the world of commercial real estate.
In this episode of The Crexi Podcast, Shanti Ryle, Director of Content Marketing at Crexi, sits down with Nick Jones as he shares his journey from professional wakeboarding to an impressive career in commercial real estate.
With over 20 years of experience, Nick elaborates on how the disciplines of sports have influenced his business mindset. The discussion covers a wide range of topics including the growth and management of Alaki Capital, diverse investment strategies, the impact of macroeconomic factors like inflation and interest rates, and the importance of relationships with brokers and tenants.
Nick also touches on the challenges and opportunities within different asset classes such as industrial, retail, and medical office spaces, and provides insights into the evolving market dynamics in Florida and beyond.
- Introduction to The Crexi Podcast
- Meet Nick Jones: From Wakeboarding to Real Estate
- Nick's Early Career and Influences
- First Deals and Raising Capital
- Building Alakai Capital
- Scaling the Business: Processes and Challenges
- The Importance of Broker Relationships
- Leveraging Broker Relationships
- Investment Strategies and Risk Management
- Florida's Real Estate Market Dynamics
- Asset Classes and Market Trends
- Rapid Fire Questions and Closing Remarks
Watch “From Wakeboarding to Warehouses: Nick Jones’ CRE Investing Journey” on YouTube
About Nick Jones:
Nick Jones has been involved in commercial real estate management, investment, development and brokerage for over 20 years. Each industry role has added perspective, introducing various angles and strategies to evaluate each opportunity Alakai Capital pursues. Currently he is CEO while managing acquisitions, development and capital markets. During his career he has underwritten and purchased over 70 commercial investments and/or developments, representing over $250MM of value. He currently oversees 800k+ square feet of industrial, retail, office, and medical office.
Nick graduated summa cum laude from the University of Central Florida while concurrently participating on the World Tour as a Professional Wakeboarder, making podium at Worlds in 2011. He is an active member of ULI, ICSC and NAIOP.
About Crexi’s Commercial Real Estate Podcast:
Crexi’s commercial real estate podcast features conversations across all aspects of commercial real estate with industry leading investors, developers, brokers, and professionals. Among the top 5% of commercial real estate podcasts, The Crexi Podcast sits down with industry experts to investigate trends, educate listeners, and uncover the latest happenings and news in the world of commercial real estate. To listen to all episodes for free, check out The Crexi Podcast's full library here.
Crexi is transforming commercial real estate with advanced, integrative technology and data analytics designed to accelerate every CRE stakeholder’s success. From trading properties to machine-learning-powered industry Intelligence, Crexi’s intuitive CRE solutions accelerate transaction velocity and have empowered over 3 million active monthly users to close more than $660 billion in deals and market over $7 trillion in property value.
