Jan 5, 2023, 1:35pm CST
Nancy Kuehn | MSPBJ
Marshall Nguyen is a broker and vice president at Edina-based Caspian Group, as well as an investor in a growing number of big-box redevelopments. Editor's note: This is part of a series of People to Watch articles we're publishing this week and compiling in our weekly print edition that highlight the Twin Cities leaders who are poised to make high-impact news in the next year. Caspian Group broker Marshall Nguyen is making a name for himself in the redevelopment of empty big-box stores into multitenant retail centers, often with a pan-Asian food focus. Nguyen helped pull off the recent launch of Asia Mall, which took over a former Gander Mountain store in Eden Prairie, and he'll do the same with Pacifica of Burnsville, an Asian supermarket and international food hall that will occupy the former Gordmans store at Burnsville Center, in 2023. He's not stopping there. As part of his duties at Edina-based brokerage Caspian Group, he's facilitated property sales and handled leasing for both projects, and he's partnering with Illinois developer Windfall Group as an individual investor in Pacifica of Burnsville. Nguyen will be similarly involved in other Windfall Group projects across the U.S., including the $10 million revamp of a long-vacant former Sam's Club in suburban Chicago, which will be filled with an indoor trampoline park, a golf simulator, a food hall and a number of restaurants. Another planned project includes redeveloping a Louisiana mall into a mixed-use building with apartments and retail. A key factor in Nguyen's decision to get into commercial real estate – and why he's had success in it – is his drive to be a good advocate for independent business owners, particularly people of color, as they purchase or lease property.