The Three Amigos Development Team: Building More Than Deals

The Three Amigos Development Team: Building More Than Deals

As a full-service commercial real estate firm, Diversified Partners doesn’t just excel in transactions and property management. The firm also serves as an industry leader in strategically nurturing the full lifecycle of projects, ushering them from open land to finished, income-generating developments that improve their communities’ quality of life.

Multiple teams of leading real estate experts deliver our firm’s success in this complex specialty. These include the valued development team composed of Matt Pergola, Austin Payne and Brandon Vasquez.

Earning the nickname “The Three Amigos,” this tight-knit trio applies their extensive expertise and close relationship to working daily together on ground-up developments, in addition to traditional transactional brokerage work.

Their collaborative and proactive approach translates directly into superior projects, smarter decisions and improved client outcomes.

More than brokers

Like all of the firm’s development teams, the Three Amigos far surpass the efforts of a standard brokerage team. They deliver valuable insights and support throughout every phase of a project, starting long before a site is marketed and long after a deal is signed.

By remaining closely involved throughout a development’s entire lifecycle, the team continually shapes and evolves projects to ensure they remain strategically market-driven and built with intention for long-term success.

Expert qualifications

As one of the many successful development teams at Diversified Partners, the Three Amigos offer a wide range of combined industry experience. Each also applies singular career experience that contributes to their team’s unmatched success.

• Matt Pergola

An honors graduate of Arizona State University, Pergola previously served as a top sales performer for a billion-dollar tech/advertising company, acquiring a critical understanding of generating deals with companies of all sizes.

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• Austin Payne

Payne supplies unrivaled business savvy and finesse with cultivating client relationships, drawing from a bachelor’s in finance from Arizona State University and years of operating his own successful business.

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• Brandon Vasquez

Applying a finance degree from the University of New Mexico, Vasquez’s valuable background in business development honed his skills with acquiring business partners and fashioning effective marketing campaigns with widespread reach.

Site identification

Wielding a comprehensive understanding of the commercial real estate landscape, the Three Amigos play a critical role in sourcing new opportunities, as all of Diversified Partners’ several development teams work hard to do.

With site selection representing one of the most pivotal stages of a project, they carefully identify and analyze the health, best use and feasibility of promising properties.

Channeling their studied analyses and lived experience, they apply a precise understanding of:

• What retailers want
• What municipalities will support
• What simply won’t work

The team also helps clients avoid costly mistakes by pinpointing red flags early, often before a property goes under contract. This sometimes means advising to forgo a project—which proves just as valuable as confirming what to pursue.

Site planning

Like all of the firm’s experienced development experts, this team also remains heavily involved throughout the planning phase. Site planning can prove instrumental in manifesting the goals and vision behind a project, laying out precisely how a property will be developed.

This involves more than plotting out access points and curating a diverse mix of tenants. The development team prioritizes the principle of placemaking, by incorporating:

• Thoughtful building orientation
• Strong visibility
• Design elements that elevate the project and expand its appeal to a broader range of tenants.

Working closely with architects from the earliest stages, the team focuses on creating projects both functional and compelling to their market.

Pre-leasing and market positioning

The team next transitions seamlessly into pre-leasing. This sales-and-marketing phase serves as a vital piece in determining a project’s financial success.

The development team knows just how to effectively promote a project. Because they’ve helped mold the project from day one, they’re able to market it with clarity and confidence—articulating not just what the project includes, but also its distinct advantages and benefits.

This results in stronger tenant interest, better alignment and a more competitive leasing process.

Relationship-driven approach

Aligning with the goals driving Diversified Partners’ many expert development teams, the core pillar of The Three Amigos’ approach remains a targeted emphasis on long-term relationships—both with tenants and fellow brokers. Rather than treating each deal as a single transaction, the trio delivers transparent, collaborative experiences that lead to repeat business across multiple projects.

• For tenants: They provide honest guidance, thoughtful site selection and a leasing process centered on long-term success.
• For brokers: They remain reliable, fair and straightforward—recognizing that today’s deal provides the foundation for tomorrow’s opportunity.

By fostering trust on all sides, the team helps every deal progress efficiently and strengthens partnerships over time.

A real-world example

An anticipated new project in Laveen, Arizona illustrates each aspect of the team’s multi-stage approach.

Applying strategic intent at every step, the team successfully:

• Identified and pursued the site before it reached the open market, allowing them to secure it in a highly competitive environment
• Established a strong working relationship with the seller
• Aligned all parties around a shared vision to thoughtfully position the project for long-term success
• Guided the project through planning, design and early tenant outreach in a hands-on, collaborative process
• Secured a best-in-class anchor that set the tone for the entire development

The result: WinCo Foods is now officially under contract. The project is actively seeking additional retailers to join this premier retail destination for the Laveen community.

Projects Delivering Soon

Alongside other development teams across the firm, the Three Amigos are also bringing several high-quality projects in the Phoenix metropolitan area to fruition. Each is thoughtfully planned, strategically leased and specifically designed to provide comprehensive retail and restaurant experiences serving the rapidly growing community for years to come.

These include:

• A neighborhood retail project anchored by a popular mix of daily-use and food-and-beverage tenants, including Beyond Food Mart, McDonald’s, Señor Taco and Swig
• A 17-acre mixed-use destination anchored by a four-story Cambria Hotel and family entertainment concept Get Air Sports, with additional national and local tenants including Starbucks and Einstein Bros. Bagels
• A family entertainment–anchored development led by Rush Funplex, with supporting tenants such as QuikTrip, Express Oil & Tire Engineers, Hippo Vet and Wendy’s

Built on trust, experience and friendship

Trust remains at the core of every development team’s success at Diversified Partners, both among each other and with clients. Their collaborative dynamic allows them to move quickly on projects, challenge ideas honestly and remain aligned through the complexities of development.

Pergola, Payne and Vasquez don’t just broker deals—they cultivate premier, in-demand destinations. They and their fellow development experts across the firm remain exceptional at achieving unrivaled outcomes across today’s real estate landscape.

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