About Eastwood Chalmers
How we made
our bones.
Find the dirt. Build the store.
Hand over the keys.
Our foundation was built in the field, taking Family Video developments from a promising corner to opening night.
Southwest Michigan · Ohio · Minnesota · Illinois · New York · Pennsylvania · Kentucky
From the ground up
Small markets.
Real development work.
In secondary and tertiary markets, a recognizable store started with a long list of decisions. Which corner? What could be built? What stood in the way?
Our principal’s Family Video experience covered the full assignment: finding sites, assembling the real estate, addressing environmental conditions, securing approvals, clearing existing buildings and overseeing construction.
Then came the shelves, the movies and the handoff to operations. The work was finished when the store was ready to do business.
- 01 / SITE SELECTION
Find the dirt.
Evaluate the location, access and fit. Put the real estate together.
- 02 / DUE DILIGENCE
Get below the surface.
Work through environmental conditions and the obstacles to development.
- 03 / APPROVALS
Get it approved.
Coordinate the plans, people and municipal approvals needed to move ahead.
- 04 / SITE WORK
Make room.
Oversee demolition where needed and prepare the site for construction.
- 05 / CONSTRUCTION
Build the store.
Stay involved with architects, contractors and the details that make a building work.
- 06 / OPENING DAY
Turn over the keys.
Complete the setup, stock the movies and deliver a store ready for operations.
The first prototype
You knew it
when you saw it.
A low brick building, a green metal roof and a tall glass-block tower. The original prototype gave the stores a familiar presence across very different communities.
Behind that familiar face was a practical real estate model: own the building, understand the operator and keep the property useful as the business changed.
A recognizable address.A consistent storefront, adapted to the site.
Room for the next use.Space that could become home to an additional tenant.
Before the towers
A storefront.
A movie club.
A beginning.
The early photographs tell their own story: modest buildings, local addresses and a new reason for people to walk through the door.
The buildings changed. The connection between a location and the business inside it stayed at the center of the work.
“We rent video movies!”
Detroit roots
A familiar name.
Across familiar streets.
This historical map captures 21 metro Detroit properties owned by Family Video’s parent company, from Howell and South Lyon to the east side.
It puts the wider story on the ground: neighborhood locations, local customers and real estate with a life beyond the video counter.
More from the Family Video years
Family Video + Marco’s Pizza
See the opportunity.
Put the deal together.
An operating change created a real estate opportunity. The work was to recognize its potential, identify a capable partner and negotiate a relationship that could support a much larger business.
Read Family Video + Marco’s Pizza
The assignments we choose
Experience earned
across the whole business.
We work with owners, operators and investors whose real estate decisions are part of a larger strategy.
Our experience brings together acquisitions, development, construction, leasing and operating businesses, supported by longstanding relationships across those disciplines.
Ground-up development meant carrying a project from the first site decision through construction and opening day. The carve-out program meant adapting buildings to changing operations. The Marco’s opportunity connected that real estate experience with partner selection and deal structure.
We are selective about the assignments we take on. We look for situations where that combination of experience, relationships and judgment can materially change the outcome.
We draw on trusted brokers, architects, contractors and specialists to match the expertise to the work. Those relationships give each assignment the support it needs, with clear responsibility from start to finish.
Douglas J. Klang II
Principal · Eastwood Chalmers
Experience behind our work
Figures reflect our principal’s experience across current and prior roles.
Let’s talk
Have something that needs
a different approach?
Let’s talk about what you are trying to accomplish.