Derek Evans managed a $6 billion REIT lending portfolio at Wells Fargo and structured a $3.5 billion bridge loan before joining Realberry as CFO. Now he’s helping guide the Realberry investment strategy through a move from $300 million to over $1 billion in annual deals.
Chris Lopez sits down with Derek in studio to unpack how one of Colorado’s most established real estate firms actually decides what to build, what to buy, and what to walk away from. Derek spent 22 years at Wells Fargo before Chad McWhinney recruited him during COVID. His job now is to institutionalize the firm behind Union Station, Dairy Block, and Centerra without losing what made it work in the first place.
The Realberry investment strategy is built on conservative leverage and a layered capital stack. Each investor tier fits a different kind of deal, and the firm is opening up a new digital channel to reach accredited investors for the first time. Derek walks through how those pieces fit together.
From there, the conversation turns to the investment committee that decides what moves forward. Eight members, one meeting a week, and a voting rule that has ended more Denver metro deals than most investors would guess. Water rights, business climate, and market fundamentals across Colorado, Austin, and Phoenix all shape what gets a green light.
Derek closes with where he sees capital moving next: luxury hospitality driven by K-shaped wealth trends, mixed-use in Loveland and Baseline, the firm’s first 55+ for-rent community, and a downtown Denver thesis that still hinges on getting employees back in office seats.
In This Episode We Cover:
- Why Realberry targets 60 to 65% leverage and puts in 5 to 10% GP capital
- How ultra-high net worth, family office, and institutional capital each fit different deals
- The two no vote rule that kills any deal at investment committee
- Why the firm is actively bidding on multifamily in Colorado, Austin, and Phoenix
- What Derek looks for in luxury hospitality and 55+ for-rent product
- Why water rights have killed multiple Denver metro deals in the last five years
- The Realberry investment strategy behind downtown Denver, office-to-resi, and hotel conversions
This episode wraps our three-part Realberry series. If you missed the earlier conversations with Chad McWhinney and Taylor Hazlett, go back and start there for the full picture of how the firm thinks about capital, deals, and Colorado.
Watch the Youtube Video
Timestamps
00:00 Welcome and guest introduction
01:41 Managing a $6 billion REIT lending portfolio at Wells Fargo
04:49 Unsecured vs secured real estate lending (at a larger level*)
06:17 Why Derek left Wells Fargo for Realberry during COVID
08:06 Growing Realberry from $300M to $1B in annual deals
11:55 The Realberry capital stack and conservative leverage
14:45 Ultra-high net worth, family office, and accredited investor tiers
15:55 Institutional capital and the control rights tradeoff
22:19 Inside the Realberry investment committee
37:30 How two no votes kill any deal
28:47 Why Realberry is bidding on multifamily right now
31:54 Colorado, Austin, Phoenix, and Nashville fundamentals
32:25 Legislation, affordability, and Colorado’s business climate
37:11 Placing capital in Colorado
40:47 Water rights and the deals Realberry has killed
44:12 Luxury hospitality and the K-shaped wealth trend
45:29 Downtown Denver and office-to-resi conversions
Links in Podcast
Realberry
- Website: https://www.realberry.com
- Portfolio: https://www.realberry.com/portfolio
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/realberryinvest
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/realberryinvest
- Investor inquiries: [email protected]
Derek Evans
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/derek-evans-051b80a5/
This is the third and final episode in our three-part series with Realberry. If you haven’t caught the first two, start here.
Episode 1 — Chad McWhinney, Co-Founder and CEO. Chad walks through the origin story, from a berry stand in Loveland to Union Station and Centerra. He covers 35 years of building in Colorado, how the firm thinks about long-hold capital, and the vision behind the rebrand to Realberry.
Episode 2 — Taylor Hazlett, Senior Director of Private Capital. Taylor breaks down how Realberry filters 100 deals to close 2 or 3. He covers the firm’s multifamily underwriting in today’s market, the gap between replacement cost and acquisition pricing, and early signs of recovery across the Front Range.
Together, the three episodes give you the founder’s vision, the deal team’s discipline, and the CFO’s capital architecture. That’s the full picture of how Realberry works.
Who is Realberry?
Realberry, formerly McWhinney, is a Denver-based real estate investment, development, and management firm founded in 1991 by brothers Chad and Troy McWhinney. For nearly 35 years, the firm has focused on creating places people love, with a portfolio spanning master-planned communities, multifamily, hospitality, industrial, and mixed-use developments. Its work includes Denver Union Station, Dairy Block, the Crawford Hotel, and Centerra, and has earned ULI Awards of Excellence, Michelin Keys, and U.S. News Best Hotels recognition. Realberry is family-founded, community-centered, and future-focused.
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