Edward DeSimone, 28

Edward DeSimone scored the perfect Wall Street finance job after graduating from the University of Colorado at Boulder in 2019, but he soon switched gears to real estate to chase a more personal connection to his work.

Now, he’s working to expand Matthews Real Estate Investment Services’ presence in the Northeast.

The New Jersey native started working at the Nashville-based investment firm’s Los Angeles office in 2019, but when Matthews opened its first New York office at 575 Fifth Avenue in May 2023, he returned to his old home. And, while DeSimone specializes in retail investment advisory nationally in his current role at Matthews, he’s focused specifically on expanding retail in the Northeast — and he’s doing it one deal at a time.

“I primarily focus on single-tenant lease sales around the U.S., but I’m back out here trying to focus more on Northeast retail as a whole, including shopping centers and multi-tenant strips,” DeSimone said. “I’m not someone that hits home runs or even triples. I hit a lot of singles and doubles. I do a lot of deals a year.”

Over the course of his career, DeSimone has closed on more than 145 individual properties. The list includes the nearly $5 million sale of an Applebee’s restaurant in Orlando, Fla.; the sale of seven vacant dollar stores across the U.S.; and the $37.1 million portfolio sale of 14 Jiffy Lube properties spread across the nation.

Moving forward, DeSimone emphasizes his focus on the Northeast as Matthews expands into markets such as New York City, Boston and Philadelphia, while still keeping its Southern and Western roots.

“I think there’s a massive opportunity for us to gain more market share in the Northeast market, across all retail products,” DeSimone said. “So, within the next five years, I’m hoping to really ramp that up and become a much more dominant player up here.”