Welcome and thank you for visiting our new blog (and website). We’re proud to launch this new forum and we’re excited to share with you some of the things that keep us busy—and on our toes—each and every day.

Four decades ago when my father, Milt Peterson, founded this company, he couldn’t have known it would lead to this: a blog. No one could have anticipated, even ten years ago, the impact social media—Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, blogs—would have on our industry and our lives. These new tools provide an opportunity to engage our constituencies and share our story in a way that just wasn’t possible all those years ago.

Through this blog, our newly launched website and our expanded social media presence, we hope to bring you the latest in commercial, retail and residential real estate news, tapping into our in-house expertise in all areas of real estate development. It will also be a chance for us to highlight a bit of the atmosphere we believe makes The Peterson Companies a great place to work.

Initially we’re planning to post once or twice per week—maybe more when we’re at large events like this week's ICSC. Primary contributors will include: Jon Peterson, Senior Vice President; Taylor Chess, Senior Vice President, Retail; Bill Smith, Senior Vice President, Office; Stuart Prince, Vice President, Residential; and Angela Sweeney, Vice President, Corporate Marketing & Communications. We’ll share our insights on all aspects of commercial, residential and retail real estate development and discuss topics of interest to anyone involved in the industry—whether as an investor, partner, client, tenant, consumer or journalist. We’ll also link to interesting perspectives from others in our field and with any luck, we’ll be able to foster a lively discussion around real estate development in the D.C., Maryland and Virginia region, and beyond.

My father’s entrepreneurial spirit continues to guide our company’s culture, leading us to always look to the horizon to seek the next big project. We view this blog, our new website and our social media channels as a platform to help The Peterson Companies launch the next generation of development for this region and beyond.

With that said, I’d like to officially welcome you to The Peterson Companies blog and invite you to engage with us in whatever way you are most comfortable—email, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn, Flickr or by simply picking up the phone. We welcome your comments and look forward to hearing from you!