Operating globally: The Keith Corporation, a progressive commercial real estate firm, credits employees for its success, remains focused on the future

“A huge part of our success and relevance is the team that we have.”

The Keith Corporation (TKC) is a full-service commercial real estate firm, serving clients in the United States, Canada, Mexico, Australia, and the United Kingdom. TKC’s mission is to glorify God and honor Him forever, and to deliver the highest level of quality, service, commitment, and excellence to its clients.

The firm’s vast client portfolio includes multinational Fortune 500 corporations, top-rated hospitals, Department of Defense contractors, industrial giants, and fast-growth startups.

Graeme M. Keith (Chairman) and his son Graeme M. Keith, Jr. (CEO) founded TKC in 1989.

The Silicon Review reached out to TKC’s Charlotte headquarters and spoke with Graeme M. Keith, III, Development Partner and Brokerage Lead. Here’s what he said.

Interview Highlights

Q. When it comes to longevity, TKC has it. I find it unique that an organization has what it takes to continue to offer services for 33 years. My question to you is, how did TKC continue to adapt?

I think the longevity of TKC is attributable to adaptation, but also to our family culture. We have many employees who have been with us for over 20 years and I would say the median length of employment is 10+ years. We are extremely fortunate to have, and also very intentional about having, such an incredibly tight-knit and family-oriented culture. That culture leads to fierce loyalty and long-term personal and professional relationships and fulfillment. This also results in a natural progression to mentorship opportunities where our newer employees build relationships with some of our more seasoned employees which ends up creating somewhat of a cycle and a stronger bond. As Richard Branson said, “Train people well enough so they can leave. Treat them well enough so they don’t want to.” We believe our people are our single greatest asset and there would be no success without them, so we try to invest heavily in them and create an environment where they are fulfilled personally and professionally.

Regardless of the industry and the company culture, to stay relevant and thrive, you must adapt. There are plenty of companies that had great cultures that ultimately ended up becoming extinct because they didn’t adapt. We are constantly trying to “skate where the puck is going, not where it is” which leads to a lot of lively and creative discussions internally.

The simplest example of this is that we originally started as a single-tenant, net lease build-to-suit developer focused on Industrial. Soon thereafter we had opportunities for expansion into retail followed by office, healthcare and, most recently, airplane hangars.

While we are always trying to grow and evolve, one of the non-negotiables is always providing excellent customer service to our clients. In order to provide such service, we are always trying to stay on the cutting edge of optimization technology, as well as industry best practices. Our key stakeholders not only assess the competitive landscape and see where we are deficient compared to our competitors, but those stakeholders also double down on where we set the standard. It is not always fun, but “discipline is choosing what you want most over what you want now” and what we want most is to set the standard for customer service. Accordingly, complacency is our greatest enemy.

Q. What methodology does TKC implement to exceed client expectations?

What we do is not super-unique, but how we do it is a hyper-focused commitment to customer service. That looks different to every client: some want weekly updates and status reports, and others just want the keys when the building is finished. First, we try to understand the most important items for our customers and tailor our program around those hot button items. Those can range from cost-conscious value engineering exercises to aesthetics-driven design to ensuring flat floors for automation technology or building controls and security. This is an oversimplification, but we listen first, then design and iterate and finally develop. We are detail-obsessed throughout the entire project, but definitely on the front end. Miniscule changes in input can make a macroscopic difference in output, so we try to ensure we get it right on the front end. Small misses early turn into big problems down the road.

In addition to tailoring our program to our clients, we always try to under-promise and over-deliver by completing our projects on time and at, or under, budget. If we do not feel like we can do a project in a first-class manner, we will let our clients know. It does not happen often, but we have passed on a handful of projects because we did not feel like we were positioned to perform at the level our clients expect from us.

Aside from the customer service piece, we also leverage a plethora of different software programs to add value to our clients’ processes. These range from mapping programs to demographics subscriptions to utilizing geofencing technologies to help understand and predict consumer behaviors that are relevant to our clients.

When we are prospecting, we ask our prospects to let us earn their business on one deal in one of their toughest markets where they have struggled to find a viable solution. If we end up working together and they are not extremely pleased with how we performed, they do not ever have to use us again. However, virtually all of our new business comes from repeat clients or referrals. We have several clients with whom we have completed over one hundred (100) transactions and many more with whom we have completed over twenty (20) projects. We believe people watch what we do more than listen to what we say. As Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “What you do speaks so loudly that I cannot hear what you say.” Just give us a shot, coach!

Q. What makes – and keeps – TKC relevant?

The Keith Corporation was founded by Graeme Keith Sr. and Graeme “Greg” Keith Jr. in 1989 on a few key principles: 1) Treat people well, 2) Do what you say you are going to do, and 3) Do it in an excellent manner. All three of these are Biblical principles: 1) Love thy neighbor, 2) Thou shalt not lie and 3) Whatever you do, do it in an excellent manner as if serving the Lord.

Everything we do is client-driven; we always aim to provide the highest level of service and quality to our clients in a straightforward manner. There have been a lot of changes over the last 33 years, but our commitment to our clients has not changed and will not change as long as there is a Keith at the helm. High-quality customer service will never go out of style.

As a result of our culture, we are fortunate that we have many employees who have been with us for decades. This makes continuity of service much easier and builds a predictable and scalable business for our clients.

A huge part of our success and relevance is the team that we have. We have an incredibly talented team of dealmakers, project managers, finance, accounting, property management and administrative professionals. We believe in hiring the best, most qualified people, giving them the tools they need to be successful, providing a great working environment and giving them the autonomy to perform their job without micromanagement.

Q. Given that TKC is a full-service commercial real estate firm, how uniquely does it address its clients’ pain points?

Being a full-service commercial real estate firm, we have the ability to help our clients across the full spectrum with their real estate needs both domestically and internationally. On the development side, that ranges from seeking out the best incentive packages to site selection, to governmental relationships and approvals, to contractor, subcontractor and vendor selection and construction management. There is also a lot of crossover between our development, brokerage and property management divisions and since we are fully vertically integrated, we have access to the best and most up-to-date information from which to make decisions.

In addition, because we own most of the properties we develop, we bring an owner’s mindset when third-party fee developing, brokering transactions for our clients and when managing third-party properties for our clients.

Since TKC has completed projects in thirty-six (36) states and five (5) countries, we have encountered and overcome a lot of different challenges, and have a tremendous array of experience from which to pull solutions. We also have copious experience in each sector, so we know that the best team to complete a one million SF single-level distribution center is most likely not going to be the best team to complete a similarly sized one million SF 50-story office tower.

At the end of the day, we are acutely aware that the most important thing to our clients is results and, simply put, we deliver.

Q. What are the various commercial real estate services TKC offers?

TKC operates within four (4) main verticals in commercial real estate: Development, Property Management, Brokerage, and Acquisition.

Development: Within this vertical, TKC develops projects in five (5) sectors: Office, Industrial, Retail, Healthcare and Airplane Hangars. We develop both for our own account (assets) and we also offer third-party fee development services for clients who want to own their buildings but need the expertise of a developer to deliver a completed project.

Property Management: Within our Property Management Division, we manage our own assets, but we also provide facilities maintenance and property management for third parties in the following areas: office, medical office, retail, industrial, mission-critical financial and healthcare facilities, schools and universities and detention/correction facilities. In addition, we provide management consulting as well.

Brokerage: TKC provides both Landlord and Tenant representation on lease transactions, as well as Buyer and Seller Representation on sale transactions. These services are performed in the office, retail, healthcare and industrial sectors.

Acquisition: TKC is active in the acquisition of various office, retail, healthcare and industrial projects. Due to our expertise in development, our acquisition criteria typically consists of value add, repositioning or long-term covered land plays.

Q. How skilled is the TKC team of experts? And how do they bring value to the firm?

There are a lot of great companies and teams in commercial real estate, but I believe, without exception, we have the best team in the industry. Everyone is highly qualified and equally yoked, headed towards the same goals, which is an incredibly powerful force. I am constantly amazed at how productive our team is for the size.

Q. Will TKC be expanding, bringing on any new services that we should be aware of?

While we do not have any immediate plans to enter into any new sectors, the entrepreneurial nature of our company means we are always evaluating new opportunities and business lines. I believe the largest gaps in our service offerings are currently in the multi-family residential and storage sectors. I do not expect us to make a move into either of those sectors this cycle, but believe there are opportunities there that could make sense for us down the road.

Q. Given how frequently circumstances change, what plans for transformation are you pursuing to remain relevant now and in the future?

I believe the blockchain and web3 movements will play a huge role in the future of the commercial real estate. We have created a digital leadership task force to evaluate what we think that might look like in the future and consider how it could bring value to our clients as well as our internal shareholders.

Q. What is your final message to The Silicon Review readers; your current and future clients and partners?

I am extremely honored to have this spotlight, but this is 100% a representation of the team that we have at The Keith Corporation. They are more deserving of this than I will ever be so I hope anyone who reads this will see it as a piece on our entire team instead of a single person.

About | Graeme M. Keith, III

Graeme M. Keith, III graduated from The McCallie School, Wake Forest University and Charleston School of Law and he is a licensed attorney in South Carolina. In his 11 years at The Keith Corporation, he has completed well over $500 million in deals. He has started and runs several other companies, including MedChat, LLC, and Flux Capital, LLC and he has a stealth start-up that is democratizing access to the financial sector, helping consumers to be more well-informed. Health and Wellness are important to Graeme and he has competed in several half and full IRONMAN triathlons, XTERRA World Championships as well as won countless mud runs and adventure races across the United States. In addition to The Silicon Review, he was selected as ‘Innovator and Entrepreneur of the Year’ and the cover story by Top-100 and Exeleon Magazines.

“I am extremely honored to have this spotlight, but this is 100% a representation of the team that we have at The Keith Corporation. They are more deserving of this than I will ever be so I hope anyone who reads this will see it as a piece on our entire team instead of a single person.”