Our lunch for the tour was hosted by Empire Properties 1792 founder Greg Hatem at his restaurant Sitti in downtown Raleigh. Hatem is a local entrepreneur and fellow NC State Alumni who is devoted to redeveloping old properties in and around Raleigh. He has more than 20 years in real estate development, finance and international business culminated in 1995 when he created Empire to preserve and enhance the character of downtown Raleigh. Since forming the company, Greg has been a leader in the efforts to renew downtown through adaptive reuse of historic structures. Under his leadership, Empire Properties now owns 42 buildings with more than 600,000 square feet of office and retail space in downtown Raleigh. His Empire Eats restaurant division has given rise to fan favorites such as: The Pit, Raleigh Times Bar and the Morning Times. Hatem believes in building a community when he recreates a property and determines which tenant will occupy it. His partner Andrew Stewart was also in attendance at the lunch. Stewart joined Empire Properties in 2003, bringing with him years of experience in city planning and research, economics and analysis. He plays a key role on the leadership team, evaluating current and future projects and managing relationships with debt and equity sources. He is responsible for Empire Properties' financing strategy and asset management of the real estate portfolio. The lunch and conversation was a perfect break in our adventure.
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