David J. Burch is managing partner for InLight Real Estate Partners.
Tell us about your business or your organization. What is your position and what are your responsibilities?
I’m the managing partner and co-founder of InLight Real Estate Partners, a real estate firm focused on development and investment in industrial real estate (e.g. warehouses, distribution complexes and manufacturing facilities).
I’m primarily responsible for setting and implementing our investment strategy, leading a small team of professionals on pursuits across the sunbelt. But, the reality is, as a small business owner, no job is too small and no process is set in stone, so it’s a constant effort to sustain progress. One minute I’m negotiating with investors (or their lawyer…), and the next I’m helping track down a missing FedEx package.
What do you like best about what you do?
I love the competition and the continuous search for creative ways to “win.” Our industry is full of national players with bigger balance sheets and more resources, so we constantly think of ways to outwit, outmaneuver and flat-out outperform them every single day. (It’s like the “Survivor” tagline: “Outwit, outplay, outlast.”)
That pressure is a burden, but it also drives us. It forces us to learn, adapt and grow constantly. For me personally, growth is a foundation of happiness and satisfaction. I believe all of us, whether we know it or not, are looking for growth in our lives, even if some days it comes through trial by fire.
What is a typical day like for you?
It’s a constant tug-of-war between people and paper. On one side, I spend time with our 20-plus teammates, 15-plus joint venture partners and all the other stakeholders (tenants, lenders, investors) who keep our business alive. On the other side, there’s the work that requires quiet focus and study, which I try to fit into whatever cracks of time remain.
Time blocking and compartmentalizing are real necessities that require constant discipline — something I sorely lack a lot of days.
Outside of work, my two sons and my wife’s small business fill my time. With my wife, I joke that I serve on her board of directors, but my voting rights are extremely limited.
Tell us about your background, especially as it applies to your career or to your involvement with the organization described above.
I started my career as a big-law attorney, spending 12-plus years representing clients like our firm and our counterparties: developers, lenders, tenants, investors. Big-firm law is … character-building, let’s put it that way. But it gave me a crash course in the mysterious documents that govern our world and the problem-solving that’s required to pull off complex transactions.
Now, when a negotiation hits a snag, I can cut through the weeds and make a quick decision. That background has become a real value-add, though I certainly wouldn’t want to relive those billable-hour days.
Are you from this area originally, or did you settle here from somewhere else?
I spent my whole life in Atlanta, aside from my years in Athens for college and law school.
In early 2021, we made the move to Ponte Vedra Beach. My business partner was already here, we were starting InLight, and, truth be told, Ponte Vedra seemed like a much better place to raise our family than the relative chaos of Atlanta.
Moving during Covid made it easier; when the world stopped spinning for a moment, we had the clarity to ask ourselves where we really wanted to live. The answer was so clear that we literally conceived the idea of moving and committed to it in our first family weekend here.
What do you like best about living here?
Life here is simply easier. The schools, the safety, the outdoor activities, the entrepreneurial community the traffic (or lack thereof); all are great for our family. The best part is the people. We’ve found this community to be so welcoming and supportive.
How do you like to spend your free time?
Most of my free time is spent with my two boys, whether that’s playing sports, going to the beach, or just about anything else to keep them off a screen (unless we’re watching news or live sports — that’s “virtuous” TV I tell my boys).
My wife and I also enjoy working together on her small business. Her’s is a true retail operating business, whereas InLight is mostly an investing business. We love dissecting all of the elements of a consumer-facing business and starting a brand. I get to pretend to be a creative marketing expert on the weekends!
