The Single Most Important Real Estate Lesson I Learned From Mark Deutschmann
Mark Deutschmann
Creating Community Through Real Estate
Mark Deutschmann is a legend of Nashville’s real estate scene.
After getting his real estate license in 1986, Mark decided to “sell real estate within a one-mile radius of Hillsboro Village”. At the time, people thought he was crazy.
The Village was overflowing with boarded-up homes and decrepit commercial buildings - a far cry from the booming commercial district today that now features high-end retail, restaurants, and residences.
Mark saw the potential, far before the rest of Nashville began moving in from the suburbs, for this urban neighborhood to provide a walkable live/work/play district close to the city’s core. He dug into that one-mile radius and knew all about every piece of real estate in his territory.
His success in the neighborhood led to his founding VILLAGE in 1996 to further serve the community. Since then, his one man shop has grown to over 350 real estate agents and staff serving the greater Nashville community.
In 2003, Deutschmann founded Core Development Services to begin revitalizing Nashville’s urban neighborhoods, which, along with Hillsboro Village, have included 12South, Germantown, Downtown, and Wedgewood Houston. Some of his projects include the 218-unit Werthan Lofts adaptive reuse, the 82-unit Alloy, and the 79-unit Gale Park cottages. You can find a list of Core Development’s projects here.
Werthan Lofts, Germantown
Throughout this time, Mark has been involved in various neighborhood associations and charities - actively working to make his community better. He served as President of Greenways for Nashville and chair of the Nashville chapter of the Urban Land Institute, both of which actively work to provide better urban living through greenspaces and conscious real estate development. Deutschmann also founded The Village Fund, which has donated over $2 million to improve Nashville neighborhoods.
I wish all developers shared Mark’s mentality for putting community first. Real estate developers and investors have the unique ability to literally shape the neighborhoods and communities that we live in. By bringing the human element back into the forefront of urban development, our cities will be happier, more sustainable, and inspiring to those who live within them.
For Mark, it was never just about real estate. It was about building community.