I create beauty in places other people destroy or [allow to] break.

Through neglect or intention, the world around us breaks often. Some things are destroyed by design. Some are destroyed out of carelessness. But I see what is underneath the mess. I see beyond the disorder. I see the potential energy of a place.

I see order in chaos and I have the will and determination to make what I can see in my mind just as real for others.

My father raised me to think about the future. He never talked about his past. Instead, he instilled in me the idea that what we leave behind matters. How I interpreted that became my mantra: Be mindful of what you do today because that informs the world tomorrow.

In the past, I’ve written about my understanding property ownership as seva. This comes from years of practices in search of wisdom within. This road is long and ever unfolding and most often I walk it in solitude.

When I studied architecture in school, I thought it was part art, part philosophy. As I started managing and developing my property, I understood that actual building is part politics, part business. Had I realized this sooner, perhaps I would have spent more time studying the social sciences.

This work of physically changing an environment takes years. It is not whimsical work where I think a thought and tomorrow it stands manifest. It takes discipline and is akin to physically changing one’s self as I started learning how to do when I rowed crew at Columbia University. Our bodies are the primary landscape upon which we recognize our power to shift and change the world around us. Visualize a goal, make it real. Each day is one step toward the image in my head. Boxcar Grocer was my first project. Since then I’ve built larger projects.

I could write word after word describing this, or I can show some of my projects:

Peters Street Rebuild

My tenant (255 Tapas) created conditions whereby their business operations – which included improperly managed hookah coals – caused my building and a neighboring business, Baltimore Seafood, to erupt in flames. The damage caused by their negligence was so severe that it entirely destroyed two businesses. My tenant took their insurance check and left town. Did not pay the remainder of their rent. Did not offer to rebuild what they destroyed. Just left and left me and their neighbor holding the bill. A few months later the pandemic hit and everything shut down. I rebuilt during one of the most difficult periods to manage a business and find a construction crew.

Brookline Residence

This is not easy work but the impact makes it worth it. From healthy communities are born healthy people. Healthy environments lay the groundwork for our future. Who knows what my next project will be. Perhaps I’ll write another novel. Perhaps I’ll transform another property. In the meantime, I continue to strive for my own transformation and hope to leave beautiful, vibrant waves in my wake.