John has been practicing Real Estate in the Triangle for over 20 years where he first got his start by taking an internship with a longtime Raleigh commercial developer. In 2003 and within only a year’s time of taking his first real estate job, John identified and assembled what would be his largest project to date, a 4 parcel 207 acre assemblage in the heart of downtown Pittsboro. Over the next 4 years John would secure a high net worth investor (an investor that he forged a relationship with back in the NSCU restaurant days) to take down the $6,000,000 assemblage in 3 phases. The project would become know as Pittsboro Place (PP) and during his time as project manager for PP John became an expert in working with land owners and community members as well as developing complex political strategies and presenting to town and county boards. On August 28, 2008, and after years of objection, John was successful in attaining a Mixed Use Plan rezoning for 2 million square feet of mixed-use project on the 207acre Pittsboro site. The PP project got derailed due to the sub-prime crisis, but John and his partner negotiated a profitable exit many years later.

After spending years honing his skills in the fields of commercial land acquisition, land assemblage, entitlements, commercial mixed use and business development John decided to walk away from the world of commercial real estate. After a 1-year hiatus, it was the unlikely but familiar restaurant business that came calling and, It was only after a running into an old friend and prominent Raleigh chef, that John decided to make a return to hospitality as the opening GM and beverage director at the restaurant Death and Taxes (D&T) in Downtown Raleigh. The time at Death and Taxes was a true joy for John, allowing his creative and business development skills to further evolve. During hiatus and even while at D&T john maintained his Broker’s license as well as serving as the broker-in-charge for his sole proprietorship Anton Investment Real Estate. There was never any doubt that John would someday return full time to the real estate business, but it was after a lunch with long-time acquaintance, Walter Heath that the idea for the next chapter in John’s journey would begin to take shape.

In February of 2017 John formed the firm Steeloak RES with a couple goals in mind. First to partner with like minded people to develop and broker beautiful, bright, clean lined and well designed but, affordable living spaces in and around the Greater Downtown Raleigh Area and, secondly to be a full service Real Estate Services Company focused on building lasting relationships: whether Developing, Investing, Buying, Selling, Residential or Commercial, Steeloak was formed to specialize in knowing how to best guide the client experience seamlessly through the real estate process while always keeping their goals in mind.

Since the formation of Steeloak, John has partnered exclusively with Walter Heath and his build company Abode Design Build and the Heath Family development entity, AD3 development. Together though innovative search techniques and some door knocking too, John and Walt have assembled land (either owner or under contract) to build 8 single family, 44 Townhome and 82 multifamily units all in the Greater Downtown Raleigh Area. Steeloak, Abode and AD3 in just 3 short years have laid the groundwork and built a pipeline of work to build upon for years to come.

In addition to Steelaok RES, John and two Chef partners recently opened a sandwich and house made charcuterie “deli” concept in the Durham Food Hall in Downtown Durham. The concept is named Old North Meats & Provisions and John serves as the behind the scenes manager of the shops finances as well as lending his nearly 30 years business and restaurant experience to the concept.