In this episode of The Industrialist, Jeremy Mercer sits down with Chris Wong to talk about his unconventional path from tax and M&A work at Deloitte into the world of real estate investment.

Chris shares how his background in accounting and corporate tax gave him a unique lens on transactions, development, and investment strategy. The conversation covers his time at Hillwood, helping build out real estate operations at Austin Industries, and how those experiences shaped the way he approaches deals today.

They also get into the growth of industrial real estate in Dallas-Fort Worth, the influx of institutional capital into the market, and why understanding operations and market fundamentals matters more than ever. Chris breaks down lessons learned from both successful deals and difficult ones, emphasizing the importance of due diligence, adaptability, and long-term thinking.

This is a practical conversation about career pivots, real estate fundamentals, and what it takes to navigate an increasingly competitive market.

And for anyone looking to break into the business, Chris’s story is proof that there’s no single path into real estate.

In this episode, Jeremy and Will sit down with Michael Tran and Cody Payne to break down what they're seeing in the small bay industrial market.

They cover how to analyze sites, what actually matters in development, and where they see people get leasing and management wrong. The conversation gets into real operating challenges, from rent collection to tenant relationships, and why execution on the ground is what separates good deals from bad ones.

They also talk through current market trends across Texas, where the opportunities are, and why small bay continues to attract serious investor attention.

If you’re looking at this asset class, or already in it, this is a practical discussion on what works, what doesn’t, and where things are headed.

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Jeremy announces some big news about Matador business and then the rest of the episode is a mix of real-time market talk, deals in motion, and what we’re seeing on the ground right now.

They also get into:

• Why responsiveness is more important than ever in today’s market

• How small delays can completely change the outcome of a deal

• What Matador seeing on active transactions right now

• A property management lesson on older industrial buildings and why you need to physically check on your assets, especially during weather events

• Some Dallas development news and a few stories from deals we’ve been around