RESEARCH
POSITIONING
BRAND
GO-TO-MARKET
Implement a research-driven
lease-up plan
Former Colleagues is a tenant strategy firm that helps commercial real estate developers fill their buildings fast.
We conduct primary market research, identify who will actually move into your property, what they value, and what they'll pay more for. Then we help you put tenant intelligence to work in design, branding, and lease-up strategy.
Book a Call
Book a Call
Does this
sound like
you?
sound like
you?
You're building something new and need to fill it
You have the green light and the capital, but you're not confident the space will lease up on the timeline your investors expect.
You're renovating an existing property and need a better return
Occupancy is flat or rents are too low. You know you need to invest, but you don't know how much or where.
You have land or capital but haven't committed to a direction
Could be townhomes, apartments, mixed-use — or an RFP where you're competing against other developers.
“Wills and Former Colleagues have gone beyond brand to become a strategic partner to our entire business strategy. Over the past 5+ years of our partnership, he and his team have become an extension of our organization and significantly contributed to our growth. In fact, we can attribute millions in deal pipeline from their work.”
AARON ABODEELY
Director of Corporate Strategy,
Evolutio
Evolutio
We help you hit your occupancy targets before your investors start asking questions
You're designing amenities, unit mixes, and pricing based on assumptions instead of primary research from residents in your submarket.
You're copying what the building down the street did instead of understanding what makes your specific location and product different.
You're copying what the building down the street did instead of understanding what makes your specific location and product different.
You're spending millions on construction decisions before talking to a single person who might actually sign a lease.
Book a Call
Book a Call
Mark Rosenfield
Executive Vice President of Development
McLeskey
McLeskey
“We worked with Wills and Former Colleagues to identify and understand our target residents and office/retail tenants for a significant mixed-use deal. The findings they surfaced and the strategy we created together really shaped how we approached the entire development. More than that, they're true partners who think like developers and have stayed involved to ensure the entire project is a success.”
How It WOrks
How It WOrks
How It WOrks
How It WOrks
Work with
Former Colleagues
to fill your building.
Phase 1:
Research
We go into your market and find out who's actually going to move into your property, from residential, retail, and mixed-use properties, you’ll know what they care about, and what they'll pay more for. You walk away with validated recommendations on amenities, ideal retail mix, and positioning before you lock in the expensive decisions.
Phase 2:
Launch
We build your property's brand, website, and launch campaigns from the research up. Every piece of creative is designed to attract the residents most likely to sign a lease. Your leasing and marketing teams get collateral and talk tracks that match.
Phase 3:
Lease-Up
We optimize until you hit your occupancy targets. Weekly performance tracking, creative refinements, and a documented playbook you carry into your next project.
What Our ClientS say
What Our ClientS say
What Our ClientS say
What Our ClientS say
Eric Schlickman
302 Group
Former Colleagues have been repeat partners for multiple projects. They think like owners, act like operators, and have been critical to our growth across our portfolio.
Todd Roos
Global Brand Director, Fellowes
Wills is a mastermind at figuring out who we need to be talking to, how they make decisions, and how we position our product. We are a better, more strategic company from having worked with his team.
Dana Inzaina
CAVU Construction
We’ve been working with Wills and the Former Colleagues team for six years, and they have been such a valuable partner to our business. Wills and the team are creative, strategic, responsive, and truly invested in helping bring a brand’s message to life. We are so grateful for their partnership and could not recommend them more highly.
Cheryl Farr
SIGNAL Brand Innovation
Wills is one of the smartest strategists and best collaborators I know.
Mike Alles
Partner, O2 Group
Wills and his Former Colleagues team have been extraordinary partners. They did the heavy lifting - quickly and with excellence - without letting my lack of knowledge slow us down or hamper the final product. Super thankful for as my partner.
Hey, I’m Wills
Hey, I’m Wills
I spent 15 years in commercial real estate development, on the build side, not the consulting side.
Long enough to watch smart developers do genuinely sophisticated underwriting and then guess on the one variable that determined whether anyone actually moved in. Who their residents were going to be. What those people cared about. What would make them sign a lease.
The unit mix, the amenity program, the brand. Locked in before a single conversation with a prospective resident in the trade area.
That's the gap Former Colleagues was built to close.
We run primary tenant research for multifamily and mixed-use developers in pre-construction or active repositioning, where the findings can still shape the building, not just the brochure.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much of my team's time does
this take?
Plan for 3-5 hours per month. We run the research, conduct the interviews, and deliver the findings. Your team reviews, gives feedback, and makes decisions.
Who is this built for?
Multifamily and mixed-use developers with 100+ unit projects who are pre-construction or in a repositioning. You have a development team making amenity and unit-mix decisions but no primary research on who will actually live there.
Do you handle leasing or property management?
No. We build the research foundation and go-to-market strategy. Your leasing team or property manager executes. We stay involved through lease-up to make sure the strategy holds.
How is this different from hiring a market research firm?
Most market research firms hand you a PDF of census data and comp surveys. We conduct primary research with actual residents and renters in your submarket, then stay through lease-up to make sure the insights translate into occupancy.
Make better development decisions and lease your assets faster