Community Highlights: Meet Erwin Bucy of Paragon Commercial Group

Today we’d like to introduce you to Erwin Bucy.

Hi Erwin, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
My parents, Richard and Ofelia Bucy, were strong influences in my success by encouraging education, independence, hard work, moral values, and tenacity. My father was a graduate Aerospace Engineering professor at USC who went to MIT and my mom was a Peruvian Immigrant with a high school education. My mom was smart as a whip and always encouraged me to do my best. She was my number 1 fan and number 1 critic, I was lucky enough to grow up in the Palos Verdes Peninsula and lived in Toulouse, France, West Berlin Germany, and Cannes France all before I was 17 as my dad would take a year sabbatical to teach in these amazing places.

During these visits abroad, it was very similar to how I was taught to swim – Thrown in the pool by my dad and either sink or swim. I always chose to swim. During these foreign country adventures, I learned new cultures, new languages, the love of travel and how to adapt and survive in a foreign country. Most importantly, I learned how how to get along with people especially with a name like Erwin and being a foreigner.

Early on in my childhood, it was made crystal clear that there was no free lunch and if I wanted something, I had to work for it and earn it. I grew up in Rancho Palos Verdes and went to high school at Miraleste High School. Most kids were driving by the time they were 16 with a car paid for by their parents. Not in the Bucy house,. I did not drive till I was 18 as I had to buy my own car and pay for my own insurance. During my early years (14 years +) , I worked as a beach boy at Portuguese Bend Beach Club, Marineland, Trader Joe’s and Bank of America. I loved to surf, play volleyball, ping pong, fish, and play paddle tennis.

I remember vividly one day in high school when my dad approached me and simply said “You can go to any college you want but there is only one I am paying for and that is USC.” Paying for was a relative word as tuition was free since he was a tenured professor. I was lucky enough to get into USC as an undeclared major. Early on, my dad wanted me to get into computer science or aerospace engineering which definitely was not of interest to me. All I wanted to do was travel and surf. During college, I worked at the Bank of America in downtown Manhattan Beach as a teller. This guy walks in and starts depositing big checks wearing flip flops and a t-shirt. I asked him what do you do. He said” I own real estate. What do you expect me to do – get a real job.” That small moment changed my life forever as I made the choice to focus on real estate as my career path.

I graduated from USC with a BS in Business Administration with an emphasis in Finance and started as a runner, then a leasing agent for retail properties and then got the lucky break to work for Norm La Caze of La Caze Development. I am so lucky he took a chance on me as he is a visionary developer that owns major retail properties in California.

From 1992-1998, I worked on the development of Torrance Crossroads, a 500,000 sf power center as well as the redevelopment of Rolling Hills Plaza a 360,000 sf community center anchored by Whole Foods, Trader Joes, AMC Theatres and others. I made tons of mistakes and should have been fired numerous times. Luckily Norm did not fire me as I think he valued my hard work, taking responsibility for my actions, and tenacity. After making a mistake, Norm would always ask “What did you learn? Will you do this again?” I am a firm believer that mistakes make you a better professional and have countless lessons during my tenure that helped me become a better professional. I also made the decision to get married to Lisa Bucy my wife of 31 years as well as get my MBA at LMU and graduated with a degree in finance in 1994 after paying my tuition with my wife’s credit cards. Another great choice as my wife have always believed in me and supported my dreams. I continue to give back and teach the next generation of real estate professionals as I have been a guest speaker at USC’s Masters of Real Estate Development Program, the Loyola Marymount Real Estate Advisory Committee, the LMU College of Business Dean’s Advisory Committee.

In 1998, I went to work for Pacific Retail Trust (PRT) a privately held REIT which owned grocery anchored centers on the West Coast. PRT then was acquired by Regency Centers which was a publicly traded REIT. I started as a project manager and left as a Senior Vice President of Investments in 2009. Regency was an amazing company and it gave me the opportunity to develop projects and create long term relationships with and for best in class retailers such as Target, Whole Foods, Albertsons, Trader Joe’s, Ralphs, and others. During my tenure at Regency, I was given the Martin E Stein Sr. Award which is given to one employee nationwide for shared values and productivity. Regency was an amazing company that taught me so much especially risk mitigation, underwriting, and the value of a quality real estate portfolio. However, I always wanted to be an entrepreneur and left in Regency in 2009 after the GFC to start Paragon Commercial Group (www.paragoncommercialgroup.com) with Mark Harrigian, and Jim Dillavou both Regency Alums..

The story of Paragon is truly a story of tenacity, persistence, and the entrepreneurial spirit. We were lucky enough to get free office space during the first couple of years and were given our conference room table and other office furniture from a civil engineer that went BK during the GFC. Our first deal was buying a small out parcel at a very small purchase price from a publicly traded retailer and selling the property directly to a user after entitling the project. This first deal allowed us to keep the lights on and provide fuel to a fire that has burned consistently and productively for over 15 years. We have had great success and did the first Amazon Fresh in the entire world and had an emerging manager relationship with Canyon Catalyst Fund who invested money on behalf of Calpers for over 10 years. We just closed on a 80 million dollar grocery anchored acquisition in a best in class location that as a young broker I always dreamed about owning. The true measure of success is our people – 5 of us started and worked together at Regency and we are still working together today. We are not only friends but business partners. As I reflect back on all the deals that I have done, it is the relationships created and problems solved with each transaction, Once in a while I show up to work in flip flops and a t-shirt and am forever thankful to all the people that helped me in my journey; my parents, my wife Lisa, my daughters Alaina and Karina, Norm La Caze, Brian Smith who was a C suite executive at Regency and all my amazing friends in this amazing business of retail real estate ownership and development.

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
The road of life is never smooth. Obstacles always come up and I learned early on especially from Norm La Caze to be calm, tenacious, make a decision and stick with it and always treat people with respect from the janitor to the CEO. We are all here for a reason and each person brings a unique perspective and value proposition. Alaina was 8 and Karina was 2 when I left the comforts of a paycheck, a 401k, health insurance to form Paragon. I do think Lisa thought I was crazy but I always knew that I would never forgive myself if I never took the chance to write my own chapter. I always tell my daughters that I want them to be hard working, independent and be in a position to sign your own paycheck. The early days were tough with limited compensation but I will take tenacity and drive to succeed over resources. One of my favorite sayings is “Control your own destiny or someone else will.” Although I have been doing this for over 30 years, I continue to make mistakes and quite frankly I would be bored without a bit of chaos and anxiety. The journey makes the destination.

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about Paragon Commercial Group?
Paragon develops, entitles, and owns necessity driven retail shopping centers in best in class retail locations in high barrier to entry markets.

Mission Statement:
To develop, own, and manage best in class necessity driven retail locations in high barrier to entry supply constrained markets that provide our tenants and investors with properties that provide strong growing and consistent sales/returns, and our communities with optimal retail environments that become part of the fabric of the community and human social experience.

Vision Statement:
Develop and acquire a portfolio of retail/real estate projects that create long term and consistent generational wealth with a best in class team that is entrepreneurial, ethical, nimble, and relationship driven.

Values:
Think long term for both our customers, the communities we operate in, and for ourselves.
Grow, retain, elevate, and provide exceptional long term opportunity for the next generation of Paragon Real Estate Professionals.
Act with integrity and transparency.
Enjoy each project and the journey and the history of Paragon.

Can you talk to us a bit about the role of luck?
Luck is such an important component to success.

Working at BofA and the real estate investor in flip flops and shorts guiding me to my career path.

My wife Lisa finally acquiescing after rejecting me numerous times.

Norm La Caze took a chance on me despite being green in the business.

Bill Bauman, (one of the most successful brokers in retail) introduced me to Mark Harrigian who hired me at Regency; my business partner and friend for over 25 years.

Having Parents that taught me the value of education, hard work and independence.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.paragoncommercialgroup.com
• LinkedIn: Paragon Commercial Group