Weekend Interview: Seregh’s Jonathan Fascitelli On The 'Incredible Economic Catalyst' Of Sports Real Estate And Where It Goes From Here

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Jonathan Fascitelli may live and work on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, but he’s still a proud New Jersey Devils fan.

That wouldn’t surprise anyone who knows the Garden State native and founder of Sports and Entertainment Real Estate Global Holdings, a new sports venue development company that goes by Seregh (pronounced like “surge”).

Fascitelli launched the venture in September with significant backing from his former bosses at Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment, the company that owns the Devils and Newark’s Prudential Center.

HBSE's holdings also include the Philadelphia 76ers. One of the biggest projects during Fascitelli’s nearly six-year tenure as CEO of the company's real estate division was finding a new home for the NBA team, whose lease at the Wells Fargo Center ends in 2031.

Now, he wants to take that expertise nationwide with Seregh, which also has the backing of Creative Artists Agency. Fascitelli expects 70 new men’s professional sports venues to come online in the U.S. by 2040. He is also looking into opportunities in collegiate and women’s sports.

“These venues are an incredible economic catalyst and driver for revitalization,” he said.

Fascitelli has a strong sports real estate pedigree. His cousin is Michael Fascitelli, the former CEO of Vornado Realty Trust and current co-owner of the Milwaukee Bucks.

Before entering that world, Fascitelli spent much of his youth commuting from his childhood home in Bergen County to Horace Mann, an elite prep school in New York City. He matriculated to Brown University, where he earned degrees in engineering and economics, before studying at Harvard Business School.

Nowadays, Fascitelli is a busy father of four boys aged 1, 3, 6 and 15. Much of his free time is spent shuttling them to youth hockey games.

“There's nothing better than watching my kids play,” he said. “When I'm not building sports venues, I spend my time watching sports.”

Fascitelli sat down with Bisnow to discuss the motivation behind launching Seregh, how the company fills a hole in the market, and the bright future for sports and entertainment venues at home and abroad.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Bisnow: How did you get into the real estate world and end up in the Harris Blitzer camp?

Fascitelli: After Harvard, I went to Colony Capital, and then from Colony Capital, I went out on my own and did a host of things, including with Blackstone. That's how I got to know David Blitzer. Then in 2016, when we were talking, he suggested that I chat with Josh Harris. They asked me if I could start to work with them to find a new location for the Sixers. We started that process in 2018.

Bisnow: Is there a reason they thought you would be the right man for the job?

Fascitelli: While I was at Colony Capital, we worked on Xanadu, which was the initial development plan for the area around Giants Stadium that eventually became the American Dream Mall. While I was at Colony, [soccer club] Paris Saint-Germain was acquired, and we were looking at possible developments around the stadium in Paris. There was some other sports-related stuff I did in Japan as well.

One of my family members is a part owner of the Milwaukee Bucks and also in real estate, and he was responsible for the development of Downtown Milwaukee. I have lots of real estate development background and lots of tie-ins to sports, so when they asked me to go down and look at Philly to identify sites, it was kind of a natural extension of things that I’d done in the past.

Bisnow: Can you tell me about how Seregh came about? When did the idea first surface, and how did you all make it a reality? 

Fascitelli: For eight-plus years with Josh and David — around all of our sports platform, whether that be the Sixers, the Devils, affiliated teams like the Guardians and the Commanders — we've always looked at how to improve the assets and then potentially how to improve the communities and environments around them.

More broadly in the industry, folks are increasingly starting to realize that there's a real opportunity to build large-scale mixed-use developments around the venues. The opportunity is there, but the skills and capabilities aren't necessarily. It doesn't necessarily make sense for a team owner to create a development company to then go and build the surrounding real estate. There's kind of this hole in the marketplace where people recognize that there's an opportunity, but there isn't necessarily the best solution to deliver on it.

The genesis of Seregh was recognizing that teams really need a development partner that understands the needs of teams and also understands how to maximize the real estate development around the venue. Earlier in the year, I started to talk to the organization about it. They agreed that it was needed in the industry, and then they backed me.

Bisnow: It’s been a few months since Seregh was first announced. What have you been doing since then? What do the early months look like at a new sports real estate company?

Fascitelli: The first thing we did was make sure to have the backing of HBSE. Second, we went to Creative Artists Agency, the leading talent, sports and entertainment management company in the world, and sat down with them to share the vision. They bought into the vision very quickly and decided to come in and partner. So we had two industry leaders backing the business.

The next thing we did was create a board of directors with key influencers, both in the sports space and in the real estate space, so that we could offer the best solutions in the marketplace. It gives us access across the industry and touchpoints with different owners and different teams.

Bisnow: What are some of the specific projects you’re working on at this point?

Fascitelli: I can't disclose them at this point in time. What I can say is that our initial plan was to bring on one to two projects a year, and right now it looks like everything is way ahead of schedule.

The receptivity in the marketplace has just been incredible. The need is there, and the solution that we're providing is really powerful. The ability to deliver a big vision and capital to meet that vision has been so well received. I think we'll outpace the number of projects that we'll be bringing on. We typically look to do anywhere from $3B to $5B venue, and just given the receptivity, both domestically and abroad, you'll see a lot of announcements coming out soon.

Bisnow: Can you provide us any nonspecific hints about what you’re working on?

Fascitelli: We’re endowed with teams working on some of the biggest projects in the country. We’re in the process of initiating some new ones as well.

Bisnow: Why do you think sports venues are a good centerpiece for mixed-use developments?

Fascitelli: In a post-Covid world where there's been a struggle for return to office, though we're starting to see that improve, and an environment in which there are more solutions that cater to the stay-at-home crowd, there are few really strong catalysts left for urban revitalization.

Live entertainment can still do that. When you look at these new venues and you look at changes in people's consumption of entertainment, it's just incredible. In one week now, you can see a Taylor Swift concert, a boxing event, a basketball game and a hockey game. That consumption and viewership equates to foot traffic. So, if a venue is doing 150 to 200 shows, they're driving 4 to 6 million people to that venue annually.

When you think about those people, they're starting to come early and eating beforehand. They're staying later. That's a nightcap or an ice cream. What that does is populate the retail. Once you have the retail and the entertainment there, people want to live there, and that populates the residential. When you have people living there, they want to work there, and that can populate the office. This is a long way of saying that these venues are an incredible economic catalyst and driver for revitalization. They can be the underpinning of a large-scale mixed-use project.

Bisnow: What are some of the best examples of this in action?

Fascitelli: There are great examples of 1.0, and now 2.0 is starting to roll out. 1.0 was dipping the toe in. 2.0 is going to be a lot bigger. The Atlanta Braves’ stadium is an example of 1.0. Folks talk about that project as being a home run. It was great and visionary and one of the first of its kind. I think people look back now and say it could support a lot more density, but most of the key sites for density are already used.

If you look at the size and scope of Centennial Yards (where the Atlanta Falcons play) or the Kroenke proposal in Denver, they’re bigger visions. I think what remains to be seen is how big the first phases work out for those visions. Not specific to those projects, but more broadly, I think project sizes are increasing. The question is twofold. One is how much is ownership willing to commit to doing a larger first phase versus a smaller first phase? Second is what's the time horizon for the vision of that project? Where we come in is we're willing to take a bigger bet upfront and do a much bigger first phase. We think that that has a better impact on the long-term success of the project.

Bisnow: I feel like in the U.S., sports venues generally have a big parking lot. Can you think of any examples of new arenas or stadiums or anything like that that have generated truly walkable transit-oriented developments?

Fascitelli: When you think of a sports venue, you think of parking lots. That’s because in the 1990s, when they were built, entertainment consumption supported like 60 events a year. So most of the time, they put buildings as far away as possible where they had enough space for parking. They're not profitable venues. Today, that's different with the increased media consumption.

Milwaukee is a great example.

The Bucks and my cousin Mike Fascitelli had a vision, not only for the venue but for what to do with the surrounding area, and that's been quite successful. Joe Cohen is on our board, [and] when he owned the Kings and then he sold it to AEG, they had a vision for the Staples Center and the surrounding area in Downtown LA. You also see that in Sacramento with the Kings, where they took a mall that was on its heels and repositioned it with a venue. It's had quite a dramatic impact on Sacramento.

There's an increasing number of success stories. The flip side is that you have 30 venues in planning today, and then you have another 40 coming between 2030 and 2040. Across the five major leagues, that’s 70 new venues. We can get it right and use these venues as economic catalysts.

Bisnow: I’ve been hearing a lot more about women’s pro sports recently. I know the Kansas City Current just got a new stadium that made headlines. What do you think the future holds for real estate developments centered on women’s teams?

Fascitelli: It is great. It's definitely going to be an area of focus for us as the teams, leagues and audiences expand. We need new venues, whether it's the stadium or the practice facility. When I quote the 70 venues, that's just talking about the five men's leagues. That's not actually including the opportunities in women's sports, and it's not including the opportunities in collegiate sports.

Bisnow: Do you want to talk a little bit about the college sports opportunities? Are there any specific projects you have in mind?

Fascitelli: Our big push there will start in January. We've been starting to look at some RFPs and getting the word out to the campuses. A lot of these campuses have aged facilities and are making big strides into repositioning the facilities. With some of the changes and increased compensation, universities are going to be looking for other revenue streams and similar. The new venues can be catalysts for development, so universities need to be thinking about it, and we stand ready to support them. 

Bisnow: We’ve been covering the Sixers’ Center City arena proposal closely. What do you make of the community pushback the project has received? Do you think that’s unique to Philadelphia or is part of a broader shift that could impact sports development projects in other cities?

Fascitelli: I think with any large-scale project across the country, you can point to instances where there's a small subset of a community that vocalizes some form of objection, and then there's a large subset of a community that supports it. It's about finding the balance. It takes a lot of interaction with the community, and you have to be really thoughtful and sensitive. Then you have to work closely with political leaders and find that balance between meeting the needs and concerns of part of a community while also creating an opportunity for a much broader set of stakeholders.

Bisnow: There’s been fairly significant outcry about taxpayer money being used for sports development projects, a lot of people who say stadiums and arenas take more from communities than they give. What do you think they’re getting wrong?

Fascitelli: I think that really goes back to the difference between the 1990s and today in terms of media consumption. I know that sounds a stretch away from your question, but it's not. In the ’90s, when you were building a venue for 60 shows a year, that venue was not economically viable, and it was dormant and dark most of the time. So, investment in that didn't necessarily show as much of a positive return to the community.

Today, these entities are active so much more. They create so much more tax revenue and then economic output. They're really positive economic drivers, and they can truly revitalize areas. Whether they're privately financed or publicly financed, in my opinion, the economic impact is so tremendous that either can be merited.

Bisnow: We’re coming to the end of the year. Do you have any bold predictions for CRE in 2025?

Fascitelli: It depends on the market segment, but I think you could see transaction volume increase depending on where rates go, and I think they go down. I think that will be a catalyst for more development. I think in a lot of office markets, you're seeing a flight to quality. You're seeing vacancy rates decline with people back in office. So I think there will be increasing opportunities in office, at least for the best-of-class product.

In entertainment real estate, I think that the next few years are just going to be tremendous. I think it's more cycle-agnostic. It's still rate-dependent, but it's more cycle-agnostic because you have the embedded driver of a venue and you have the catalyst of that attendance. You're going to see bigger and bolder visions around venues. What we're looking to do is work with our capital partners to institutionalize the space more. There's really a tremendous opportunity, not just through 2025 but for the next 15 or so years.

Bisnow: What do you like to do on the weekend? What are some of your hobbies outside of sports and real estate?

Fascitelli: Watch my kids play hockey. There's nothing better than watching my kids play hockey.